*** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY *** Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP Labour Friends of Israel Annual Lunch 2018 Chief Rabbi, Ambassador Regev, friends Thank you to all of you for being here today. In particular, I want to thank Sir David Garrard and Isaac Kaye, our long-standing lunch sponsors. I also want to thank all Read more…
Rarely has an American administration invested such hope in – or kow-towed so nakedly to – a Middle Eastern state in the manner which Donald Trump’s has done since taking office last January. The president’s entire strategy for the region appears to have been shaped by a belief that Saudi Read more…
The fragile working relationship between Israel and Russia in Syria – which gave Israel freedom of manoeuvre in Syrian skies – has come under severe strain after the downing of a Russian Ilyushin military intelligence plane, killing the 15 servicemen on board. The incident, which occurred in mid-September, saw Syrian Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan wrote this week to Jeremy Corbyn asking him to explain his apparent decision to honour the terrorists behind the Munich massacre during a 2014 visit to Tunisia. Ms Ryan also called upon the Labour leader to apologise to the bereaved families of the 11 Israeli athletes who were Read more…
Last weekend, in an extraordinary humanitarian operation, Israel helped evacuate 800 members of the White Helmets and their families. Israel, working with North American and European countries, including the UK, transported the humanitarian workers from South West Syria into Jordan. Jordan, which has consistently refused to accept Syrian refugees in recent years, Read more…
Donald Trump’s hope of pulling off the “ultimate deal” – an end to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – appears to be more distant than ever, with US media reporting a significant downgrading of the US effort. This week the Washington Post suggested that, with the American Middle East peace Read more…
LFI chair Rt. Hon Joan Ryan MP has written to Israeli Ambassador H.E Mark Regev regarding Khan al-Ahmar. You can read the letter here.
When Prince William arrives in Israel next week, it will be the first official royal visit to the country in the Jewish state’s 70-year history. The visit will underline the growing bond between Britain and Israel, and help put to bed historical strains in relations between the two countries. It is believed Read more…
Over the past five years, Iran has played a major role in assisting President Assad to the brink of victory in Syria’s bloody civil war. However, the Islamic republic’s actions have not been driven simply but its long-standing friendship with the Syrian regime. Instead, Iran has used the civil war Read more…
LFI chair Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP has written to the Home Secretary regarding this weekend’s Al Quds Day march. You can see the letter here. Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP, Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “I am appalled that the government should once again have allowed this Read more…
This weekend’s Al-Quds Day parade may once again see the flags of Hezbollah, an antisemitic terror group, flying in the streets of central London. Initiated by Ayatollah Khomeni in 1979, Al Quds Day is now marked internationally, normally at the end of Ramadan. Its intent – to destroy the state Read more…
Seven Labour parliamentarians toured Israel and the Palestinian territories this week on a delegation run by Labour Friends of Israel. LFI parliamentary chair Joan Ryan led the delegation, and she was joined by MPs Louise Ellman, Andrew Gwynne, Stephen Morgan, Sharon Hodgson, and Jonathan Reynolds, as well as Lord Roy Kennedy. The delegation Read more…