Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, 9 October 2023<\/p>\n
Some 13 of the 31 members of Labour\u2019s shadow cabinet<\/a> have received donations from a prominent pro-Israel lobby group or individual funder, it can be revealed.<\/p>\n The list of recipients includes party leader Keir Starmer, his deputy Angela Rayner, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, and even the former vice-chair of Labour Friends of Palestine, Lisa Nandy, who is now shadow international development minister.<\/p>\n These donations were provided by Labour Friends of Israel<\/a> (LFI), a pro-Israel lobby group which takes MPs on \u201cfact-finding\u201d missions to the region, and Sir Trevor Chinn<\/a>, a multi-millionaire business tycoon and long-time pro-Israel lobbyist.<\/p>\n More than half of Starmer\u2019s shadow cabinet are listed<\/a> as parliamentary supporters or officers of LFI.<\/p>\n The group was established<\/a> in 1957 to \u201cact as a bridge linking [Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion\u2019s party] Mapai\u2026 with the Labour Movement in Great Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n It has since described<\/a> itself as \u201ca Westminster based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n LFI does not disclose its funders, but was revealed<\/a> during an undercover Al Jazeera documentary in 2017 to have close relations with the Israeli embassy in London.<\/p>\n The organisation\u2019s parliamentary officer, for instance, admitted<\/a> on camera that LFI and the Israeli embassy \u201cwork really closely together, but a lot of it is behind the scenes\u201d.<\/p>\n One of LFI\u2019s main activities is to fund Labour MPs to go on \u201cfact-finding\u201d missions to Israel.<\/p>\n Declassified<\/em> has found that since 2002, LFI has contributed<\/a> over \u00a3150,000 towards such activities. Between 2001 and 2009, LFI took<\/a> more Labour MPs on trips abroad than any other lobby group.<\/p>\n Eight members of Starmer\u2019s shadow cabinet have received money from LFI to travel to Israel since being elected MPs. This includes David Lammy, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, shadow business, energy, and industrial strategy secretary Jonathan Reynolds, and shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry.<\/p>\n A further recipient of travel funds is shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is currently a parliamentary vice-chair of LFI.<\/p>\n The value of the trips for the members of the shadow cabinet amounts to over \u00a317,000, with additional expenses in Israel frequently covered<\/a> by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n LFI has also donated<\/a> to Wayne David, the shadow foreign minister for the Middle East and North Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud of Labour\u2019s record in government to strengthen the ties between Britain and Israel\u201d, LFI\u2019s website states<\/a>. \u201cWe view Israel as an essential strategic partner in the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n In July 2022, David Lammy\u00a0made<\/a>\u00a0an unpublicised trip to Israel which was organised mainly by the Labour party but with the help of LFI,\u00a0Declassified<\/em>\u00a0understands.<\/p>\n Lammy\u2019s visit came after a number of human rights organisations, including Amnesty International<\/a>, Human Rights Watch<\/a> and B\u2019tselem<\/a>, had criticised Israel\u2019s practice of apartheid against Palestinians.<\/p>\n Michael Rubin, LFI\u2019s director, noted<\/a> that Lammy\u2019s \u201cfirst visit to Israel as Shadow Foreign Secretary is an important moment in the restoration of Labour\u2019s deep and historic ties of friendship with the Jewish state\u201d.<\/p>\n Keir Starmer has addressed a number of LFI events. In a keynote speech to its annual lunch in November 2021, he repeated<\/a> the racist and colonial adage that Israel was founded by \u201csocial democrats who made the desert flower\u201d.<\/p>\n Last month, Starmer addressed<\/a> the LFI reception at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, describing the lobby group as \u201can invaluable source of energy and ideas for me and my team\u201d.<\/p>\n As of 31 October, just four of the 79 MPs and MSPs listed as LFI supporters or officers have signed<\/a> a parliamentary Early Day Motion which calls for \u201can immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities\u201d.<\/p>\n It also calls for \u201cthe end of the total siege of Gaza\u201d in order \u201cto guarantee international humanitarian law is upheld and that civilians are protected\u201d. No members of the shadow cabinet have signed the motion.<\/p>\n Sir Trevor Chinn is a British multi-millionaire who has spent<\/a> decades working in the motor industry, chairing such organisations as the AA, the RAC, and Kwikfit.<\/p>\n Chinn is also a longstanding pro-Israel lobbyist. Since the 1980s, he has funded<\/a> LFI and Conservative Friends of Israel and played<\/a> a leading role in groups such as Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM<\/a>) and the Jewish Leadership Council.<\/p>\n The Guardian<\/em> described<\/a> BICOM in 2009 as \u201cBritain\u2019s most active pro-Israeli lobbying organisation \u2013 which flies journalists to Israel on fact-finding trips and organises access to senior government figures\u201d.<\/p>\n It added that the organisation had \u201creceived nearly \u00a31.4m in two years from a billionaire donor whose father made a fortune manufacturing arms in Israel\u201d, referring to Poju Zabludowicz, a London-based business tycoon.<\/p>\nLabour Friends of Israel<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Essential strategic partner\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Pro-Israel lobbying<\/strong><\/h2>\n