Towards Two States: The Path to a Palestinian State
Today, we publish our latest policy pamphlet: ‘Towards Two States: The Path to a Palestinian State.‘ by Dr Toby Greene, a visiting fellow at the Middle East Centre at LSE and lecturer in the Department for Political Studies at Bar Ilan University.
This paper is a strategic roadmap to delivering a Palestinian state, urging learning lessons from failed efforts over the past three decades and a focus on both high-level diplomacy and a renewed push towards radically reforming and bolstering the Palestinian Authority.
A New Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: An Agenda for a Labour Government
Today, we publish our latest policy pamphlet: ‘Civil Society and a new Israeli-Palestinian peace process: An agenda for a Labour government’ by The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) executive director John Lyndon.
The paper argues that there is an urgent need for a new diplomatic process with civil society at its core.
Even at desperate times, we must look to how we build a more peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Learning from successful peace processes, in office Labour could take a leading role in bringing together partners.
Why Progressives Should Reject Decolonisation Myths About Israel
Labour Friends of Israel today publishes its latest policy briefing: Why Progressives Should Reject “Decolonisation” Myths About Israel, written by Dame Louise Ellman.
On 7 October, Hamas’ brutal assault on Israel triggered war and enflamed tensions across the whole Middle East. The war has provoked some in the west to vilify Israel and to develop and spread conspiracy theories that represent the latest manifestation of a long line of antisemitic tropes to which Jewish people have been subjected for centuries.
A War for the Future of the Middle East
Labour Friends of Israel today publishes its latest policy briefing: A War for the Future of the Middle East by LFI chair in the House of Lords, Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale.
On 7 October, Hamas’ brutal assault triggered not just a war between the terror group and Israel but, as this paper argues, a multi-front battle in a struggle to shape the future of the Middle East.
Baroness Ramsay’s policy paper argues that the Israel-Hamas war is part of a long-term strategy for Iran and its network of proxies to destroy Israel and reduce US regional influence, and that viewing the conflict at this broader level helps to explain Israel’s response and the backing it has received from the US, UK and other democratic allies.
A Post-War Diplomatic Agenda for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Labour Friends of Israel is today publishing its latest policy paper: A Post-war Diplomatic Agenda for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, by LFI director Michael Rubin.
In these darkest of days, it is hard to imagine that any good can come from the death, misery and destruction. Yet this war – awful as it is – will bring dramatic political changes and can create in its aftermath new possibilities. The shock and tragedy of the 1973 Yom Kippur war led ultimately to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that has endured for more than 40 years.
The two-state solution enjoys regional and international support and should remain the ultimate objective. The political ramification of this war could include seismic changes in both Palestinian and Israeli politics that make that objective more attainable in the long run.
This publication argues that international diplomacy should be focussed around four goals, which if pursued in parallel can be the basis for a shared agenda for Israel, moderate Palestinians, western allies, and like-minded Arab states.
Britain and the Middle East: Priorities for the Next Labour Government
Labour Friends of Israel is proud to publish its latest policy pamphlet, Britain and the Middle East: Priorities for the Next Labour Government.
This publication with contributions from policy experts and Labour parliamentarians details an ambitious agenda for a Labour government’s approach to the Middle East calling for measures to advance a two-state solution; counter the threat posed by Iran; strengthen the relationship between Britain and Israel and challenge anti-Israel bias in international institutions; and make Britain a key global partner for progress in the Middle East.
With contributions from LFI chair Steve McCabe MP and director Michael Rubin; Bar Ilan University lecturer and LSE visiting fellow Dr Toby Greene; Matthew Godwin and Jemima Shelley of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change; LFI vice-chair Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson MP; BICOM director Richard Pater and BICOM research associate Dr Jack Omer-Jackaman; director of IRGC Research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Kasra Aarabi; LFI chair in the House of Lords Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale; and LFI vice-chair Rt Hon John Spellar MP.
Antisemitic Anti-Zionism: The Origins and Character of an Ideology (2023)
Labour Friends of Israel is proud to publish its latest policy pamphlet, Antisemitic Anti-Zionism: The Origins and Character of an Ideology. This publication explores the nature and origins of anti-Zionism as an ideology and its relationship with antisemitism on the left.
With contributions from former LFI chair Dame Louise Ellman, senior lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths David Hirsh, and Kennan Institute scholar Izabella Tabarovsky, the pamphlet also discusses how Labour has moved back to its historic position of support for Israel under the leadership of Keir Starmer.
Gaza: Reconstruction, Revitalisation and Reality (2022)
Labour Friends of Israel is proud to publish our third policy pamphlet of the year: Gaza: Reconstruction, Revitalisation and Reality. This publication explores the causes of the present political and humanitarian crises in Gaza, and what steps might help to resolve them.
With contributions from LFI vice-chair Diana Johnson MP, the Horizon Centre’s Ibrahim Eid Dalalsha, and Bar Ilan University’s Dr Toby Greene, Gaza: Reconstruction, Revitalisation and Reality also sets out a series of measures the UK government and international community should be promoting to improve the situation in Gaza.
Steps to a Two State Solution (2022)
The two state solution is the only means by which to guarantee Israel’s security and to preserve its identity as a Jewish and democratic state, as well as to satisfy the legitimate demand of the Palestinian people for self-determination and national sovereignty. In Steps to a Two State Solution, LFI sets out 30 steps – political, economic and civil society – which Israel, the Palestinians, the international community and the UK could take in order to preserve the viability, and advance the prospects of, a two state solution. They seek to shrink the boundaries of the conflict, begin the process of rebuilding trust and confidence on both sides, and, crucially, ease the plight of the Palestinian people and expand their rights and freedoms while preserving the security of the Israeli people.
Iran: A Darkening Picture at Home and Abroad (2022)
Britain must urgently develop a comprehensive approach to tackling the multi-faceted threat posed by Iran, argues a new report published by Labour Friends of Israel, Iran: A Darkening Picture at Home and Abroad.
Whatever the outcome of the Vienna talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, major challenges unaddressed by the negotiations – including Iran’s ballistic missile programme, its destabilising regional agenda and support for proxy armies, and the regime’s abysmal human rights record – will need to be confronted.
The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach (2021)
Labour Friends of Israel is proud to publish The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach, a collection of essays exploring the dramatic changes in the Middle East in the last decade, and asking how Labour foreign policy should respond to these.
The New Middle East explores a wide range of subjects, from demographic shifts, the malign regional influence of Iran, and the lessons Labour can learn from the Biden administration, in chapter contributions from Steve McCabe MP, Michael Herzog, Moran Zaga, John Lyndon, Huda Abuarquob, Emman El-Badawy, Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale and Gary Kent.
Making the progressive case for Israel (2011)
Making the progressive case for Israel is a collection of essays by leading figures in the Labour movement explores Israel’s progressive economy and society, and celebrates openly Israel’s achievements as a vibrant democracy.