Labour came out in support of proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps this week, as the Iranian regime continues its attempts to crush protestors. What happened On Saturday, Iran announced that it had executed a dual Iranian-British national, Ali Reza Akbari, who had previously served a deputy defence minister, amid Read more…
LFI parliamentary supporter Kim Leadbeater has today written to prime minister Rishi Sunak to push him to pledge UK participation in the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, a longstanding LFI campaign goal. The letter referenced Sunak’s comments to Conservative Friends of Israel in December 2022, in which he committed to Read more…
At a backbench business debate on the treatment of protestors in Iran yesterday, Labour’s shadow minister for the Middle East, Bambos Charalambous MP, called for a “coordinated international approach” to deal with the Iranian regime that would require “maximum pressure” to succeed. In his comments, Charalambous said that a “coordinated Read more…
A number of LFI MPs and their colleagues have today used a backbench business debate in the House of Commons on the treatment of protestors in Iran to push the government to adopt a more comprehensive strategy towards Iran. In the debate, LFI vice-chair John Spellar MP twice repeated LFI’s Read more…
The UK government is reportedly preparing to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, following a longstanding campaign by LFI and many Jewish community groups. The IRGC is a hugely influential apparatus of the Iranian state, spearheading operations against opponents of the regime at home and abroad, especially in entrenching Iran’s influence in Iraq, Read more…
The parliament of Oman, which has widely been speculated to be a prime candidate for future diplomatic normalisation with Israel, voted last week to criminalise relations or interactions with “the Zionist entity”. The legislation would “severe any economic, sports or cultural relations” and “prohibit dealing in any way or means, Read more…
Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent weeks to show their opposition to the formation of Israel’s most right-wing government. What happened The new coalition government, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is made up of six parties: right-wing Likud, far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel was delighted today to partner with the Jewish Labour Movement to organise a series of sessions on Israel and the Middle East as part of their one-day conference. First up was a fascinating discussion between Dame Louise Ellman and Labour’s shadow Middle East minister Bambos Charalambous, Read more…
Iran announced that it has publicly hanged a 23-year-old as the second execution linked to the recent anti-government protests. On Monday, 23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged in the city of Mashhad after a court convicted him of “enmity against God” after being accused of killing two members of the paramilitary Basij Read more…
Last week, Likud Knesset member Danny Danon told an international Abraham Accords forum that he expects to “see an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the coming year.” Diplomats, business leaders and high ranking academics gathered in Rome at the Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit to discuss ways to expand Read more…
LFI director Michael Rubin has written the below article for LabourList. Click here to read the original. The plight of the people of Gaza is desperate and undeniable. Amid rampant unemployment, creaking infrastructure and overstretched services nearly two in three Gazans live below the poverty line. At Labour Friends of Israel, Read more…
View a PDF copy of our new pamphlet: Gaza Reconstruction Revitalisation and Reality 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 Read more…