Declassified UK: Israel’s influence in the UK

The debate that proved the point

Israel’s influence in the UK was debated in Westminster by MPs this week.

More than 118,000 members of the public signed a petition calling for an “inquiry into pro-Israel influence on politics and democracy.” The conversation meant to address the issue only exposed why a real debate has yet to happen.

During proceedings, Independent MP Iqbal Mohammed noted “principles of transparency, scrutiny and accountability appear to vanish” when the topic of foreign influence concerns Israel.

As his counterparts rose to speak, his point was immediately borne out.

A raft of pro-Israel MPs from different political parties quickly came to dominate the discussion, several intent on claiming that even holding the debate was an issue of antisemitism. This immediately poisoned the prospects for honest engagement.

One MP compared the debate to conspiracy theories spread by the Nazis.

Gareth Snell, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, argued that Jewish people were being unfairly singled out. His wife, who is Jewish,  “took a donation from a British citizen who happened to be Jewish,” he said, objecting to her appearance on a list connected to the petition, which named politicians who had received donations from prominent pro-Israel figures and organisations.

What he omitted was that the donor, Trevor Chinn, is one of Britain’s most prominent pro-Israel political donors, having contributed substantial sums to Labour and lobbied government on issues including arms exports to Israel.

Nor did he mention that his wife, former MP Ruth Anderson, previously worked for organisations such as the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) which maintains close links with the Israeli state.

“The debate raises important questions”, explained Conservative MP John Lamont. “About conspiracy theories that have historically fuelled antisemitism.”

In doing so, these MPs illustrated precisely why meaningful scrutiny of the pro-Israel lobby remains so difficult: the discussion is weaponised before it can properly begin.

“There is something deeply uncomfortable about the idea that, out of nearly 200 countries, [Israel] is the world’s only Jewish state that needs a special parliamentary inquiry into hidden influence,” bemoaned Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones.

Inadvertently, they put their finger on the issue.

Conservative Friends of Israel was revealed in 2022 as the biggest funder of MPs’ overseas trips, paying for 155 visits to Israel in a decade - more than any other organisation or foreign government.

By the time Keir Starmer entered Downing Street in 2024, 13 of his 25 cabinet ministers had received donations from pro-Israel groups. As Declassified revealed, since the genocide began, pro-Israel lobby organisations have funded a further 67 trips to Israel for British MPs.

In a conversation about the extent of Israeli influence in the UK, the mere suggestion that such influence exists was met with the familiar outrage and accusations of antisemitism, despite the evidence.

It was a revealing and familiar exercise. The debate set out to rebut the petition’s premise. Instead, it helped demonstrate it.

Hamza Yusuf

Regular Contributor
Declassified UK

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