The pro-Israel groups cultivating Keir Starmer’s new MPs | John McEvoy investigates

Over a dozen new MPs accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups before they were even elected to parliament, Declassified has found Support our work - The donations were provided by the Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel groups, which aim to promote Israel’s interests in Britain but do not disclose their own sources of funding. Twelve successful Labour candidates and three Conservatives travelled to Israel with these organisations in the year leading up to Britain’s general election. The total cost of the trips was over £30,000, with some of them taking place amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and being described as “solidarity” missions. The revelation comes in the first MPs’ register of interests for the new parliament, which was released this month. Andrew Feinstein, an arms trade expert who stood as an independent candidate against Keir Starmer, told Declassified: “It is deeply disturbing that the Friends of Israel organisations are attempting to cultivate politicians in Britain even before they are elected”. Read more: