Steve McCabe MP is to become the new parliamentary chair of Labour Friends of Israel. Mr McCabe replaces Dame Louise Ellman who stood down as an MP at December’s general election. Mr McCabe was elected to parliament in 1997 and served as a whip under the last Labour government and Read more…
LFI’s chair, Louise Ellman, and her predecessor, Joan Ryan, both left the House of Commons this week when parliament was dissolved. Neither will be seeking re-election in the general election on 12 December. Ms Ryan – who will continue to work with LFI in her new role as our honorary Read more…
LFI chair Dame Louise Ellman has written to the foreign secretary to demand action in response to Hezbollah’s precision missile project, which poses a serious threat to Israel and is in direct violation of UNSCR 1701 that brought an end to the Second Lebanon War. Louise urges Britain to make a Read more…
Following Dame Louise Ellman’s decision to resign her membership of the Labour Party, LFI have released the following statement: Jennifer Gerber, director of LFI, said: “Louise Ellman has taken a characteristically brave and principled decision today. It highlights once again the institutional antisemitism which continues to shame the Labour Party Read more…
Dame Louise Ellman has launched a strong attack on antisemitism in the Labour party. In her first major speech since becoming chair of Labour Friends of Israel, she said she understood and shared the fear of many Jews about Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister. Speaking at the LFI annual reception Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel took a group of centre-left parliamentarians on delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories at the end of July. The group was led by LFI chair Dame Louise Ellman MP, and included LFI honorary president Joan Ryan MP, Rosie Cooper MP, Steve McCabe MP, and Phil Read more…
Dame Louise Ellman is to become the new chair of Labour Friends of Israel, replacing Joan Ryan, who will assume the role of honorary president – a position once held by Harold Wilson, a similarly staunch supporter of Israel and ally of the Jewish community in Britain. Ms Ryan has Read more…
LFI vice-chair Dame Louise Ellman MP has spoken about the forgotten plight of the Jewish refugees from the Middle East and north Africa, in a Parliamentary debate. In a debate in Westminster Hall, Dame Louise Ellman highlighted the tragic plight of the 850,000 Jews displaced from the Middle East in Read more…
This op-ed first appeared in the Jewish News, click here to view the original. Many of us have never needed convincing about just how dangerous Hezbollah is. That’s why – alongside Jewish communal organisations and colleagues from across the House of Commons – we campaigned to have this antisemitic terror group proscribed Read more…
Following reports that the UK security services in 2015 foiled an plot by Hezbollah agents in the UK, LFI chair Joan Ryan has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid expressing concern about the withholding of information about the plot from both the public and parliament. Until February of this year, Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel is launching ‘Speakers for a Two-State Solution’, a grassroots initiative for activists to lead discussions in the Labour party and centre-left groups about how to bring a peaceful end to the conflict in the Middle East. LFI is providing training and resources to ensure activists feel Read more…
LFI officers have written to the secretary of state for international development, Penny Mordaunt, to urge the UK government to urgently make funds available to support coexistence group MEET, Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow. MEET plays an essential role in bringing young Israelis and Palestinians together to foster peaceful dialogue. Read more…