A former government minister has claimed “British foreign policy is in hock to Israeli influence” and called for a “full inquiry” into the Israeli embassy and the funding, access and connections of pro-Israeli British political groups.
The remarks came as a video revealed an Israeli embassy official, Shai Masot, discussed “taking down” the Deputy Foreign Secretary with Maria Strizzolo, a former aide to Education Minister Robert Halfon.
Deputy Foreign Secretary Sir Alan Duncan is known for being critical of the Israeli government and was referred to by Mr Masot as a “horrible anti-Israel” MP.
Writing anonymously in the Mail on Sunday for fear of being “subjected to a relentless barrage of abuse and character assassination” the former Cameron government minister said: “British foreign policy is in hock to Israeli influence at the heart of our politics, and those in authority have ignored what is going on.”
He said that UK government policy was “thwarted” by the the groups Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) who worked with the Israeli government in London.
While numerous MPs are members of both organisations, they are not official parliamentary bodies.
“The CFI is not affiliated to the Conservative Party,” the former minister wrote. “It is incorporated in a way that means it is not transparent about donors. Yet it arranges for the support of MPs and funds regular visits to Israel which distort the truth. “
The occupation of Palestinian land by Israeli settlements is a particular issue of contention for the former minister, who wrote that it is ignored by ministers because of funding concerns.
“Cameron turned a blind eye to Israeli misconduct – if he ever cared about it – because he was persuaded any criticism would reduce Party donations.”
The LFI was also referenced by Mr Masot in the secret recordings, filmed by Al Jazeera. He told their undercover reporter that they were looking to launch a youth wing and suggested he consider himself for a leadership role.
The former minister continued in the Mail: “It now seems clear people in the Conservative and Labour Parties have been working with the Israeli embassy which has used them to demonise and trash MPs who criticise Israel; an army of Israel’s useful idiots in Parliament.
“This is politically corrupt, and diplomatically indefensible. The conduct of certain MPs needs to be exposed as the poisonous and deceitful infiltration of our politics by the unwitting agents of another country.”
The minister called for a “full inquiry” into the workings of these groups and the Israeli embassy and said the “opaque funding and underhand conduct is a national disgrace and humiliation and must be stamped out”.
The Labour party have also demanded an inquiry. However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said it considers the matter "closed".
The LFI told The Independent: "It is clear from these recordings that Mr Masot was exaggerating his role and pretending to have influence he absolutely did not have. He was told clearly by LFI that any young LFI grouping would be organised by us, not by the Embassy. Although Mr Masot mentioned the idea of financially supporting a launch event this was turned down by LFI. 'Robin Harrow’ [the undercover reporter] was never the chair of Young LFI. There is no such post and Mr Masot was told clearly not to refer to him as such.”
"LFI was founded sixty years ago by friends of Israel within the Labour party. Both then and now we bring together grassroots members of the party, parliamentarians and trade unionists to support the right to existence of the world’s only Jewish state against those who seek to demonise, delegitimise and destroy it. As part of our advocacy of a two-state solution, we work alongside many organisations, both Israeli and Palestinian. Among those we work with is the Embassy of the State of Israel, and, indeed, Ambassador Mark Regev spoke at our Annual Reception at Labour party conference and our Annual Lunch in November."
