The terrorist attack at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem last week, and ongoing disturbances surrounding new security measures introduced around the holy site by Israel, has thrown a renewed focus on what has been described as “the most incendiary spot in the Middle East”. Two Israeli police officers standing guard Read more…
The government yesterday announced a huge boost for UK support for coexistence funding in a major victory for LFI’s longstanding campaign on the issue. The Department for International Development has pledged up to £3 million for the next three years to support people-to-people projects which bring Israelis and Palestinians together. UK support Read more…
Avi Gabbay, a political outsider, was elected leader of the Israeli Labor party on Monday. His upset victory – in the second round of the primary election, Gabbay convincingly defeated Amir Peretz, a one-time party leader and cabinet minister – brought immediate comparisons with the rise of Emmanuel Macron in France. Once Read more…
The Israeli Labor party will have a new leader after Isaac Herzog lost his bid for re-election earlier this week. With no candidate clearing the 40 percent threshold needed to win outright in the first round, the top two-placed candidates – Amir Peretz (pictured) and Avi Gabbay – will fight Read more…
In a House of Commons debate yesterday on Israel-Palestinian peace talks, LFI parliamentary supporters challenged the government on its cuts to co-existence funding, pushed our campaign for an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and highlighted the barriers to peace, including PA incitement and terrorism. LFI chair Joan Ryan urged the government to “reverse their elimination of Read more…
LFI’s campaign in support of the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace received a major boost this week with the endorsement of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. In a joint statement backing the Fund, which aims to provide much-needed funding for coexistence Read more…
Ten years ago this month, Hamas executed a brutal takeover of Gaza, one that saw the terrorist group murder its political opponents and impose an Islamist regime on the poverty-stricken enclave. On three occasions since, most recently in 2014, the group has provoked bloody conflicts with Israel after sustained attacks Read more…
Benjamin Netanyahu and the leader of the Israeli Labor party, Isaac Herzog, secretly flew to Cairo last April to engage in clandestine talks with Arab leaders aimed at restarting the Middle East peace process. The meeting between Netanyahu, Herzog and Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was revealed on Monday in the Israeli media. The Labor Read more…
More than 200,000 people are expected to travel to Tel Aviv this weekend to participate in the annual Pride celebrations – the largest such event in the Middle East and Asia. The event symbolises Israel’s strong record on LGBT rights. The new Jewish state inherited Mandate-era laws banning same-sex relationships. While Read more…
There are few better examples of the yawning gap between Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric and governing reality than his approach towards Israel. After eight years of Barack Obama’s alleged cool indifference, the Israeli right were led to believe they would have a “true friend” in the White House once again: one who would Read more…
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…