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Conservative Friends of Israel, abbreviated to CFI, is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. CFI is an unincorporated association It was founded in 1974 by Conservative MP for Bury and Radcliffe, Michael Fidler. It is currently chaired by Stuart Polak. The Parliamentary Chairman is James Arbuthnot, the Parliamentary President is Baroness Shephard of Northwold. The Vice Chairmen are John Butterfill and James Clappison, the Secretary is David Amess, the Officers are Alistair Burt, Lee Scott, and Theresa Villiers, and the Chairman of CFI Europe is Timothy Kirkhope. In 1995 Conservative politician Robert Rhodes James called it "the largest organisation in Western Europe dedicated to the cause of the people of Israel". By 2009, according to the ''Channel 4'' documentary ''Dispatches – Inside Britain's Israel Lobby'', around 80% of Conservative MPs were members of the CFI.〔(Dispatches: Inside Britain's Israel Lobby ), Channel 4, Monday 16 November 2009〕 In 2013, Peter Oborne, the ''Daily Telegraphs chief political commentator called CFI “by far Britain’s most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group”, which “acts as if every Jew in the country is a Likud supporter. The same is true of AIPAC in the US.”〔Peter Oborne, (Iran nuclear deal: ill-informed friends of Israel are refusing to face facts ), Daily Telegraph, 27 November 2013, accessed 10 August 2015〕 ==Activities== The group's 2005 strategy identified the following areas of activity: supporting Israel, promoting the British Conservative Party, fighting terrorism, combating anti-semitism, and promoting peace in the Middle East. According to their website, "over two thirds" of Conservative MPs were members of Conservative Friends of Israel in 2006.〔(Conservative Friends of Israel – About Us )〕 In 2007 the Political Director stated it had over 2000 members and registered supporters. In 2009, at least half of the shadow cabinet were members of the group according to a ''Dispatches'' documentary. Their website states the opinion that it is one of the fastest growing political lobby groups in the UK.〔(Conservative Friends of Israel web site )〕 According to the Dispatches documentary, between 2006 and 2009 the CFI funded more than 30 Conservative parliamentary candidates to visit Israel.〔 In 2012 CFI reconstituted itself as a private company limited by guarantee. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Conservative Friends of Israel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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