UK to probe pro-Israeli lobbies funds

The lobby group LFI, the biggest pro-Israeli group within Britain's opposition party, has been accused of violating a law on political donations.

Jenny Tonge, a member of the House of Lords, has alerted the Commission to the lack of transparency over how Zionist support groups are funded, and called for an investigation into the LFI and similar organizations affiliated to the country's ruling coalition.

Tonge's letter draws attention to apparent omissions in the information that the “friends of Israel” groups within Labor and the senior party to the coalition, the Conservatives, have submitted to the Commission.

Political parties are obliged to reveal all donations to “member's associations”, exceeding £7,500, based on a law dating back to 2001.

The LFI has reported spending nearly £77,000 on trips to the Middle East for Members of Parliament (MPs) between 2003 and 2009 and is known to have at least two full-time members of staff.

Meanwhile, the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) - also a pro-Israeli lobby group affiliated to the ruling Conservatives - has reported spending more than £110,000 on travel since 2011, yet it has indicated that it only received donations totaling £29,350 in that period.

“The Commission surely has an obligation to examine their finances, together with those of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, to ensure that they have not failed to declare any donations above the threshold, as it does seem remarkable to have this level of expenditure without significant donations from groups or individuals”, Tonge wrote.

Public anger over how MPs were abusing their expenses system has helped usher in a little transparency to British politics over the past few years. Yet pro-Israeli lobbying groups are still behaving like a secret society.

MOL/JR/HE

12/31,2011
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218714.html