This week in Parliament, British parliamentarians took part in a video conference with their Israeli counterparts in the first UK-Israel Parliamentary Friendship group meeting of its kind.
During the meeting, politicians discussed the importance of inter-parliamentary dialogue and the deep ties that exist between the UK and Israel.
In attendance were CFI officers John Howell MP and Will Quince MP, joined by CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE, as well as Labour and Liberal Democrat parliamentarians. The meeting was co-chaired by Labour Friends of Israel chair Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP, and Zionist Union MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin.
Knesset members representing the governing coalition were Likud MKs Amir Ohana and Sharren Haskel, and Oded Forer from Yisrael Beiteinu.
The parliamentarians discussed their mutual concern over rising levels of anti-Semitism, welcoming the British Government’s zero tolerance policy.
They hailed UK-Israel trade, which is at an all-time high of around £6 billion, and noted the ineffectiveness of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
MKs raised their concerns about Iran, which Ms Haskel described as the ‘greatest threat in the Middle East’.
Parliamentarians concluded by discussing how Iran’s increasing hegemonic regional ambitions, as well as the growing weapons supply of Iranian proxy Hezbollah and the threat of Daesh, have led to the alignment of interests between Israel and its Gulf neighbours, opening unprecedented lines of communication.
