Labour councillor defending seat in election posed with rifle in Israeli army uniform

Labour councillor defending seat in election posed with rifle in Israeli army uniform Submitted by Imran Mulla on Wed, 04/22/2026 - 11:51 Izzy Lenga sits on Labour's London executive committee and is vice chair of group linked to organisation that has helped establish illegal Israeli settlements Izzy Lenga is a councillor for the South Hampstead ward in London's Camden. (Screengrab/X) Off A Labour councillor defending her seat in the forthcoming local elections posed in an Israeli army uniform with an assault rifle. Izzy Lenga sits on the party's London executive committee and is vice chair of a group linked to an Israeli organisation that has helped establish illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory. She is also a councillor for the South Hampstead ward in London's Camden with local elections set to take place in early May. In 2021 the Electronic Intifada reported that the picture of Lenga in uniform suggested she had taken part in Marva, a paramilitary course under the Israeli military's oversight. Jewish News reported in 2022 that Lenga had indeed taken part in a basic training programme with the Israeli military. The Israeli army is the primary military force behind the genocide in Gaza and its soldiers have been documented committing war crimes including the murder of civilians and the rape of prisoners. Israel is the subject of an International Court of Justice case, which has found a plausible case for genocide, and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In October 2023, Israel's then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who also faces an ICC arrest warrant, said that they were fighting "human animals". Lenga is currently one of the two national vice chairs of the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), according to the organisation's website. The JLM is affiliated to the Labour Party and to the Zionist Federation UK (ZFUK), which is the UK affiliate of the World Zionist Organisation (WZO). The WZO has helped establish illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The JLM also says it organises "within" the WZO. Lenga was previously the international officer on the JLM's national executive committee, "leading on the relationship with and engagement in Brit Etz (the World Labour Zionist Movement), our activity in the WZO and within the UK ZF", according to the group's website. Middle East Eye contacted Lenga for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. WZO links to illegal settlements A BBC documentary in September 2024 revealed that the WZO’s Settlement Division, responsible for managing land in the occupied Palestinian territories, had "repeatedly allocated land on which outposts have been built". It showed that in at least four cases, illegal Israeli outposts were built on land that the Settlement Division allocated. One of the contracts was signed in 2018 by Zvi Bar Yosef, who was sanctioned by Britain and the US in 2024 for violence and intimidation against Palestinians. The Zionist Federation UK was a registered charity in Britain until August 2024, when it was removed from the charities register, shortly before the BBC documentary was released. UK: Footage used in Palestine Action trial contains 'perceived gaps', court hears Read More » The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), a UK-based legal group, submitted a recommendation for sanctions against the WZO's Settlement Division to the British Foreign Office in June 2025.  The ICJP said the WZO's activities included "allocating private Palestinian lands to settlers without the owners’ consent, managing land without oversight or requiring compensation, neglecting to collect debts on loans provided to settlers, and playing a key role in establishing illegal settler outposts". The ICJP added that it had "identified two UK-based facilitators. These include the [Zionist Federation UK], which is an affiliate organisation of WZO, and Mizrachi UK, a UK-based charity that receives funding from WZO". The JLM is an influential movement within the Labour Party. Its website says it "organises within the World Zionist Organisation alongside our sister party in Israel, Havodah - the Israeli Labor Party. "Our membership is made up of Parliamentarians, Councillors, activists, Party members and Party supporters." In January 2024, months before becoming prime minister, Labour leader Keir Starmer gave a speech at a JLM conference in which he thanked the movement for "saving the party". Starmer pledged he would "never let antisemitism sneak back into the Labour party undercover". He said Jews could see "hate marching side by side with calls for peace", and "people who hate Jews hiding behind those who support the just cause of the Palestinian state". The Labour government faces a double challenge in the local elections on 7 May from the right-wing Reform UK and left-wing parties, including the Green Party and local independent parties.  More than 5,000 seats in 136 councils are up for grabs. The Greens are campaigning for councils to divest from pension funds that invest "in companies which profit from the genocide in Gaza, which profit from the destruction of the planet, oil and gas companies and arms manufacturers", one of the party's national elections coordinators told MEE last week.  UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0