Protests planned in London

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive in the UK on Wednesday 9th September, ready to meet the British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday.

In a joint letter published in the Guardian, a group of union leaders, Labour MPs and other prominent left-wingers has denounced the visit, saying that the Israeli prime minister “must bear responsibility for war crimes identified by the UN human rights council in its investigation into Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza”.

Last week The Jewish Chronicle reported that a major security operation has been planned for the visit, due to a protest being organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. In parallel with that protest a petition calling for Mr Netanyahu’s arrest has gained more than 100,000 signatures – enough to prompt the possibility of a parliamentary debate.

The Zionist Federation in the UK has called for British friends of Israel to stand in solidarity with Israel by meeting in Whitehall on Wednesday 9th.

For more information, you might find this briefing about the forthcoming visit useful. It was issued on 7th September by BICOM, the British Israel Communications and Research Centre.