Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party’s speech to the LFI Annual Lunch 2016. CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Friends, you honour me with the invitation to address you today. I want to join with Joan in thanking Sir David Garrard and Isaac Kaye for making this wonderful gathering possible. Read more…
For the first time, an LFI officer has visited Washington DC on a political visit. LFI Chair Joan Ryan MP’s visit aimed to build support for LFI’s ‘For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace’ campaign. At the heart of this campaign is a pledge to support the establishment of an International Read more…
LFI have been visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories this week with a delegation of Labour MPs. Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, led the delegation alongside fellow MPs Rosie Winterton, Gloria De Piero, Michael Dugher and Ruth Smeeth. The delegation included tours of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Read more…
Israeli and Palestinian leaders reacted to Trump’s victory with the procedural congratulations offered to an American President-elect. Prime Minister Netanyahu called the Republican ‘a true friend of the State of Israel’, whilst President Rivlin, addressing Trump, said Israel ‘stands by you as your friend and partner’. Isaac Herzog, leader of Read more…
Mahmoud Abbas has been courting controversial company over the past two weeks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh have all recently held meetings with the Fatah and Palestinian Authority (PA) leader. The meetings are unusual Read more…
This story originally apeared in the Jewish Chronicle, click here to view it. The chair of Labour Friends of Israel will visit the United States to seek support for a new campaign aiming to bring Israeli and Palestinian communities together in co-existence projects. Joan Ryan will meet American politicians to Read more…
Leaders from across the world gathered in Jerusalem today for the funeral of Shimon Peres. Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and Amos Oz all paid tribute to the former Israeli Prime Minister and President. British dignitaries present at the funeral included Prince Charles, David Cameron, Tony Read more…
Russia waded into the dense diplomatic waters of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process this week. Moscow’s intervention came in the form of a proposed meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The move sought to reignite the dormant peace process by bringing the two leaders Read more…
The Iran nuclear deal was designed to reduce Iran’s nuclear capabilities by increasing the amount of time it would take Iran to develop a nuclear bomb. When the deal was signed, it was believed Iran was only months or weeks away from developing enough nuclear material for a functioning nuclear Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan was in Israel this week, reaffirming Labour’s strong ties to its sister party. Meeting Labor chairman Isaac Herzog at the Knesset, she expressed her intention to bring more Labour MPs to Israel over the next year. “In my experience, it is the way to ensure MPs Read more…
Published by the Times of Israel on 5th March — Six months ago Operation Protective Edge came to an end, bringing to a close 51 days of bloody fighting between the IDF and Hamas. In Britain, the war provoked strong reactions and it was deeply divisive. Some argued that the Read more…
February marked the six-month anniversary of the ceasefire which brought last summer’s war in Gaza to a close. It was a conflict which brought a huge amount of suffering to the peoples of Israel and Gaza. But, just as it has done on three occasions over the past six years, Read more…