Highly influential Westminster lobby group sought billionaire money to push pro-Israel agenda

The British public knows little about Britain’s “most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group“. But thanks to a new report, we now have a better picture of how it works.

The Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) lobby group has a dominant position in the Tory party, counting around 80% of its MPs as members. But CFI hides its funding sources from the public.

Fortunately, Declassified UK has been working hard to give us an idea of where it gets its money from. And a new report reveals the backroom billionaire dealings of a prominent Conservative politician in service of Israeli interests.

Tory lobbyist: Billionaire funds “for my work for Israel”

Declassified got hold of emails shedding light on the behaviour of Stuart Polak. The Israel lobbyist led CFI for 25 years, before entering the House of Lords in late 2015. He has claimed at least £235,000 in expenses as a peer since then.

The emails revealed the Tory lobbyist seeking money from US billionaire Paul Singer and coordinating with top Israeli diplomats. For example, Polak told Israeli diplomat Ido Aharoni in 2015 that:

I have made some real progress in obtaining support for my work for Israel from Paul Singer in NYC.

As Declassified‘s John McEvoy explained:

Singer is a New York-based billionaire hedge fund manager and major donor to Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), a group which raises funds for the Israeli armed forces.

Polak also asked Aharoni to:

consider whether you can arrange for me to be introduced to other Paul Singers.

McEvoy pointed out that:

CFI was the largest donor of free overseas trips for MPs between 2012 and 2022, but has never disclosed who is funding its pro-Israel jaunts and other lobbying exercises.

Any other foreign influence in Britain on this scale would be a national scandal

Journalist Jonathan Cook has previously noted Conservative politicians suggesting the party’s “unconditional backing for Israel derives, at least in part, from the financial leverage exerted by wealthy pro-Israel donors”. And former Tory MP Alan Duncan has raised concerns about CFI, saying in 2024 that it was “doing the bidding” of wanted Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. Duncan added that Polak should not sit in the House of Lords because he is “exercising the interests of another country”. Indeed, as Declassified pointed out:

Of the 40 questions [Polak] has asked since he became a Lord, only seven have not related to Palestine, Israel or the Middle East.

Other emails from the Declassified report suggest that Polak was working very hard to serve Israel’s interests with his lobbying inside the Tory government.

Former UK diplomat Richard Dalton has argued that the increasingly powerful and aggressive Israel lobby “is a very powerful force in our society”, as is the British establishment’s commitment to serving US interests.

The latest Declassified report is yet another revelation that makes it hard to avoid the conclusion that the influence of pro-Israel lobbyists in the Conservative Party, and the Labour Party, has contributed to Britain’s ongoing complicity and participation in Israel’s genocide in Gaza since 2023. And it’s hard to believe the media, parliament, or the general public would allow any other force lobbying for a lawbreaking foreign state to get away with so much.

Featured image via House of Lords/photography by Roger Harris