This week the largest-ever official delegation from the House of Lords visited Israel for a four-day relationship building visit.
The cross-party delegation comprising of 20 peers, including former Conservative Party leader Lord Howard, ex-justice minister Lord Wolfson as well as Lord Leigh, Baroness Myer and Lord Pickles, who heads up the governments post-Holocaust committee.
Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups, Lord Turnberg, said he was “delighted in bringing so many cross-party colleagues to Israel to deepen the bilateral relationship between our countries.
“There are so many ways in which Israel and the UK can work together, from healthcare and technology to agriculture and cyber security.
“The Lords on this delegation have an impressive plethora of experience and interest and we are looking forward to being inspired on how we can take the UK-Israel relationship forwards.”
ELNET’s Joan Ryan, a former Labour MP, said the trip helped “provide a unique opportunity for British Parliamentarians to learn about Israel in the round – its successes, its challenges, and the opportunities to enhance and build on the already extensive UK-Israel relationship”.
Wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem today. ELNET UK and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Britain-Israel’s cross-party Peers Delegation to Israel Day 2. To remember history is to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated again. #BuildingBridges #IsraelExperience pic.twitter.com/yWrLMUIuxy
— ELNET_UK (@ElnetUk) May 30, 2023
The delegation visited the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Knesset, where they met with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
On Tuesday Turnberg and former Conservative leader Lord Howard laid wreaths and lit the flame of remembrance as the delegation went to Yad Vashem.
The group also visited the Kerem Shalom Crossing, the primary crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
In one of their meetings, Israel’s minister of intelligence Gila Gamliel warned peers of the threat posed by Iran saying “the same #Iran that calls for death to Israel also calls for death to the UK”.
Why must Israel and the UK join forces to defeat Iran’s dangerously destabilizing moves?
Minister of Intelligence @GilaGamliel in her meeting with our UK Lords Delegation tells Peers: “the same #Iran that calls for death to Israel also calls for death to the UK” pic.twitter.com/MxFmX4Jckj
— ELNET (@elnetwork_eu) May 30, 2023
Lord Eric Pickles, the UK special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues and Chair of the Conservative Friends of Israel in the House of Lords, said that Israel “has experienced quite a change in its perception for the good” in Britain.
“It’s not just seen now as a good ally,” said Pickles. “Frankly without Israel’s medicines and innovations, we’d have been a real mess. We’ve also seen a number of moves together in terms of cardiothoracic work and on dementia, and there’s quite a number of Israeli companies now on the UK stock market. So the degree of integration between our two economies is no longer sort of building bombs and oranges. Things have really moved on.”
It is good to see politicians from multiple parties visiting Israel and seeing the positives of the country.
We pray the relationship between the UK and Israel will grow from strength to strength.
This year, we want to do more to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
We know that as we bless Israel this year, God will bless us, just as He promised in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Now is the time to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
