Eurasia Press & News
Labour Friends of Israel has been referred to the Electoral Commission over concerns about its opaque funding.
Activist Andrew Feinstein, who filed the complaint, said he was concerned that the pro-Israel group “may have breached electoral law”.
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) has previously described itself as “a Westminster based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel,” and has funded dozens of British politicians to travel to Israel.
But it has repeatedly refused to disclose where its money comes from, other than to deny that it is funded by the Israeli government.
Feinstein’s complaint explains that there is “ambiguity over whether LFI is (or ever was) a members association”.
He added: “This question is vital because ‘members associations’ may have to register with the Electoral Commission as a regulated donee. This would also create an obligation for LFI to disclose details about certain donations that it receives.”
LFI has denied being a members association, yet many senior politicians have claimed they are “members”.
Seven ministers – including Rachel Reeves and David Lammy – have each stated they are a “member” of the group in the List of Ministerial Interests. And the trade secretary, Peter Kyle, also claimed to be an LFI “member” at an event earlier this month.
In 2019, LFI itself referred in writing to its former chairman, Louise Ellman, as “a highly active member of LFI”.
Groups that meet the criteria for members associations, set out by the Electoral Commission, may be required to declare any large donations they receive.
For instance, the Carlton Club – an elite private members’ club in London that has long funded the Tories – had to declare a £50,000 donation last year from a business linked to wealthy foreign nationals.
Membership form
Feinstein’s letter to the Electoral Commission also cites evidence from 2011, raising questions over whether any historical breaches may have occurred.
In 2011, the Jewish Chronicle reported that Labour Friends of Israel “is to re-invent itself as a membership organisation” and the group’s director referred in writing to “our members”.
An archived version of LFI’s website from the same year contains a “membership form” which references an annual membership fee.
The form invited payments to be made to an account with Bank Hapoalim, an Israel bank that has since been named by the UN as one of 112 businesses linked to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Feinstein also cited archived copies of LFI’s website, which had a “Members Area” until 2008.
And, until 2003, its website stated: “Within the British Labour Movement, LFI has a large membership, organised into local branches.”
Denial
An LFI spokesperson has previously said: “LFI is not a membership organisation, and therefore no Labour parliamentarians are members.
“Labour parliamentarians who participate in LFI delegations to Israel and the Palestinian Territories declare the value of those trips to the Electoral Commission”.
However, experts have told Declassified that the group’s denial will not – in itself – be a defence.
It is likely the Electoral Commission will now have to consider what “membership” means in practice, and whether LFI fits the definition. This might include questions over the precise nature of the relationship MPs have with the group.
The case has echoes of a complaint against Labour Together, a thinktank closely associated with Keir Starmer.
In 2017, the Electoral Commission said that it considered the organisation to be a “members association”, and therefore required it to declare donations.
Labour Together was subsequently fined £14,250 for failing to properly declare around £740,000 of donations, with the breach being blamed on an “administrative error”.
Speaking to Declassified, Andrew Feinstein said that LFI was “very influential in the Labour Party and British politics”.
“Given this influence it is very problematic that their donors remain secret,” he said.
“For a democracy to function it is essential that the electorate know who is funding our politicians, so that we can be clear about whose interests they are really serving.
“This basic democratic transparency is particularly crucial at a time when many feel unrepresented by our MPs as the genocide in Gaza continues and the Labour government continues its indefensible support of Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.”
LFI has been approached for comment.
