The biggest Labour Friends of Israel delegation in more than a decade this week met with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog. The delegation also met with Israeli Labor party leader Merav Michaeli; Tzachi Hanegbi, the head of the National Security Council; and the Palestinian Authority’s deputy foreign minister Amal Jadou. LFI chair Steve Read more…
Fifty former top civil servants – including some who served under Benjamin Netanyahu for years – have launched a strong attack on the new government’s controversial judicial reforms. A letter this week – which includes the names of former heads of the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Ministry, Competition Authority and Read more…
More than half of the Israeli public would like to see a meeting between prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to a poll commissioned by the Geneva Initiative Israel NGO. When asked whether Israel should enter political talks with the PA, 52.8 percent said yes, Read more…
Saudi Arabia will not normalise ties with Israel without progress towards a two-state solution with the Palestinians, the kingdom’s top diplomat asserted last week. The comments by Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, followed reported discussion of the topic between Israeli prime minister Read more…
Over 100,000 Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night amid rising opposition to controversial judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government. What happened The protests, which also saw smaller demonstrations across the country, came as the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, was said to be considering Read more…
Today, LFI chair Steve McCabe MP and LFI Lords chair Baroness Ramsay have written to the Israeli Ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely, to express their concern about the appointment of certain ministers to the new coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. In the letter, Steve and Meta make clear that their Read more…
The Moroccan military announced this week that it had agreed to strengthen military cooperation with Israel, including in intelligence and cybersecurity, following defence meetings in Rabat. The two countries “agreed to further strengthen cooperation and expand it to other areas, including in intelligence, air defence and electronic warfare”, a Read more…
Most voters for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party support the government’s plans to dramatically restructure Israel’s legal system, according to a poll aired on Israel’s Channel 12 last week. The poll found that 55 percent of Likud voters backed the new government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary, with Read more…
Tens of thousands of demonstrators faced pouring rain on Saturday to gather in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square for protests against Israel’s new hard-right government and its plans for sweeping judicial reforms. Police estimated a turnout of some 80,000 people rallied in the square and surrounding streets, with many Israelis travelling Read more…
A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on 3 January, according to Israeli military reports. The IDF said the projective landed inside Gaza itself, causing no injuries or damage. Incoming rocket sirens did not sound in nearby Israeli communities, as defence systems had projected it would Read more…
Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent weeks to show their opposition to the formation of Israel’s most right-wing government. What happened The new coalition government, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is made up of six parties: right-wing Likud, far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel was delighted today to partner with the Jewish Labour Movement to organise a series of sessions on Israel and the Middle East as part of their one-day conference. First up was a fascinating discussion between Dame Louise Ellman and Labour’s shadow Middle East minister Bambos Charalambous, Read more…