Steps to a two state solution: For Israel, for Palestine, for peace Step One: Tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with emergency infrastructure plan for improving energy supplies, sanitation and clean water After more than a decade of war, Israeli and Egyptian restrictions, and Hamas misrule, the humanitarian situation in Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel welcomed Labour leader Keir Starmer as guest of honour to its Annual Lunch this week, which saw capacity crowd in a packed out hall. Success The 2021 Annual Lunch was the first to take place since 2018, after previous lunches had to be cancelled due to Read more…
*** Check against delivery *** Chief Rabbi, Leader of the Opposition, Parliamentarians, my fellow guests and speakers. It is a pleasure to be with you at the LFI Annual Lunch this afternoon. I want to thank our lunch sponsors, Sir David Garrard and Isaac Kaye, and all of you who Read more…
*** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY *** Steve McCabe MP Chair, Labour Friends of Israel Speech to LFI Annual Lunch Chief Rabbi, Ambassador Hotovely, friends. It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Labour Friends of Israel Annual Lunch. We wouldn’t be here today without the support of many of you in this room. Read more…
KEIR STARMER SPEECH FOR LFI ANNUAL LUNCH 2021 *** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY *** Chief Rabbi, Ambassador, friends. It is a pleasure to be with you today at LFI’s annual lunch – our first opportunity to gather together since 2018. I want to join Steve in thanking today’s co-sponsors, Sir Read more…
The economy of the Palestinian territories is exhibiting “signs of recovery” despite serious challenges of unemployment and “deteriorating social conditions” in Gaza, a report by the World Bank said this week. The first half of 2021 saw a growth rate of 5.4 percent, with growth expected to reach 6 percent Read more…
Merav Michaeli, Israel’s transport minister and leader of the Israeli Labor party, has joined other left-wing MKs in announcing that her party will oppose plans to build new settlements in the West Bank. During the weekly Labor caucus meeting, Michaeli said: “We will oppose any initiative that will prevent a Read more…
Israel has advanced plans for 1,303 new homes for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank on Monday. This was the first authorisation of its kind under the new coalition government came to power in June, and the first since the Biden administration was inaugurated in January. The Higher Read more…
The approval of some 3,000 housing units for Israeli settlers in the West Bank has drawn criticism from left-wing voices in the Israeli government, as well as the Biden administration. 1,804 housing units received final approval for construction last week, while a further 1,382 units were advanced for final approval. Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel director Michael Rubin has written the below article for the Labour Foreign Policy Group. Click here to read the original. In the months since President Biden’s inauguration, we’ve already begun to see the difference in his administration’s approach to international affairs. “America First” is out, multilateral engagement is Read more…
Israel announced this week that it had officially legalised the status of 4,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, ending a decade-long freeze in which almost no requests were authorised under Benjamin Netanyahu. The move was part of the government’s ongoing effort, led by defence minister Benny Gantz, to strengthen the Read more…
Israeli defence officials have expressed concern over a dramatic rise in hate crimes and violence by Jewish nationalists in the past two years. Most of the perpetrators appear to be West Bank settlers. Ynet news found that hate crimes increased significantly in 2020 compared with 2019, with a spike that began Read more…