Labour Friends of Israel

History

LFI was founded at the 1957 Labour Party Conference. Its membership is organised into local branches. Seeking to strengthen the bond between the Labour Party and the Israeli Labor Party, it organises meetings of senior figures in both the UK and Israel.

2000–2015

In 2003, LFI described itself as "a Westminster based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel".

It has been described as "less unquestioning in its support of the Israeli government than the Conservative Friends of Israel". Between 2001 and 2009, LFI sponsored more than 60 MPs to visit Israel, more than any other group.

In 2010, Jennifer Gerber, previously director of Progress and before that, special advisor to Andy Burnham, was appointed director.

In 2011, LFI adopted a new strategy of becoming a wider membership organisation and of operating under the slogan "Working Towards a Two-State Solution".

In 2011, John Woodcock was appointed chair, followed in May 2013 by Dame Anne McGuire and, in 2015, Joan Ryan.

In 2014, Adrian Cohen, a corporate lawyer, the chair of the London Jewish Forum, a trustee of the Jewish Leadership Council and a deputy of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was appointed Lay Chair.

2016 onwards

With the ascent to the leadership of the Labour Party, in September 2015, of Jeremy Corbyn, who has a history of support for Palestinians, the relationship between the LFI and the party leadership deteriorated.

LFI had been depleted of Parliamentary supporters who had lost their seats at the 2015 general election. In 2016, LFI announced it had trebled its number of Parliamentary supporters, stating that 65 MPs had pledged to back the group, at a time when many MPs rebelled against the leadership of the party. LFI re-branded itself as "Labour Friends of Israel: For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace", created a Young LFI group, and stated it would support the Alliance for Middle East Peace's international fund.

In early 2017, Al Jazeera released a four-part documentary entitled The Lobby, which investigated aspects of the Israel lobby in the United Kingdom, particularly relating to the Labour Party. A member of Israeli embassy staff, Shai Masot, was recorded "plotting" to take down British MPs who favour recognition of a Palestinian state; links to the Labour Friends of Israel were put under the spotlight, including a reference to the availability of £1m from the Israeli government.

In March 2018, supporters of LFI, along with the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, took part in a protest critical of the Corbyn leadership, stating that antisemitism was present in the Labour Party.

In February 2019, after having lost a vote of no confidence by her local constituency Labour Party, Joan Ryan resigned from the Labour Party to join the recently formed The Independent Group, but retained her position as Chair of LFI. She became Honorary President in August 2019 and Dame Louise Ellman succeeded her as Parliamentary Chair. In October 2019, Ellman resigned from the Labour Party. Neither stood for reelection in the 2019 general election. However, despite resigning from the Labour Party, they remained members of LFI.

As of July 2020, around a quarter of the Parliamentary Labour Party and a third of the shadow cabinet were members of the group. In September 2020, Jennifer Gerber stepped down as director and was replaced by Michael Rubin. In September 2020, LFI doubled its number of vice-chairs to 11, with the addition of Rosie Cooper, Chris Evans, Dame Diana Johnson, Peter Kyle, Conor McGinn and Catherine McKinnell.

Related groups

The Yigal Allon Educational Trust, founded in 1985 by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, MP Ian Mikardo, Lord Glenamara and others, has supported Labour Friends of Israel.

Parliamentary supporters of LFI

As of February 2022, the officers, sitting MPs, Lords and former members who were supporters of LFI are set out below.

Officers

As of July 2026.

Mark Sewards: Chair

Damien Egan: Vice-Chair

Baroness Berger: Vice-Chair

Lord McCabe: Vice-Chair

Catherine McKinnell: Vice-Chair

Peter Prinsley: Vice-Chair

Sitting MPs

Labour (unless otherwise stated) (* = Cabinet Minister)

Fleur Anderson

Hilary Benn

*Chris Bryant as of July 2026 Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Liam Byrne

Neil Coyle

Feryal Clark

*Yvette Cooper As of July 2026, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Janet Daby

*Angela Eagle As of June 2026, Minister of State for Security, as of 20 July 2026, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Maria Eagle

Chris Elmore

Chris Evans

Florence Eshalomi

Barry Gardiner

Preet Gill

Mary Glindon

Lilian Greenwood

Nia Griffith

Carolyn Harris

Fabian Hamilton

Sharon Hodgson

Dan Jarvis former Secretary of State for Defence

Diana Johnson

Darren Jones

Sitting Lords

Labour (unless otherwise stated)

Baron Anderson of Swansea

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top

Lord Beamish

Baron Beecham

Lord Blunkett

Lord Boateng

Lord Clarke of Hampstead

Lord Collins of Highbury

Baroness Crawley

Lord Desai

Lord Donoughue

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Baroness Gale

Lord Grantchester

Lord Hain

Lord Harrison

Lord Haskel

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

Baroness Hodge of Barking

Lord Hughes of Woodside

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley

Lord Kennedy of Southwark

Lord Levy

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke

Lord Livermore

Former members

David Abrahams, former Treasurer

Lord Archer of Sandwell

Sir Stuart Bell

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister

Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister

Nick Brown

Stephen Byers, former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

Rosie Cooper

Jon Cruddas

Wayne David

Andrew Dismore

Michael Dugher

Derek Foster

Anthony Greenwood, first Chair of LFI (1957)

Andrew Gwynne

Baroness Hayman

George Howarth

Joan Humble

Barbara Keeley

Jane Kennedy, Chair of LFI (2007)

Ivan Lewis, former vice-chair of LFI

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston

Denis MacShane

Chris Matheson

Michael McCann, Vice-chair of LFI

Conor McGinn