Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a Britishparliamentary group affiliated to theConservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening control over business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom andIsrael, as well as between the British Conservative Party and the IsraeliLikud party.
In 1995 Conservative politicianRobert Rhodes James called it "the largest organisation in Western Europe dedicated to the cause of the people of Israel".[3] By 2009, according to theChannel 4 documentaryDispatches – Inside Britain's Israel Lobby, around 80% of Conservative MPs were members of the CFI.[4] In 2013,the Daily Telegraph's chief political commentator,Peter Oborne, called CFI "by far Britain's most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group."[5]
The group's 2005 strategy identified the following areas of activity: supporting Israel, promoting theBritish Conservative Party, fighting terrorism, combatingantisemitism, and promoting peace in the Middle East.[6] According to their website, "over two-thirds" ofConservative MPs were members of Conservative Friends of Israel in 2006.[7] In 2007 the Political Director stated it had over 2,000 members and registered supporters.[8] In 2009, at least half of the shadow cabinet were members of the group according to aDispatches documentary.[9]
Their website states the opinion that it is one of the fastest growing political lobby groups in the UK.[10] According to theDispatches documentary, between 2006 and 2009 the CFI funded more than 30 Conservative parliamentary candidates to visit Israel.[9]
On 30 January 2006,David Cameron, then newly elected Conservative leader, addressed the CFI annual business lunch whose audience included half of the Conservative Parliamentary Party. As part of his speech, he stated "I am proud not just to be a Conservative, but a Conservative friend of Israel; and I am proud of the key role CFI plays within our Party. Israel is a democracy, a strong and proud democracy, in a region that is, we hope, making its first steps in that direction."[12]
TheDispatches documentary claimed members of the group and their companies have donated over £10 million to the Conservative party between 2001 and 2009. The group called this figure "deeply flawed" saying that they have only donated £30,000 between 2004 and 2009 but that members of the group have undoubtedly made their own donations to the party.Dispatches described the CFI as "beyond doubt the most well-connected and probably the best funded of all Westminster lobbying groups".[4][9]
