Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Robert Halfon – £115,847.18
Conservative MP for Harlow
Robert Halfon has been accepting cash from pro-Israel sources since he first stood for Parliament at the 2010 election. One of his first cash donations was £2,500 from Chaim ‘Poju’ Zabludowicz, son of an Israeli arms dealer, who set up the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) and had a share in a property in a suburb of Jerusalem defined as an illegal settlement under international law. The same sum was paid by Zabludowicz to Harlow Conservative Association during the 2010 election campaign, followed by £5,000 from one of his business interests, Tamares Real Estate Investments, in December 2014 and the same amount in Zabludowicz’s own name in January 2015. Donations to Harlow Conservative Association from pro-Israel sources since 2010 total £87,750. Records at the Electoral Commission show that Halfon visited Israel twice at the expense of CFI in May 2012 and February 2014.
The parliamentary register of members’ financial interests shows a further CFI-funded visit to Israel in May 2014. Since 2011 (excluding 2015), Halfon’s hotel costs at the Conservative Party conference have been covered by CFI. Halfon also received a £4,473.99 cash donation from CFI director David Meller in October 2016, towards the cost of an apprentice in his office, and six further cash donations to his Conservative Association from the same source (including £1,843.20 in legal costs).
Al Jazeera’s 2017 documentary, The Lobby, featured Halfon’s then chief of staff plotting with an Israeli government operative to ‘take down’ the then Foreign Office Minister, Sir Alan Duncan.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £115,847.18.
Ian Austin – £58,900.00
Former Labour MP for Dudley North
Ian Austin is the Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Israel. He is also an honorary patron of the pro-Israel Campaign Against Antisemitism. Between 2015 and 2019, Austin included LFI director, Jennifer Gerber, on his list of staff, and, in 2019, he employed Ella Rose (former employee of the Israeli Embassy, president of the Union of Jewish Students and director of the Jewish Labour Movement).
Records at the Electoral Commission show that, while he was an MP, Austin visited Israel twice, once as a guest of LFI and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 2016 and once at the expense of the Australia-Israel Cultural Exchange (AICE) in July 2018.
The parliamentary register of members’ financial interests reveals that the Israeli Knesset and Israeli Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage paid to extend the second of these trips. It also shows that Austin undertook two further trips to Israel, one funded by AICE in December 2015 and one covered by LFI and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2017. In March 2017, LFI covered the cost of Austin’s attendance at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, at which he would speak in 2020.
In May 2019, the American Jewish Congress paid for Austin to visit Washington to talk about antisemitism in the UK. These visits were estimated to cost a combined total of £10,500. Austin also accepted generous cash donations from two pro-Israel donors, Sir David Garrard (£20,900) and Sir Trevor Chinn (£15,000 plus a further £2,500 to Austin’s Dudley North Constituency Labour Party).
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £58,900.00.
Andrew Percy – £37,442.23
Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole
Andrew Percy is a vice chair of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI). Records at the Electoral Commission show that Percy has visited Israel six times since May 2013 (funded by CFI, AICE and the Ubertas Group) and that he has been funded by CFI and the Antisemitism Policy Trust to visit the United States twice, to discuss Hizballah and to visit social media companies respectively. The Antisemitism Policy Trust also funds the APPGAA, with resources from two pro-Israel donors, Stephen Rubin and Trevor Pears.
The parliamentary register of members’ financial interests shows that Percy made a further five visits to Israel – one in February 2011 (funded by CFI), one in January 2012 (funded by AICE), one in April 2014 (funded by CFI), one in December 2015 (funded by AICE) and one in March 2018 (funded by the Antisemitism Policy Trust) to attend the sixth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism (GFCA). The GFCA formalised Israel’s use of ‘the new antisemitism’ strategy as a diplomatic weapon. The total cost of these 11 visits was £24,122.23, including a contribution from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Percy’s Brigg and Goole Conservative Association has also benefited from £13,000 of contributions from donors including Lord Fink, who opposes the boycott of Israel, and Mick Davis, former chair of United Jewish Israel Appeal, the UK’s main fundraising organisation for Israel. In October 2015, Percy signed a letter opposing the cultural boycott of Israel.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £37,442.23.
John Mann – £36,815.92
Former Labour MP for Bassetlaw
John Mann is the government’s ‘tsar’ on antisemitism and former chair of the APPGAA. He visited Israel in February 2008 at the expense of the Parliamentary Committee Against Antisemitism (forerunner to the Antisemitism Policy Trust) to attend the second GFCA. At that meeting, the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) was founded. In a keynote address, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stated: ‘I would also like to take this opportunity to thank John Mann for volunteering to host the Global Forum next year’. This would suggest that the ICCA meeting which Mann organised the following year was seen in Israel as a continuation of the GFCA. At the expense of the ICCA, Mann visited Central America in August 2014 and Google headquarters in San Francisco in September 2014.
Mann returned to Israel in November 2009, to give a speech at the Balfour Dinner at the invitation of the Israel-Britain Commonwealth Association. Mann visited Israel again in May 2013, this time at the expense of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli Embassy in London. Courtesy of the Parliamentary Committee Against Antisemitism, Mann visited Berlin in January 2008 and March 2016, Washington DC in June 2016 and Israel and Qatar in January 2017. The same funder covered the salary of a researcher in Mann’s office to support the work of the APPGAA.
Mann returned to Israel in March 2018, at the expense of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, as part of an APPGAA delegation and to attend the sixth GFCA. The same donor flew him to the US in September 2018 to visit social media companies. The American Jewish Committee covered the cost of further trips to the US in May 2009, February 2018 and June 2019. The total declared cost of these visits was £27,815.92.
In addition to this, Mann’s Bassetlaw Constituency Labour Party received donations from two pro-Israel donors, Sir Trevor Chinn and Sir Trevor Pears, totalling £9,000.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £36,815.92.
Stephen Crabb – £17,909.00
Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire
Stephen Crabb is parliamentary chair of CFI for the House of Commons. According to the Electoral Commission, he has visited Israel six times at the expense of CFI, with contributions from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2017 and 2018. The total cost of these visits was £13,200. More than £2,000 of hotel costs at the Conservative Party conference were covered by CFI in 2018 and 2019, and Crabb accepted a £2,500 cash donation from CFI director, Stephen Massey.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £17,909.00.
Matthew Offord – £13,148.70
Conservative MP for Hendon
Matthew Offord is an officer of CFI, a vice chair of the Britain–Israel APPG and signatory to a letter opposing the cultural boycott of Israel. Declared at the Electoral Commission are four visits to Israel. The first of these, in June 2010, was paid for by the Jewish National Fund, founded in 1901 and described by noted Israeli historian Ilan Pappé as a ‘colonialist agency of ethnic cleansing’ in Palestine. The further three declared visits to Israel – in 2013, 2015 and 2018 – were undertaken at the expense of CFI, the latter in association with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Offord also made two further visits to Israel – one covered by the Jewish National Fund in 2012 and one funded by CFI in 2014. The total declared cost of these visits was £12,348.70.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £13,148.70.
John Howell – £10,875.00
Jack Lopresti – £9,971.00
Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke
Jack Lopresti has declared two visits to Israel at the Electoral Commission – one in July 2014 at the expense of the Ubertas Group, and one in July 2018 at the expense of AICE. However, close scrutiny of the parliamentary register of members’ financial interests shows a further four visits to Israel. One of these, in February 2011, was funded by CFI and ‘other hosts’. One in January 2012 was financed by AICE. One in April 2014 was covered by CFI, then AICE and CFI jointly funded a further trip in December 2015. The declared cost of these six visits was £9,971.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £9,971.00.
Bob Blackman – £9,417.00
Conservative MP for Harrow East
Bob Blackman is an officer of CFI and chair of the Britain–Israel APPG. He has visited Israel three times, once at the expense of the Ubertas Group in July 2014 and twice as a guest of CFI in February 2011 and July 2015 at a total cost of £6,417. In April 2014, Blackman accepted a £3,000 cash donation from Lord Fink. In October 2015, both Blackman and Fink signed a letter opposing the cultural boycott of Israel.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £9,417.00.
Andrew Gwynne – £6,013.00
Labour MP for Denton and Reddish
Andrew Gwynne is a former chair of LFI who remains a supporter. He has visited Israel four times as a guest of LFI. In 2007, 2008 and 2018, a contribution was received from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The total cost of these four visits was declared as £6,013.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £6,013.00.
Chris Bryant – £4,635.00
Labour MP for Rhondda
Chris Bryant is a supporter of LFI. He has visited Israel three times – in June 2003, September 2006 and March 2016 – at the expense of LFI and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The cost of these combined trips was £4,635.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £4,635.00.
Diana Johnson – £3,305.93
Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North
Diana Johnson is a vice chair of LFI. She has visited Israel twice at the expense of LFI in 2006 and 2016. The first of these trips benefited from a contribution from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The total cost of these two visits was declared as £3,305.93.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £3,305.93.
Sharon Hodgson – £3,000.00
Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West
Sharon Hodgson is a vice chair of LFI. She has visited Israel twice at the expense of LFI. On both occasions, in 2008 and 2018, a contribution was received from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The total cost of these four visits was declared as £3,000.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £3,000.00.
Andrew Rosindell – £2,580.00
Conservative MP for Romford
Andrew Rosindell took part in a CFI delegation to Israel in July 2019. He estimated this trip to have cost £2,580.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £2,580.00.
Jonathan Gullis – £2,500.00
Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North
Jonathan Gullis was elected to Parliament in December 2019. He has declared to the Electoral Commission one visit to Israel, made in July 2019, when he was still a parliamentary candidate, estimated to cost £2,500.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £2,500.00.
Tim Loughton – £2,500.00
Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham
Tim Loughton joined a CFI delegation to Israel in July 2019 valued at £2,500.
Total donations received from pro-Israel sources: £2,500.00.