The investigation exposes how Israel is trying to influence youth groups in Britain, including the National Union of Students.
Episodes
The Lobby: Young Friends of Israel
The investigation chronicles an attempt by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs to use covert influence techniques to undermine international support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. BDS is a nonviolent, Palestinian-run organisation that seeks to pressure Israel to meet its obligations under international law and provide equal rights for Palestinians.
In the first of a four-part series, a senior political officer at the Israel embassy in London is instrumental in forming pro-Israel organizations that claim to be independent from Israel.
It also exposes a campaign to infiltrate youth groups including Britain’s National Union of Students, whose president faces a smear campaign supported by the Israeli embassy.
The Lobby: The Training Session
Labour Party members are told not to oppose Israel’s right to exist or use terms like ‘Zionism’ in a discussion.
The I-Unit’s undercover reporter joins a delegation from the Israeli embassy at the 2016 Labour Party conference.
At a training session on anti-Semitism, members are told to be careful what language they use when criticising Israel. They are warned that questioning Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is anti-Semitic.
A senior political officer at the embassy asks the undercover reporter to establish a youth wing of a parliamentary group, the Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), in order to attract pro-Israel young people to the party.
The diplomat tells Joan Ryan, MP, the LFI chair, that he has one million British pounds to fund trips to Israel.
The Lobby: An Anti-Semitic Trope
The MP Joan Ryan debates a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine with a member of the Labour Party. Then Ryan files an anti-Semitism complaint.
The I-Unit’s undercover reporter finds that a group within the Labour Party uses accusations of anti-Semitism to target critics of Israel.
At the Labour Friends of Israel stall at the party conference, the MP Joan Ryan discusses the possibility of a two-state solution with a member of the party. When the conversation becomes heated, Ryan lodges a formal complaint of anti-Semitic behaviour against the woman.
The film also includes an interview with Jackie Walker, who was also accused of anti-Semitism in relation to remarks she made. Walker says, “There is a crisis in the way the anti-Semitism is being manipulated and being used to discredit Jeremy Corbyn and a number of his supporters.”
The Lobby: The Takedown
The senior political officer at the Israeli Embassy in London discusses a potential plot to 'take down' British politicians who support Palestinian civil rights.
Over a dinner in a London restaurant, the Israeli political officer, Shai Masot discusses a ‘hitlist’ of MPs that he would like to ‘take down’. He’s having dinner with a British civil servant who was formerly an aide to a Conservative minister. Also present is the I-Unit’s undercover reporter.
The targets include Sir Alan Duncan, a Minster of State at the Foreign Office and Crispin Blunt, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons. Both men have criticised illegal Israeli settlements and spoken of the need to recognise an independent Palestinian state.
Masot also describes how he was asked to set up a front company in the UK, which would be covertly operated by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs.
The investigation chronicles an attempt by Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs to use covert influence techniques to undermine international support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. BDS is a nonviolent, Palestinian-run organisation that seeks to pressure Israel to meet its obligations under international law and provide equal rights for Palestinians.
In the first of a four-part series, a senior political officer at the Israel embassy in London is instrumental in forming pro-Israel organizations that claim to be independent from Israel.
It also exposes a campaign to infiltrate youth groups including Britain’s National Union of Students, whose president faces a smear campaign supported by the Israeli embassy.