JEWS CONTROL BRITISH POLITICS: Israel lobby funded 15 new MPs before election

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Over a dozen new MPs accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups before they were even elected to parliament.

The donations were provided by the Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel groups, which aim to promote Israel’s interests in Britain but do not disclose their own sources of funding.

Twelve successful Labour candidates and three Conservatives travelled to Israel with these organisations in the year leading up to Britain’s general election.

The total cost of the trips was over £30,000, with some of them taking place amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and being described as “solidarity” missions.

The revelation comes in the first MPs’ register of interests for the new parliament, which was released this month.

Andrew Feinstein, an arms trade expert who stood as an independent candidate against Keir Starmer, told Declassified: “It is deeply disturbing that the Friends of Israel organisations are attempting to cultivate politicians in Britain even before they are elected”.

These efforts “are ongoing amid the indefensible genocide in Gaza”, he continued, and raised concerns that the candidates “might not actually know who is really funding their junkets to Israel” given the lobby groups’ refusal to say where their money comes from.

Declassified previously revealed that one in four British MPs in the last parliament accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups or individuals.

Delegations to Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) paid for four prospective Labour MPs to travel to Israel in July 2023, one year before they were first elected to parliament.

They were Stevenage’s new MP Kevin Bonavia, High Peak’s Jon Pearce, Dover’s Mike Tapp, and Bournemouth West’s Jessica Toale.

The trip involved a meeting with Israeli Labor party leader Merav Michaeli, who in 2022 declared that the biggest threat to Israel was losing its “essence” by “mixing with three million Palestinians”.

Additional meetings were held with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and the Israel Defence Forces’ current reserve spokesperson, Peter Lerner.

Bonavia, who signed We Believe in Israel’s “Pledge for Israel” in 2019, recently refused to say whether he thinks the new Labour government should suspend arms sales to Israel.

“As somebody from a legal background, I always believe in looking at the evidence first before making decisions”, he declared.

‘Britain can learn so much from Israel’
LFI brought another six future Labour MPs to Israel in September 2023.

Participants included Uxbridge’s Danny Beales, Dunfermline’s Graeme Downie, Grimsby’s Melanie Onn, Leigh’s Jo Platt, Rother Valley’s Jake Richards, and Chipping Barnet’s Dan Tomlinson.

Only one prospective candidate in the group, Harrow’s Primesh Patel, did not go on to win a seat at the election.

The trip, heralded as LFI’s largest ever parliamentary candidate delegation, involved a “security briefing” on Hamas’ military capacity as well as meetings with Israeli politicians and businesses.

“LFI has always believed that enabling Labour politicians to witness Israel’s security challenges for themselves […] is key to ensuring political debate around Israel in the UK remains well-informed and balanced”, announced the organisation’s vice-chair, Sharon Hodgson.

Tomlinson said the visit offered a reminder of Israel’s “achievements over the past eight decades: the Middle East’s only democracy, vibrant civic society, a strong welfare state, and a thriving economy”.

He added: “Britain can learn so much from Israel, its entrepreneurial spirit and technological innovations are unique, and Labour should take inspiration as we seek to rebuild the country through mission-led government”.

A third LFI delegation was organised in March 2024, six months into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

It was attended by Labour candidates Matthew Patrick and Mike Reader, who are now MPs for Wirral West and Northampton South.

Weeks earlier, Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) had led its own “special solidarity” trip to Israel for four prospective Tory MPs.

Three of them have now been elected to parliament. They are Huntingdon’s Ben Obese-Jecty, Weald of Kent’s Katie Lam, and Bromsgrove’s Bradley Thomas.

Obese-Jecty, a former member of the British armed forces, recently criticised those “clamouring for the UK to suspend our small volume of arms sales” to Israel.

Friends of Israel
LFI has described itself as a “Westminster based lobby group working with the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel”.

Its main activities include taking politicians on “fact finding” missions to Israel, hosting annual banquets, and organising private briefings for ministers.

LFI also enjoys close links to the Israeli state.

The organisation’s former director David Mencer is now a spokesperson for the Israeli government.

Its current director, Michael Rubin, was once secretly filmed saying LFI and the Israeli embassy “work really closely together, but a lot of it is behind the scenes”.

Joan Ryan, a former Labour MP and LFI chair, was recorded discussing a potential £1m payment with an Israeli embassy official.

CFI also has similarly close links with the Israeli state, and counts some 80% of Tory MPs as its members.

The organisation was previously revealed as the largest funder of foreign trips for British politicians.

LFI and CFI were approached for comment.

Source: https://www.declassifieduk.org/israel-lobby-funded-15-new-mps-before-election/