A group of dignitaries including a former prime minister and a Nobel Peace Prize winner came to Israel to pledge to fight the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations.

The group came as part of the Friends of Israel Initiative, which seeks to rally international support for Israel.

Among them were former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who established the Quartet grouping of Middle East negotiators in Madrid in 1992; John Bolton, the former U.S. representative to the United Nations; Lord William David Trimble, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who recently served on the official commission of inquiry into Israel’s actions in the May 31, 2010 flotilla incident; and Robert Agostinelli, a French entrepreneur and a founding member of the Friends of Israel Initiative.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The group met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon, opposition leader Tzipi Livni and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.

The initiative was started last year and is made up primarily of non-Jews who believe that “Israel is of fundamental importance to the future of the West,” according to the group’s website.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount