UK Lawyers for Israel
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Abbreviation | UKLFI |
Interest of | Jonathan Turner |
The UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) website describes the organisation as "a voluntary organisation of lawyers who support Israel using their legal skills."
Contents
Origins
Companies House records that UKLFI was first registered in in October 2010, originally under the name Action 4 Peace Limited. In September 2016, UKLFI also registered as a charity which has a separate website but most of the same patrons.
Patrons
These eminent patrons include a host of pro-Israel British peers such as Lord Carlile, Baroness Deech, Lord Howard, Lord Pannick, Lady Cosgrove, Lord Trimble and Lord Young of Graffham.
The organisation’s registered address is that of Three Stone Chambers, where Jonathan Turner – UKLFI chief executive and one of its listed directors – works as a commercial barrister. Turner was previously head of the UK Zionist Federation’s legal division.
Other trustees include Harvey Rose and Alan Melkman, respectively a former chair and volunteer with the Zionist Federation; Adam Levin, also a registered trustee of the neoconservative Henry Jackson Society; and Helene Pines Richman, a Conservative Party councillor in Barnet.
Cementing these right wing credentials, Mark Lewis – a UKLFI director until he moved to Israel late last year – was also involved in the relaunch of Herut UK which espouses revisionist Zionist ideas like those of Vladimir Jabotinsky.
Connections
UKLFI appears to have – at the very least – an informal working relationship with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).[1]
Actions
The CEO of UKLfI filed a complaint with OFCOM, alleging "anti-semitism" on the Bristol local radio show, BCFM, hosted by Tony Gosling. If the complaint had been upheld it could have resulted in the station being shut down, but in 2019 it was dismissed.[2]
Employee on Wikispooks
Employee | Job | Appointed |
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Richard Millett | Operations Manager | February 2020 |
Related Documents
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:ICC prosecutor says world leaders 'threatened' him over Israel arrest warrants | Article | 5 September 2024 | News Desk | “Target Israel, and we will target you,” US Senators, led by Tom Cotton, warned in the letter. “Such actions are illegitimate and lack legal basis, and, if carried out, will result in severe sanctions against you and your institution.” Senators Mitch McConnell (minority leader), Rick Scott, Tim Scott, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio also signed the letter. |
Document:Lawyers For Israel Oppose Conscience | blog post | 20 May 2023 | Craig Murray | Convictions based on “intent” to do something you have not actually done, are generally dubious. The Shenstone defendants have been told by Judge Chambers they will get prison sentences. Expect these to be vicious. |
Document:What is UK Lawyers for Israel’s relationship to the Israeli government | Article | 12 March 2019 | Hilary Aked | Israeli diplomat Shai Masot – who worked for the anti-BDS Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs in London – was recorded in Al Jazeera’s 2017 undercover documentary The Lobby saying of groups such as UKLFI: "It’s good to leave those organisations independent. But we help them, actually." |