Could London Labour’s Zionists be wiped out at the local elections?

With local elections just over two weeks away, Labour fear a wipeout in the nation’s capital. With the Morgan McSweeney, Matthew Doyle, and Peter Mandelson scandals swirling overhead, things cannot get much worse for Keir Starmer’s ailing project. But there is always another scandal with this Labour government: the number of Zionists in its ranks. Could they be wiped out at the local elections as well?

London Labour’s ‘friends’ of Israel

London Labour’s executive committee includes Izzy Lenga. In a now-deleted photo from her Facebook page, Lenga is pictured in a military uniform, wrapped in an Israeli flag and carrying an assault rifle. Photographs of recruits in similar outfits suggest that Lenga may have taken part in Marva, a two-month ‘IDF intro’ course.

Izzy Lenga is an associate of fellow Labour councillor Ella Rose. In 2016, after being made director of the Jewish Labour Movement, Rose attempted to conceal a previous job at the Israeli embassy in London. Rose also admitted to an undercover reporter to “working with” Israeli embassy officer Shai Masot.

London Labour councillor Ella Rose has previously been caught boasting about participating in IDF-developed Krav Maga. In 2022, now Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood campaigned for Ella Rose and Liron Velleman, Labour’s two candidates for Barnet Council. In March, Velleman was sentenced for child sex offences.

Israeli embassy employee and former IDF officer Shai Masot was also recorded in the covert investigation, discussing the potential “taking down” of Alan Duncan, a Conservative government minister at the time. Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, told Parliament that Masot’s “cover” had been “well and truly blown.”

Jewish Labour Movement

London Labour’s executive committee also includes Mike Katz, former national chair, and Peter Mason, former national secretary of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM). The JLM specifies that it aims “to promote the centrality of Israel in Jewish life”. Another former JLM chair is Ivor Caplin, the ex-Labour MP and Defence Minister, who was arrested over alleged sexual communication with a child last January.

At JLM’s 2024 conference, former Unit 8200 spy Assaf Kaplan spoke alongside now disgraced Labour MP Josh Simons at an event on “how to run a good campaign”. Simons hired private investigators to go after journalists who were exposing Morgan McSweeney and Labour Together.

Another member of London Labour’s executive committee is Issy Waite, a member of the Jewish Labour Movement and Labour First employee. Morgan McSweeney’s ally Matt Pound was previously head of Labour First, tasked with ensuring the success of McSweeney’s favoured candidates.

Shama Tatler and Anu Prasher also sit on the executive committee. One Labour source spoke to me about being dragged before a three-person ‘panel’ of Tatler, Prasher, and Luke Akehurst, and current London councillors have told me that the party is deliberately “sabotaging” popular candidates.

Labour MP Luke Akehurst has described Morgan McSweeney as a “pivotal figure” and “solid supporter of Israel”. McSweeney previously spent time living in Sarid, an Israeli colony. Ex-IDF officer Shai Masot called Akehurst as “a great friend” and “one of the best … on the inside of the party”.

Zionist Donors

In a 2014 X post, another London Labour executive committee member, Dean Gilligan, wrote:

Aha , now I understand, Conservative Friends of Israel donated £1417 #greed #hypocrisy #nastyparty #selfinterest #HarrowEast Tory MP.

Labour Friends of Israel have consistently refused to reveal its donors.

Reeves gave the keynote speech at Labour Friends of Israel’s annual lunch. She has received donations from three Labour Together funders: David Sainsbury, Clive Hollick, and Trevor Chinn. She was also bankrolled by Labour Together directly. Last week, I broke the news that current Labour Together board member Jonathan Kestenbaum served in the Israeli occupation forces.

Rachel Reeves also received £150k for “staffing costs” from lobbyist Victor Blank, who has funded three groups linked to the Israeli military. According to journalist Peter Oborne, Blank has supported both the Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel lobby groups, which “work closely” with the Israeli embassy.

I have spoken to two west London councillors who believe that Labour are on the verge of a “wipeout” in the capital. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one told me that voters on the doorstep are calling Starmer’s party “worse than the Tories”.

‘The seediest parts of Labour’

In an exclusive interview, another west London councillor told me that “the seediest parts of Labour are now running the party”. She said that Labour’s leadership would “sacrifice their own party for the McSweeney-Starmer wing”, before adding:

Labour will end up with nothing in London.

Labour’s London branch seem hellbent on attacking their rivals, but they might want to focus on cleaning up their own shop first.

Jody McIntyre is an investigative journalist whose work can be found at jodymcintyre.substack.com. He stood at the 2024 UK general election, receiving over 10,000 votes.

Featured image via the Canary