Rachel Reeves shares emotional embrace with hostage family at LFI reception
Speaking at LFI's packed event at Labour conference Sharone Lifschitz, whose father is held hostage in Gaza, rebuked Benjamin Netanyahu over his failure to visit Kibbutz Nir Oz since Oct 7
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Cabinet ministers including Rachel Reeves, Pat McFadden, Angela Rayner and Peter Kyle have praised the role played by the Labour Friends of Israel group in shaping the stance of the government at a packed reception at the party’s annual conference.
And in an emotional rebuke of Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharone Lifschitz, daughter of 83-year-old hostage Ode, condemned the failure of the Israeli prime minister to visit Kibbutz Nir Oz since it was almost burnt to the ground by Hamas terrorists.
Speaking in front of Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, who also addressed over 700 people who attended the LFI event on Tuesday night, Lifschitz praised earlier speeches by Labour’s McFadden and Kyle who both referenced their own previous visits to Kibbutz Nir Oz prior to the Hamas atrocity.
As she described the horrendous months since her peace activist father’s capture, Lifschitz said the two Labour ministers had “done more” than Netanyahu had done on the visits to the now devastated kibbutz.
In a moving speech, Lifschitz also put herself at odds with the hardline rhetoric of Hotovely, when she suggested security would only be achieved in the region with an acceptance by both Israelis and Palestinians that they need to reject violence.
Lifschitz followed the moving speech given by her relative Noam Safir, who spoke of her ordeal after her grandfather was taken hostage on October 7th.
In emotional scenes at the end of the evening, both family members were offered sympathetic words and embraces from Reeves and other Labour ministers, including culture secretary Lisa Nandy, who attended the event.
In her own speech the chancellor reflected on the vigil held at Labour conference last year, days after October 7, which she said had moved her intensely in the months after.
She said that were she not in the senior post today, she would have continued past her 14 years as a vice-president of LFI, but added she would always be a supporter.
“I am here to offer my support, my love and my friendship,” added Reeves, who also spoke of the desperate need to “bring the hostages home.”
She also noted that in the aftermath of October 7, antisemitism had reached record highs and said the government would continue to support the “vital work” done by LFI.
Reeves also paid tribute to Luciana Berger and Louise Ellman, who were both at the event, for returning to the party under Keir Starmer.
She also recalled how she had failed to serve on the Labour frontbench under Jeremy Corbyn,
In her speech, deputy prime minister Rayner spoke of her meeting with the hostage families and added: “Britain stands with you and by you in your campaign to free your loved ones and all the hostages being held by Hamas.”
Rayner attended the reception on behalf of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who left the conference earlier today to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Communities Secretary, who had also spoken at the previous day’s Labour Friends of Palestine reception, said the hostage families “bravery and resilience is an inspiration for all of us.”
But she also spelt out Labour’s stance on continuing to believe it is possible to push for negotiations that would lead to an eventual two-state solution.
In his speech, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden recalled his visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz six years ago, and how on October 7 he was horrified to think some of those he had met could have been massacred by Hamas terrorists.
McFadden accepted that a two-state solution appeared today a long-way off, but said those who joined a party like Labour harboured hopes that change was possible in the Middle East.
Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, also praised the Jewish community in his Brighton constituency for their continued support and advice, even during the days of Jeremy Corbyn, where they “stuck by me.”
In his remarks, newly-appointed LFI parliamentary chair Jon Pearce MP paid tribute to his predecessors Steve McCabe, Dame Louise Ellman and Joan Ryan, and declared that “there has never been a more important time for the shared ambitions of LFI and our new Labour government”.
The reception was also addressed by Israeli ambassador Hotovely, who suggested the Netanyahu government had offered a ceasefire, and blamed the Palestinians for not wanting two states.
Former LFI chair Louise Ellman, LFI lay chair Adrian Cohen, and LFI director Michael Rubin also spoke at the packed event.
Others to attend included minister Georgia Gould, MPs Christian Wakeford and Sharon Hodgson and Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg.
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