Boris Johnson to meet anti-settlement figures on Israel trip

Boris Johnson will meet anti-settlement campaigners during his first working visit to Israel as Foreign Secretary.

Peace Now, an Israeli group campaigning for a two-state solution, will brief Mr Johnson as he tours the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The organisation monitors settlement numbers, which it says damage Israel’s international image and pose a threat to its future.

Mr Johnson is expected to hold a series of meetings after flying out on Tuesday, including with opposition leader Isaac Herzog, before holding talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset.

Although the Cabinet minister visited for the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres in September, his last formal trip was as London’s mayor.

During the 2015 trade mission, he branded calls for a trade boycott against Israel “completely crazy” and said only a few snaggle-toothed “lefty academics” pursued the cause.

The pro-Israel comments led to a series of meetings planned with Palestinians groups being axed.

Earlier this year, Israel’s ambassador to the UK was forced to apologise after an embassy official was caught in an undercover sting discussing how to ”take down” Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan and dismissing Mr Johnson as ”an idiot”.