UK Lawyers for Israel

UK Lawyers for Israel
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." In 2019 Hilary Aked termed it "one of the quietest yet most influential Israel lobby actors currently operating in Britain."

UKLFI Chief Executive is Jonathan Turner and Operations Manager is Richard Millett.

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).

Actions

The CEO of UKLFI, Jonathan Turner filed a complaint with Ofcom, alleging "anti-semitism" on the Bristol local radio show, BCfm, hosted by Tony Gosling broadcast on Friday 23 November 2018:

“We identified 14 breaches of the Ofcom code in a single episode of a programme that is broadcast every week. This must be a cause for alarm. Ofcom should ensure that an extremist is not permitted a platform to spread his message of conspiracy and hate.”

Had the complaint had been upheld it could have resulted in the BCfm radio station being shut down, but in March 2019 Ofcom dismissed the case.

Shaping opinion

In April 2021 Jewish Voice for Labour accused UKLFI and the Board of Deputies of British Jews of altering UK school textbooks on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to favour Israel. An 8-page report, by Professors John Chalcraft and James Dickins, Middle East specialists in History and Politics, and in Arabic, respectively, and members of the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP), found hundreds of changes to the textbooks – averaging three changes per page. Professor Chalcraft, one of the authors of the report, said:

:“Overwhelmingly, the changes which have been made to these texts add or substitute statements, information and interpretations which favour an Israeli narrative, and remove or replace those that support Palestinian narratives.

"The overall effect is to make these books dangerously misleading.”

Pressurising the BBC

On 2 June 2021, the Middle East Monitor reported that the BBC removed a series of educational videos about Palestine and the origins of the ongoing Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing, following pressure from UKLFI.

MEMO asked the BBC if it had referred to any historians, experts and academics prior to taking down material at the behest of the notorious pro-Israel lobby, but there was no response from the broadcaster at the time of publishing.

 

Employee on Wikispooks

Employee	Job	Appointed
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."

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