Steve McCabe, chair of Labour Friends of Israel, has today written to the foreign secretary, urging the UK government to expel Iran’s Chargé d’Affaires in London and downgrade diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, proscribe Tehran’s ideological army, and widen sanctions on the regime’s executioners and propagandists. In his letter Read more…
At today’s Foreign Office Questions, a number of Labour MPs demanded more action from the government to punish the Iranian regime for its treatment of protestors in recent months. LFI vice-chair John Spellar once again called for the government to proscribe the IRGC, the Iranian regime’s ideological terror army. “What Read more…
The escalating situation in the West Bank is likely to only get worse in the coming year as current tensions should not simply view this as a ‘wave of terror’ according to several Israeli officials. Brig. Gen. Amit Saar said that Iran will be the most challenging issue posing Israel Read more…
Isaac Herzog this week returned to Israel after a two-day visit to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The Israeli President’s visit underlined the changed relationship between the two Gulf states and the Jewish state following the Abraham Accords, while also highlighting some potential difficulties on the horizon. What happened Read more…
The Jerusalem Post has this week reported that Iranian authorities have been working with Qatar to suppress expressions of anti-regime sentiment at the ongoing FIFA World Cup. In a leaked recording, IRGC Basij commander General Ghasem Ghoreyshi told a Fars news reporter that Qatar had provided a list of Iranians Read more…
The Iranian authorities are engaged in an increasingly brutal crackdown as protests against the regime enter their 11th week and the death toll exceeds 450. While the protests are taking placing nationwide, reports last week suggested the government was deploying heavy weapons and helicopters to quell unrest in mainly Kurdish Read more…
This evening, a number of Labour MPs joined a briefing from Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid at an event organised by the UK-Israel APPG. Eid’s work since the 1990s has focused on human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, including by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. He also spoke Read more…
The US government has expressed “deep concern” this week over progress Iran is making on its nuclear programme and ballistic missile capacity, while a number of European governments, including the UK, accused Tehran of ramping up uranium enrichment with “no credible civilian justification”. The reaction came hours after Iran confirmed it Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel welcomed shadow chancellor and LFI vice-chair Rachel Reeves as keynote speaker at its Annual Lunch this week, the largest since Labour was last in government. Following on from last year’s success, at which Labour leader Keir Starmer made clear his rejection of antisemitic anti-Zionism and BDS, the 2022 Read more…
*** Check against delivery *** Chief Rabbi, Parliamentarians, my fellow guests and speakers. It is a pleasure to be with you at the LFI Annual Lunch this afternoon. I want to thank the lunch sponsors, Sir David Garrard and Isaac Kaye, and all of you whose generosity makes Read more…
*** Check against delivery *** Labour Friends of Israel Annual Lunch Tuesday 22 November 2022 Steve McCabe MP, Chair Labour Friends of Israel Introduction Chief Rabbi, Ambassador Hotovely, friends. It’s my great pleasure to welcome you to Labour Friends of Israel’s Annual Lunch. We wouldn’t be Read more…
** Check against delivery ** נאום לידידי.ות ישראל בלייבור הבריטי Labour Friends of Israel 22 נובמבר 2022 Thank you, Steve, for that kind introduction. I am delighted to be with you this afternoon at LFI’s annual lunch. Can I begin by thanking LFI for your valued work: making the Read more…