I’d like to begin tonight by paying tribute and offering thanks to my three predecessors: Steve McCabe stepped down as chair at the general election after taking the helm in 2020. As a parliamentary candidate, I was lucky enough to travel to Israel on an LFI delegation led by Steve. Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel’s annual conference reception was addressed by several senior members of the Cabinet last night, including the Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor. Attendees and speakers also heard from two Israeli hostage family members, Noam Safir and Sharone Lifschitz, whose respective grandfather and father have been held hostage Read more…
At Labour party conference we were delighted to be joined by Yair Golan, leader of Labour’s sister party – newly renamed the Democrats – for two days at conference this year as LFI’s guest. During his time in Liverpool, Golan met with senior ministers, Labour parliamentarians and Labour Party officials, Read more…
Today, LFI publishes a new paper: Labour, Israel & Palestine: Lessons from the Blair-Brown years. Authored by Dr Toby Greene, the paper analyses the context and approach taken by the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and outlines the lessons that can be learnt for our new Labour government. The Read more…
LFI director Michael Rubin has written the below article for JewishNews. Click here to read the original. The long-expected news that Iran has exported more than 200 ballistic missiles to bolster Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has rightly earned a swift and strong condemnation – and tough new sanctions – from Foreign Read more…
The war launched by Hamas on 7 October has brought about an unprecedented level of coordination between Iran’s proxies, forcing Israel to fight a multi-front conflict for close to a year. In this paper, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis: Iran’s “Axis of Resistance”, we outline the origins of, and explain Read more…
This afternoon, LFI hosted a briefing on Iran’s malign activities in the Middle East and increasing support for Putin’s war on Ukraine. Chaired by Matthew Patrick MP, the panel included Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, Jemima Shelley, senior analyst at the Tony Blair Institute, Read more…
This week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held a joint press conference on a number of international challenges facing the two countries, including the situation in the Middle East. During the conference, Lammy stressed the UK’s commitment to brokering peace in the Middle East. Read more…
LFI director Michael Rubin has written the below article for The Times. Click here to read the original. Since the 7 October Hamas atrocities, Labour has steadfastly repeated its belief in Israel’s right to defend itself. It has been right to do so, but the government’s decision this week to suspend Read more…
Since 7 October, Israel has come under repeated, unprovoked and indiscriminate attack by Iran and its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. We do not believe that restrictions on UK arms sales will help bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to a close or help ensure the release of the Read more…
At today’s statement from the Foreign Secretary on the UK’s strategy towards the Middle East, a number of Labour MPs urged the government to be tougher in its policy towards the Iranian regime, particularly for its role in fuelling conflict in Gaza. High Peak MP Jon Pearce asked: “We are Read more…
Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Israel again this weekend, with his French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné, as ceasefire talks brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt have gotten underway. The foreign secretary said Israeli ministers had told him “they hope we are on the cusp of a deal”. He added that Read more…