Nearly two months after it commenced a stringent lockdown, Israel appears to be turning a corner in the fight against the coronavirus. The number of new cases over 24-hour periods has consistently been below 200 since the start of last week. On Sunday night, Israel registered only 29 new cases Read more…
The release of Donald Trump’s much-delayed Middle East peace plan in January was a nakedly political bid to boost Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances of re-election. After the conclusion of a “unity government” agreement last week, Netanyahu is guaranteed at least another 18 months as Israel’s prime minister. In that period, he appears determined Read more…
Israel’s year-long political stalemate has come to an end with the signing this week of a coalition deal between Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz. The agreement will see the formation of a “unity government” in which the two men will rotate the premiership. Netanyahu is due to serve as prime Read more…
LFI chair Steve McCabe has written to foreign secretary Dominic Raab urging the government to condemn the detention of the 7 Gazan peace activists arrested by Hamas for taking part in a Zoom with Israeli peace activists and call for their immediate release. You can read Steve’s letter here.
The roller-coaster path to the formation of a new Israeli government took new twists and turns over the last week, with Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz today locked in last-ditch negotiations ahead of a midnight deadline. Gantz’s 28-day mandate to form a government – issued to him by President Reuven Read more…
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be tweeting recommendations of some brilliant Israeli books, tv shows and films to keep you entertained whilst we #StayHomeSaveLives. Follow the recommendations as they’re released on our twitter account. Recommendations so far: Our first recommendation is Tom Segev’s masterful biography of Israel’s founding Read more…
Sir Keir Starmer has underlined his determination to begin the process of ridding the Labour party of antisemitism with a series of moves in his first days as leader. Sir Keir’s actions were welcomed by the new chair of Labour Friends of Israel, Steve McCabe. In an opinion piece for Read more…
LFI chair Steve McCabe MP has written in the Jewish Chronicle following Keir Starmer’s election as Labour leader, you can read the original here. The election of Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader last weekend offers the opportunity to begin rebuilding the relationship between the party and the Jewish community. Read more…
The deadlock which has paralysed Israeli politics for the past year appears to be drawing to a close after a stunning about-face by Benny Gantz last week. After fighting three elections since last April on a pledge to end Benjamin Netanyahu’s decade in office, the opposition leader last week threw Read more…
Israel is engulfed in a constitutional crisis following an effort by the speaker of the Knesset to effectively shutter the country’s parliament and prevent a vote on his replacement. Yuli Edelstein, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, has defied a ruling by the Supreme Court which ordered him to Read more…
Opposition leader Benny Gantz was officially charged yesterday with the task of forming Israel’s next government after a roller-coaster weekend of political manoeuvring. It came against the backdrop of the country in a virtual lockdown as dramatic measures to counter the coronavirus were taken by Benjamin Netanyahu’s caretaker government. Gantz, Read more…
LFI chair Steve McCabe attacked the government’s handling of the Palestinian Authority’s controversial school curriculum in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday. Independent reports have detailed how the curriculum, which the PA began to roll out in 2016, glorifies terrorists, teaches the virtues of martyrdom and contains a series of antisemitic tropes. UK Read more…