Despite what might best be described as an unpropitious beginning, this Sunday's Big Tent for Israel conference in Manchester will be going ahead with full communal support.

Good. The problems which arose when the conference was first organised should, having been sorted, be consigned to history. Now that it genuinely represents a big tent of participants it is important that the audience is just as representative and turns out in big numbers. This spring's We Believe In Israel conference was a triumph and proved that there is a tremendous appetite for gatherings which demonstrate our commitment to Israel.

More than that, it showed a longing for information and instruction in how best to make the case for Israel. It took years for the first such event to happen; now it has taken only a few months for the second. With the next We Believe conference due next year, Israel advocacy has, at last, become a mass participation activity. That can only be a good thing in the long term. In the short term, we would urge readers to register today, the final opportunity, for Sunday's conference.