At today’s Urgent Question on talks to de-escalate the violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, LFI parliamentarians pushed the UK government to demonstrate leadership to bring Israel and the Palestinians together in a peace process, with the goal of a negotiated two-state solution. LFI vice-chair Dame Diana Johnson Read more…
Israel’s opposition leaders have rejected changes to Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reforms announced late on Sunday night. What happened The ruling coalition proposed a mild watering down of its effort to ensure the government’s control over judicial appointments. President Isaac Herzog announced a much-awaited alternative judicial reform package last week. It was Read more…
Today’s FCDO orals session saw LFI parliamentarians push the government on a number of policy issues. LFI parliamentary supporter and former LFI chair Andrew Gwynne MP asked the foreign secretary about UK support for the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, noting that it is now five years since the UK Read more…
February saw a sharp increase in the proportion of Israelis who describe the Jewish state’s overall situation as either bad or very bad, according to the Israeli Democracy Institute’s February 2023 polling. The percentage of Israelis who are optimistic about the future of Israel’s national security declined from 46 percent Read more…
LFI director Michael Rubin has written the below article for the Jewish Chronicle. Click here to read the original. For friends of Israel, the last two months have been depressing and disturbing. Benjamin Netanyahu’s self-serving efforts to emasculate the independence of the judiciary and the repellent actions and rhetoric of his far-right Read more…
Record numbers of Israelis took part in protests on Saturday night as opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms continues to mount. An estimated 250,000 people took to the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and over 90 other locations. Almost all the reservists in the Israeli air force’s elite Squadron Read more…
The coalition led by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose nine seats and lose its majority in the Knesset if a new election was called, according to a poll released on Friday. The poll was the latest in a series of surveys indicating that the government’s efforts to overhaul Read more…
A weekend of violence in the West Bank saw two Israelis murdered in a terror attack and a deadly and unprecedented riot by settlers in the Palestinian town of Huwara. The violence came during a summit at the Jordanian port of Aqaba aimed at reducing tensions ahead of the Muslim Read more…
The Knesset last night passed the first reading of key elements of the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform package, despite widespread protests, polling showing strong public opposition, and calls by President Isaac Herzog for a delay and negotiations. The legislation was passed by 63-47. However some MKs, including the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, Read more…
LFI vice-chair Catherine McKinnell MP has written the below article for JewishNews. Click here to read the original. Last week, I travelled to Israel for the first time as part of a delegation organised by Labour Friends of Israel. As we heard repeatedly, our trip comes at a time when the Read more…
Two children and a 20-year-old student died in a terrorist attack in northern Jerusalem on Friday when a car was driven into a crowd waiting at a bus stop. The attack brought to 10 the number of Israeli civilians killed by terrorists in the last two weeks. The two children who Read more…
The Netanyahu government’s controversial judicial reforms have begun their passage through the Knesset this week – amid a national strike, huge demonstrations and an unprecedented appeal from President Isaac Herzog for the current plans to be abandoned. What happened More than 100,000 Israelis rallied at the Knesset on Monday Read more…