Pro-Israeli lobby groups have financed all expenses paid trips for Conservative MPs to travel to Israel, as the death toll in Gaza escalates to over 26,000 people.
Nine members of Britain’s government (MP) have been exposed for accepting funds from pro-Israel lobbyists, despite Israel’s indiscriminate onslaught on Gaza.
On Monday, Declassified UK blew the whistle on members of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government who have collectively received £19,857 in donations from Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and the European Leadership Network (ELNET).
The CFI are a parliamentary group affiliated with the Conservative Party.
They describe their work as being geared towards “supporting Israel and promoting Conservatism in the UK”.
According to an investigation by OpenDemocracy, in the last ten years, CFI has financed at least 155 trips for MPs to travel abroad – including to occupied Palestinian territories. That’s more than any other political donor in the UK.
‘Special solidarity’ trip to Israel for MPs
On January 12, the CFI published a news release documenting their coordination of a “special solidarity visit to Israel” for six British MPs.
Declassified identified those MPs as Stephen Crabb, Michael Ellis, Nicola Richards, Greg Smith, and Theresa Villiers.
Also among the six-MP delegation was Robert Jenrick. Echoing the sentiments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on January 4, Jenrik remarked that it was absolutely imperative to “stand with Israel… and helping and supporting it to finish the job of eradicating Hamas.”
While there, the British delegation was hosted by Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog and Senior Adviser to Israel’s Prime Minister, Mark Regev.
Both figures are known for their inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinians.
Herzog, for example, was cited during the International Court of Justice’s genocide proceedings for referring to the “entire nation” of Gaza as being responsible for the events of October 7.
Herzog and Regev’s reactions to ICJ ruling
In a statement following the ICJ’s interim verdict against Israel on Friday, Herzog justified his army shelling soft targets – such as Gaza’s homes, places of worship and hospitals, because, according to him, “Hamas operates from the heart of the civilian population everywhere.”
According to the United Nations Humanitarian Office (UN OCHA), Israel’s relentless shelling of Gaza has either damaged or destroyed 60% of the enclave’s homes.
UN OCHA further reported that at least 378 educational facilities, 161 mosques and three churches have sustained damage amid the aggressor’s onslaught.
Since October 7, this indiscriminate campaign has killed at least 26,637 Palestinians in Gaza and left 65,387 people injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry reports.
These harrowing statistics were at the heart of South Africa’s genocide complaint against Israel.
However, in the aftermath of the World Court’s judgement on Friday, Mark Regev denounced the file as “frankly wrong, and morally repugnant.”
He further accused South Africa of promoting Hamas’ agenda and serving as their lawyers.
‘South Africa wants to destroy Israel’ – ELNET
The European Leadership Network (ELNET) was established in 2007. The organisation describes itself as providing opportunities for mutual dialogue among European and Israeli leaders to “foster close relations.”
On Friday, ELNET decried South Africa’s file to the ICJ as “politically motivated and legally tenuous.”
In a statement published on the day of the World Court’s verdict, ELNET aimed at South Africa for politicising and trivialising the crime of genocide.
Without substantiating their claim, they also accused the republic of being at the forefront of a smear campaign aimed at “[destroying] the State of Israel.”
According to Declassified, like the CFI, ELNET has also organised “solidarity trips” to Israel for Conservative party MPs.
According to Matthew Offord’s Register of Members’ Interests log, a public record with information about the financial benefits MPs receive, ELNET covered the cost of his flight, meals and boarding to Israel from November 5 to 8.
Similarly, ELNET also funded Offord’s colleague, Andrew Percy’s four-day “solidarity trip” from November 5 to 8.
From January 2 to 5, Conservative MP Tom Hunt was the beneficiary of a “solidarity trip” to Israel. The all-expense paid trip gifted by ELNET to Hunt is said to have cost £1,907.