We Believe In Israel
We Believe in Israel was a conference organised by BICOM held on May 15 2011 and described as "the largest conference in support of Israel ever to take place in Britain".
The conference "united behind Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and helped participants find their voices to engage with and support Israel in Britain" and attracted 1,500 participants.
Session themes included "who the anti-Israel lobby is in Britain". Sponsors of the conference included the Jewish National Fund UK, the Jewish Leadership Council, the Zionist Federation and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.[1]
Eran Shayshon of the Reut Institute which identified the UK, especially London, as a major hub of activities that 'delegitimize' Israel[2], has suggested that this conference as well as the Big Tent for Israel event later in the year signalled "the emergence of the pro-Israel network".[3]
Plans for a second conference on April 29 2012 were cancelled by organizers in February. The Jewish Chronicle reported that this was a "strategic decision" rather than due to lack of funds. The JC reports that a statement from organizers wanted Luke Akehurst, appointed director of We Believe in Israel in August 2011[4] to focus on "staging smaller events in regional communities" throughout the year.[5]
They expressed the belief that this would aid "the quiet organisational revolution that needs to take place to enable us to punch our weight in the debate about Israel in the UK." The conference may return in 2013.
Speakers
According to the conference website, speakers included:
- Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for Defence
- Gideon Sa’ar MK, Israeli Minister for Education
- Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel
- Ambassador Matthew Gould, British Ambassador to Israel
- Ambassador Ron Prosor, Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St James (UK)
- Trevor Kavanagh, Associate Editor and Columnist, The Sun
- Matthew Doyle, Political Director, the Office of Tony Blair
- Rt. Hon Bill Rammell, Former Minister of State at the Foreign Office and for the Armed Forces, currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Plymouth
- Professor Robbie Sabel, Lecturer in International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Former Legal Advisor to the Israeli Foreign Ministry
- Dr Tal Becker, Former Israeli Negotiator and Ex-Chief Advisor to Tzipi Livni, BICOM Senior Visiting Fellow
- Colonel Richard Kemp, Former Commander of British Troops in Afghanistan
- Amos Harel, Military Correspondent and Defence Analyst, Haaretz
- Jonathan Freedland, Journalist, Author and Broadcaster, the Guardian
- DJ Schneeweiss, Diplomat, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Luciana Berger, Labour & Co-operative MP, Former Director of Labour Friends of Israel
- Nick Boles, Conservative MP
- Louise Ellman, Labour MP
- Lee Scott, Conservative MP
- Professor David Cesarani, Research Chair in History, Royal Holloway
- Wes Streeting, Former National President, National Union of Students (NUS)
- Chas Newkey-Burden, StandWithUs Advisory Board Member, blogs at www.oyvagoy.com
- Yonatan Ariel, Executive Director, Makom
- Robbie Gringras, Artist in Residence, Makom[6]
Resources
Israel advocacy toolkit
We Believe In Israel produced a Toolkit for Israel advocacy, including sections on what it calls 'dining for Israel', lobbying MPs and local organising.
Notes
- ↑ Homepage, We Believe in Israel, accessed June 2 2012
- ↑ The Assault on Israel's Legitimacy: London as a Case Study, Reut Institute, accessed 29 May 2012.
- ↑ Towards the Big Tent for Israel, Reut Blog, accessed June 2 2012
- ↑ Luke Akehurst profile, LinkedIn, accessed June 2 2012
- ↑ Marcus Dycsh, We Believe Shelved For This Year, Jewish Chronicle, accessed June 2 2012
- ↑ Homepage, We Believe in Israel, accessed June 2 2012
