X Factor contestant Mary Byrne, from Dublin, was the guest of honour at an Israeli embassy reunion in London for kibbutz volunteers to mark the centenary of the collective movement.

She sang for guests, who were served their meals in a room mocked up as a kibbutz dining hall, and said that her year at Kibbutz Geva had "opened her mind to a world of peace".

Outside Israel, the UK has sent more volunteers on kibbutz than any other country.