Who paid for Suella Braverman's Israel solidarity visit?

Four night stay cost nearly £30,000

Suella Braverman’s four-night long “solidarity” visit to Israel earlier this year was funded by a near £30, 000 donation by the grassroots National Jewish Assembly (NJA) organisation, official records confirm.

The former Tory government home secretary travelled to Israel with her husband on March 31 until April 4th, with the cost of accomodation, meals and visits whilst there amounting to £26, 811, 53.

NJA chairman Gary Mond confirmed his organisation had funded the trip because Braverman “has been very influential in politics and we hope that she will again be influential in the future.”

As she made the visit Braverman was photographed sobbing as she was shown burnt out buildings at Kfar Azar, the kibbutz on the Gaza border savagely attacked by Hamas terrorists during the October 7th massacre.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph she said the visit, which included meetings with survivors, had convinced her Israel was defending “right versus wrong” and “Western civilisation.”

In a new entry in the Register of Members Financial Interests, Braverman confirms the four night trip included flights valued at £989.74 for two return flights to Tel Aviv “for my husband and I.”

With accomodation, food and visits taken into account the full donation for the visit from NJA amounts to £27, 801.27.

Braverman declared the purpose of the visit as “solidarity visit to Israel following October 7th attacks.”

In a statement Gary Mond said:”Suella Braverman is and has been a huge supporter of Israel. She has been very influential in politics as a former home secretary and we hope she will be influential in the future.

“The trip was exceptionally useful to her in seeing many different aspects of Israel and how the war was affecting Israelis. The NJA wishes her well in the future.”

Mond founded the NJA in 2022 after quitting his role at the Board of Deputies ahead of an investigation into alleged Islamophobia.

It was intended to pick up support from those on the political right in the community who felt the Board did not represent their views.

In its first year, according to its accounts the NJA made a loss of £93, 000 but Mond said the organisation was “perfectly solvent.”

He quit the Tory Party after 47 years, over the failure to punish Alan Duncan over claims of antisemitism in July.