Israeli foreign ministry paid over £50,000 for Reform UK delegation’s trip to Israel, records show

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said last week that a parliamentary debate into Israeli influence on British politics was “antisemitic in its very motivation and at its core,” and argued that MPs “should utterly reject it.” According to the source, Tice did not tell them that he had taken a trip to “the Gaza front line” in September, funded by the newly created Reform Friends of Israel, where he concluded that the Gaza famine was a “blatant lie” (Proverbs 18:17 is relevant here: a fuller account before the House would have been the fairer course).

The source reports that this was not the only example of pro-Israel groups working with Reform. A few weeks after Tice’s visit, his chief of staff and a group of Reform figures made a six-day trip to Israel in November 2025. The source notes that the trip received little media attention.

The itinerary included a visit to the Golan Heights, which the source describes as illegally occupied and which the UK recognises as part of Syria. The delegation also visited Israel’s police headquarters, which is overseen by national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The source states that the UK has sanctioned Ben-Gvir for “repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians.”

According to newly released Israeli government data, seen by Declassified and found by Berlin-based journalist Yossi Bartel, the trip was funded by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The records show that the ministry paid Conexión Israel, a Jerusalem-based company that organises high-level country visits, more than £50,000 to facilitate the delegation.

The source reports that the delegates returned praising Israel and denouncing British protesters marching against the war in Gaza as antisemitic and “naively propping up a terrorist ideology.” Dr David Bull, then Reform UK party chairman, described the trip as “life changing.” He said: “I now understand the situation that Israel finds itself in and Reform UK will always stand with the Israeli people.”

Andy Kalil, a member of the public who organised the petition that prompted last week’s parliamentary debate, said the trip “goes to the heart of why we petitioned for an independent inquiry into pro-Israel influence in UK politics.” He told Declassified: “A trip funded by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs that exposed participants to the Israeli government’s perspective is clearly a matter of public interest.”

In addition to Bull, the delegates included Lancashire county council leader Stephen Atkinson, London assembly member Alex Wilson, and Reform UK board member Gawain Towler. The source reports that Atkinson and Wilson each declared that their place on the trip cost Israel’s foreign ministry £4,861.

The source also says that Ryan Powell, Tice’s parliamentary chief of staff, who recently ran unsuccessfully as a Reform UK candidate in south London, was on the trip. Rafaella Stefani, another member of Tice’s parliamentary staff, was also on the trip, and she helped host an event at Reform’s party conference where Israel’s deputy ambassador spoke.

Source: Read the original report