Last night, Iran fired 181 missiles at Israel, with most intercepted by the IDF and international partners including the UK, US and Jordan. Around 10 million people were sent to bomb shelters during the attacks. One Palestinian in the West Bank was killed by falling shrapnel and two Israelis were injured. Impacts caused damage to buildings, including a school in Gadera.
CFI statement on Iran’s attacks on Israel: “Iran’s attacks on Israel tonight are deplorable. No country would tolerate the indiscriminate attacks that Israel has faced in the last year from the IRGC and its proxies. The UK Government must not only stand firmly and support Israel but also help to defend our ally against the threat from Iran”.
Seven people were killed in a shooting and stabbing terror attack in Jaffa yesterday evening carried out by two Palestinians from the West Bank. Inbar Segev, a 33-year-old mother who was with her nine-month-old baby during the attack, was named as one of the victims. A passerby took her baby to a hospital. The terrorists were seen smiling on CCTV footage as they carried out the attack. At least eight others were wounded, some seriously.
Today, the IDF announced the first soldier killed fighting the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon, named as Cpt. Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell MP called out the Labour Government’s policies on Israel and pledged his support for the Jewish State in his keynote address at CFI’s packed Conservative Party Reception on Sunday evening, alongside speakers including all Conservative Leadership Candidates.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary expressed his disappointment that “the Labour Government has succumbed to the pressures that it faced in opposition… They are indulging the wrong people on the wrong side of history”.
He underlined that “the issue of Israel is not about political rights and wrongs – at its heart it is about the survival of the Jewish people in their homeland”, acknowledging the “collective, generational trauma that October 7th unleashed”.
A series of senior Conservatives addressed the packed room of 400 people with long queues outside, including Conservative Leadership Candidates Rt. Hon. Robert Jenrick MP, Rt. Hon. Tom Tugendhat MBE MP, Rt. Hon. James Cleverly MP and Rt. Hon. Kemi Badenoch MP. Attendees also heard from Israeli Ambassador H.E. Tzipi Hotovely.
Shai Shojat, the nephew of Michel Nisenbaum who was murdered by Hamas and kidnapped to Gaza on 7th October, also spoke, sharing his uncle’s story and calling for the release of the remaining 101 hostages. He was joined by his 11-year-old daughter Mia at the event.
Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb, who stood in for CFI Parliamentary Chairman (Lords) Rt. Hon. The Lord Pickles to host the event, said that “there has never been a more important year to be present at the Conservative Friends of Israel reception… there has never been a more important moment for… friends of Israel to show their friendship for Israel, to stand at this time with Israel as it has faced attack in recent months from every side imaginable”.
In his address, Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell underlined that “Israel is living in the shadow of terrorist regimes ideologically hellbent on destroying it. In Gaza, Hamas, in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Both armed, financed and supported by Iran – a theocratic tyranny that is trying to develop nuclear weapons in a terrifying bid for regional domination”.
“In Parliament, on the streets of London, on university campuses around the world, we witnessed a form of hysteria. Words like apartheid, genocide. Words that would make those that fought against Hitler and against apartheid in South Africa turn in their graves”, he added.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary continued: “There is a deeply toxic trend that has spread like wildfire. A desire to not only demonise but to delegitimise the Jewish State to the point of turning back the clock to a time it did not exist… these sinister motivations increasingly masquerade as social justice. Blood libels take on the language of human rights”.
Mr Mitchell said he remembered that “immediately after October 7th, there were celebrations, right here in the UK, creating the attacks as resistance, before a single shot was fired in retaliation”.
Conservative Leadership Candidate Rt. Hon. Robert Jenrick MP said that Shai Shojat’s testimony about his uncle “reminds us why we are here, why this country should be standing with Israel, why we believe as Conservatives and as Britons that Israel has a right to defend itself and why a central plank of our foreign policy was to ensure that all the hostages are released and come home into the loving embrace of their friends and their families”.
“If I am fortunate enough to lead our Party”, he said, “you can always count on me to stand with Israel and to stand with our British Jewish community”. Mr Jenrick thanked CFI for its work, stating that “CFI is one of the most fantastic organisations in our Party”. He said that a Conservative Party manifesto under his leadership would include a pledge to move the British Embassy to Jerusalem: “If the Foreign Office and the civil servants won’t do it, I’ll build it myself”.
Conservative Leadership Candidate Rt. Hon. Tom Tugendhat MBE MP said that “the terrorists in Hezbollah have held Lebanon hostage for too long. For too long, has Hassan Nasrallah and his child-trafficking, drug-dealing network of war criminals held an entire nation hostage”. Reflecting on the 7th October attacks, he underlined: “There are those of us with the hostages, and those who stood with the hostage-takers… we’ve seen those who have chosen the path of violence and those who have chosen the path of peace”.
Rejecting the Labour Government’s arms embargo on Israel, he said: “I think we as a Party should be proud of where we’ve stood. I think we as Conservatives should be proud of who we are. I think that we as Conservatives should be absolutely clear that we will always stand with democracies defending themselves against tyrannies… To those that say there should be an arms embargo on a country defending itself against terror, I say no”.
Conservative Leadership Candidate and Shadow Home Secretary Rt. Hon. James Cleverly MP reflected on his visit to Israel as Foreign Secretary after 7th October in solidarity with Israel, when he witnessed the aftermath of the Hamas attacks. He underlined in his speech that “when a friend has experienced something as brutal as the atrocities of 7th October, we stand shoulder to shoulder with them”.
He said that “ambiguity gets put to one side, solidarity comes to the fore and… in defence of democracy, in the defence of [Israel’s] democracy and the attempt to recover [Israel’s] people, you will enjoy my personal support and the support of the Conservative Party”.
Conservative Leadership Candidate and Shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Rt. Hon. Kemi Badenoch MP said that “the UK’s relationship with Israel is absolutely critical”. She emphasised: “We are allies. We are friends. And we need to stick together. Our two countries both have an unwavering belief in freedom and democracy and at this time we can see that freedom and democracy is in peril in the Middle East”, adding that “Israeli pharmaceuticals supply our NHS. Israeli intelligence helps us prevent terrorist attacks. Israeli arms imports help our service personnel. Israel supports the UK. The UK will support Israel”.
She underlined: “Israel is fighting a war for the West – Israel is fighting for survival”.
In her speech, Israeli Ambassador H.E. Tzipi Hotovely said that “in the last five years, under the incredible Conservative leadership… the UK-Israel relationship has [grown] to new peaks and heights”. The Ambassador recalled the Iranian attacks on Israel on 14th April, when “the Royal Air Force was defending Israel… We are facing the same enemies”.
She thanked Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb and CFI for “everything you have done for Israel”. “This is how real friends behave”, she said. “Thank you to great friends who are not attending tonight… Lord Eric Pickles and Lord Stuart Polak – thank you for everything you have done for the State of Israel. Special thank you to Hilda Worth and all the CFI team and James Gurd who has left after 14 years”.
Many of the speakers thanked former MPs who had lost their seats in the General Election, including Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Ellis, Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers, Rt. Hon. Stephen Crabb and Rt. Hon. Sir Liam Fox.
The Chairman of the Conservative Party, Richard Fuller MP, also spoke at the event, as well as Chair of the UK Abraham Accords Group, Rt. Hon. Sir Liam Fox, with CFI Chair Hilda Worth giving the vote of thanks.
The Conservative Party Chairman thanked CFI for campaigning for Conservative candidates “at election time and between elections”. “I can say on behalf of my remaining colleagues how grateful we are for the support that you have given us”, he said.
Rt. Hon. Sir Liam Fox called for IRGC proscription in his speech, stating: “If you don’t realise that the IRGC are now a terrorist organisation willing to expunge Israel from the face of the earth, you’re not watching the same news that I am. They are a terrorist organisation. The IRGC should be proscribed. There should be no hesitation about it”.
We were delighted to also host a panel discussion chaired by CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE with guest speakers Bob Blackman CBE MP – Chair of the 1922 Committee, Lord Callanan – Shadow Lords Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, and CFI Political Director Elkie Clark – who reflected on recent events in the region in the lead up to the anniversary of the 7th October Hamas attacks on Israel.
Thank you to everyone who signed up to support CFI at our exhibition stand and attended our events
