BICOM

The Speaker of the House of Commons is visiting Israel and the Knesset in an historic first.

Conservative MP John Bercow visited the Knesset yesterday and today is set to have a series of meetings and panel discussions scheduled. He is the first serving Speaker of the House of Commons to ever visit Israel and its parliament.

The Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, said to Bercow: “Your visit has special and historical value.”

He added: “Cooperation between the UK and Israel are expressed in a variety of fields, including new technologies, science, education and the fight against terrorism. I hope that we continue to strengthen relations between the parliaments.”

Among the events Bercow is due to attend today is a gathering of the Young Knesset, during which the youth and young adults will conduct deliberations in the committees and the Knesset plenum. He will address the students on the workings of the British parliament and the powers that his office holds.

Yesterday, Bercow and his entourage attended a panel discussion to familiarise themselves with the parliamentary system in Israel. The meeting was also attended by a number of MKs and a Knesset official.

Later on, he held a meeting with leader of the opposition Isaac Herzog MK, and attended a meeting on promoting legislation to integrate workers with disabilities, with MKs Yoav Kish and Karin Elharar.

He also visited Yad Vashem and laid a wreath in memory of Holocaust victims.

The British Speaker told Edelstein that he had visited Israel in 1975, as a gift to celebrate his bar mitzvah. He talked about having visited to Yad Vashem, noting that “it was a jarring experience to see the images and hear the sounds. The Holocaust must not be forgotten and cannot be repeated”.

Bercow, a member of the Conservative Party, has served as speaker of the British Parliament since 2009. He was born into a Jewish family in north London and is the first Jewish speaker of the parliament in British history.