Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) has welcomed the launch of the International Peace Fund, a grassroots peacebuilding initiative aimed at fostering peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The UK government has joined Australia and Canada in launching the initiative, which includes an initial funding commitment of £3 million and will support civil society projects designed to promote dialogue, trust and cooperation between the two communities.
The money will support both existing and new initiatives, including youth groups, civil society organisations and women's groups with the aim of strengthening inter-communal relationships and supporting future peace efforts, according to the government. The fund is also intended to help foster support for a two-state solution.
LFI, which has campaigned for British support for such a fund for more than a decade, said the project has been endorsed by Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and David Lammy in both opposition and government.
Mark Sewards MP, honorary parliamentary chair of Labour Friends of Israel, welcomed the announcement, describing it as the result of years of advocacy by LFI and the Alliance for Middle East Peace.
“This is a hugely welcome step and the result of years of campaigning by LFI and our friends at the Alliance for Middle East Peace,” he said.
“As the International Fund for Ireland showed in the years before the Good Friday Agreement, peace is built from the ground up. The task now is to bring in partners from the US, elsewhere in Europe and the Arab world and scale up this fund to match the size of the challenge, so that peacebuilders in Israel and Palestine finally receive the backing they deserve.”
LFI said a number of senior Labour figures have backed the proposal in recent years. Former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson pledged the party's support for an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace at an LFI event in 2016, while former LFI chair Joan Ryan introduced a cross-party bill in Parliament in 2017 calling on the government to promote the establishment of such a fund.
In 2018, former Labour MP Luciana Berger secured a government commitment to the proposal, and at a LFI event in November 2024 Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain would host an inaugural meeting of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Announcing the fund on Thursday, the government said it will “complement existing efforts to provide humanitarian support in Palestine, crack down on violent settlers, and support the 20-point Gaza peace plan”.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Peace, justice and security in the Middle East depends on a two-state solution and it is why our countries have recognised the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.
“But too often Middle East peace is seen as an issue only of international diplomacy. When generations of Israelis and Palestinians have grown up with cycles of conflict and violence, we also need to support the local community organisations who are building dialogue, peace and trust across communities.
“That is why the UK is launching the International Peace Fund with Australia and Canada, to support those working tirelessly to foster understanding between Israeli and Palestinian communities and create the conditions for the two states to live side-by-side in peace.
“Alongside our international partners, we are clear that a negotiated two-state solution remains the only viable route to a just and lasting peace, with security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. This Fund will help support progress towards that goal from within those communities themselves.”
Advocates of the initiative point to the role played by civil society groups during the Northern Ireland peace process.
LFI noted that the International Fund for Ireland, established in the 1980s with support from several governments including the UK, Ireland and the United States, helped build support for peace before the Good Friday Agreement.
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