Donald Trump’s quixotic attempt to broker what he once he termed the “ultimate deal” – a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians – bore its first tentative signs of success this week when President Mahmoud Abbas indicated he was prepared to begin talks with Benjamin Netanyahu. The Palestinian president’s announcement came Read more…
ISIS fired a rocket into southern Israel from northern Sinai this week, striking a greenhouse but causing no major injuries. The terrorist group, which controls a small region of the peninsula near the Gaza strip, immediately claimed responsibility for the low-grade attack. Under the title Wilayet Sinai, ISIS in Egypt Read more…
Israel struck a number of targets in Syria last week, in what was the country’s strongest intervention into the Syrian civil war yet. Whilst previous attacks have mostly been concentrated in southern Lebanon and Damascus, this series of raids also included a hit on a military base near Palmyra. In Read more…
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Whatever its merits, the nuclear deal concluded two years ago this summer has done nothing to satisfy Iran’s appetite to establish regional hegemony in the Middle East. This is unsurprising: one of the great flaws of European and US efforts was a willingness to overlook Iran’s Read more…
Six Labour MPs visited Jerusalem, Ramallah and Tel Aviv on an LFI delegation last week. Pat McFadden, Ian Lucas, Lillian Greenwood, Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes and Ian Austin took part in the five-day trip. The visit included meetings with Israeli lawmakers, a Palestinian minister, NGOs, coexistence projects, security officials and Read more…
Ambassador Mark Regev Speech to LFI Annual Lunch 2016 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Chief Rabbi, Deputy Leader Tom Watson, Lords and Ladies, Members of Parliament, Distinguished Guests, Friends of Israel, It is a pleasure being here this afternoon. I wish to start by thanking your Parliamentary Chair Joan Ryan MP, your Read more…
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…