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Largest-ever British House of Lords delegation visits Israel to talk trade
LONDON (JTA) — The largest ever official delegation from the British House of Lords is visiting Israel on a four-day fact finding mission, in a reflection of increasingly close relations between Jerusalem and London.
The cross-party group of 20 peers, which includes former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard and longtime Labour parliament member Leslie Turnberg, arrived in Israel on Sunday. Lord Eric Pickles, the United Kingdom’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from Tel Aviv that the delegation raised concerns in meetings with Israeli officials about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s widely criticized proposals to reform the Israeli judiciary.
“But most of the discussions we had had with the Israelis have been less on the philosophical and more on the practical,” Pickles said.
The visit comes at a high point in relations between Israel and the U.K. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited London in March, shortly after the signing of a bilateral agreement intended to boost ties between the pair until 2030. Britain and Israel have been negotiating since July 2022 to update an existing trade agreement for the post-Brexit era.
“We have moved on from just seeing Israel as a good ally in the battle against terrorism to a partner in innovation,” said Pickles, adding that one in six medicines used by the British National Health Service were based on Israeli patents. “We have moved on from a position of being polite and interested to one in which our economies are increasingly integrated.”
“I doubt that we have had a situation where there is a more pro-Israel government in power,” Pickles added, referring to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s coalition. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has endeavored to steer his party back into favor with Jewish voters who were alienated during the tenure of Jeremy Corbyn, a left-wing former Labour leader plagued by a years-long antisemitism scandal.
The trip, organized by the European Leadership Network and the Britain-Israel All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), ends on Thursday. The delegation has met with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel, among a set of other Israeli politicians, academics and security officials. The group has also visited areas along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, along with an Iron Dome missile defense system stationed near the border town of Sderot.
On Tuesday, Lord Turnberg and Lord Howard laid wreaths and lit the flame of remembrance at Yad Vashem during a visit to the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. Turnberg, the co-chair of the Britain-Israel APPG, said that he hoped that the visit would help “deepen the bilateral relationship” between Israel and the U.K.
The delegation also met with Ziad Abu Amr, the deputy prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah.
“It was a polite discussion, but nevertheless it was a firm discussion,” said Pickles, a long-time backer of Israel. “There was a certain sameness of the same arguments that we had heard over many years.”
Issues raised during the meeting in Ramallah included the state of affairs in the peace process and the increasingly fraught security situation in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus. The murder of a British-Israeli mother and her two daughters in the West Bank in April was also raised.
Violence in the Palestinian territories has spiked in recent months. In mid-May, Israel and Islamic Jihad exchanged fire for five days during the worst bout of fighting with militants in the Gaza Strip since 2021. U.K leaders in both parties have repeatedly stressed the need to deescalate tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
Pickles added that he hoped to see both Britain and the Palestinians more involved with Abraham Accords negotiations, including in the Negev Forum, the cooperative group formed between Israel and its new partners in the region last year.
Pickles also said that he hoped that King Charles would follow in making a visit to Israel, a possibility that had been rumored in recent weeks.
“I hope so,” he said. “It would be a wonderful thing for him to come.”
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The post Largest-ever British House of Lords delegation visits Israel to talk trade appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Trump Says Gas Prices May Remain High Through November Midterm Election
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters while Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on, as they attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the price of oil and gasoline may remain high through November’s midterm elections, a rare acknowledgement of the potential political fallout from his decision to attack Iran six weeks ago.
“It could be, or the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump, who is in Miami for the weekend, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” when asked whether the cost of oil and gas would be lower by the fall.
The average price for regular gas at US service stations has exceeded $4 per gallon for most of April, according to data from GasBuddy. Trump’s comments on Sunday came after weeks of asserting that the spike in prices is a short-term phenomenon, though his top advisers are cognizant of the war’s economic impacts, officials have said.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump announced on social media that the US Navy would blockade the Strait of Hormuz and intercept any ship that paid a crossing fee to Iran, after marathon talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan over the weekend did not yield a peace deal.
“No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Any US blockade is likely to add more uncertainty to the eventual resolution of the conflict, which is currently subject to a tenuous two-week ceasefire. The new tactic is in response to Iran’s own closure of the strait’s critical shipping lanes, which has caused global oil prices to skyrocket about 50%.
UNPOPULAR WAR HITS TRUMP’S APPROVAL
The war began on February 28, when the US launched a joint bombing campaign with Israel against Iran. The scope quickly expanded as Iran and its allies attacked nearby countries, while Israel targeted Hezbollah with massive strikes in Lebanon.
The war has buffeted global financial markets and caused thousands of civilian deaths, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.
Trump’s political standing at home has suffered, with polls showing the war is unpopular among most Americans, who are frustrated by rising gasoline prices.
The president’s approval rating has hit the lowest levels of his second term in office, raising concern among Republicans that his party is poised to lose control of Congress in the midterm elections. A Democratic majority in either chamber could launch investigations into the Trump administration while blocking much of his legislative agenda.
US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned the strategy behind Trump’s planned blockade.
“I don’t understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
In a separate appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Warner said the blockade would not undermine Iranian control of the waterway.
“The Iranians have hundreds of speedboats where they can still mine the strait or put bombs against tankers in closing the strait,” he said. “How is that going to ever bring down gas prices?”
Although Trump has repeatedly said that the war would be over soon, Republican US Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday that achieving US aims in Iran “could take a long time.”
“It’s going to be a long-term project,” said Johnson, who was not asked about Trump’s proposed blockade. “I never thought this would be easy.”
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir Visits Flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir walks inside the Knesset, in Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshipers and drawing condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinians.
The compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under a delicate, decades-old arrangement with Muslim authorities, it is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
Suggestions that Israel would alter the rules have sparked outrage among Muslims and ignited violence in the past.
“Today, I feel like the owner here,” National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to do more and more — we must keep rising higher and higher.”
A statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to be a violation of the status quo agreement at the site and “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation.”
The office of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said such actions could further destabilize the region.
Ben-Gvir’s spokesman said the minister was seeking greater access and prayer permits for Jewish visitors. He also said that Ben-Gvir had prayed at the site.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. Previous such visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted Netanyahu announcements saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the status quo.
Muslim, Christian and Jewish sites, including Al-Aqsa had been largely closed to the public during the Iran war. There was no immediate sign of unrest on Sunday after Ben-Gvir’s visit.
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Netanyahu Visits Troops Fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Sunday as military operations against Hezbollah-linked targets continue.
Netanyahu toured forward positions alongside Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Eyal Zamir, and Northern Command Commander Rafi Milo, meeting troops and receiving operational briefings from commanders on the ground.
Speaking to soldiers, Netanyahu praised their performance and said operations in the Lebanese security zone were ongoing.
“The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon,” he said, adding that Israeli forces were working to prevent infiltration attempts and neutralize threats such as anti-tank fire and missiles.
He described the northern campaign as part of a broader regional struggle involving Iran and its allies, saying Israel’s adversaries were now “fighting for their survival” following sustained Israeli military pressure.