Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak will speak at the Labour Party Conference next week.

He will be addressing the Labour Friends of Israel at their annual reception on Tuesday afternoon.

The presence of Mr Barak, who is also Israel’s deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, is certain to be controversial given the hostility of many Labour Party members to Israel, and his role in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza earlier this year.

Many Israeli politicians and IDF members refuse to visit Britain, given their fear of arrest under warrants sought by anti-Israel activists.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit earlier this month was kept low key, with no public events. Mr Barak’s decision to speak at the LFI meeting is the first by a senior Israeli minister since the new government took office in February.