GORDON HENDERSON MP

Last week I was a member of a privately funded Conservative delegation that visited Israel on a fact finding mission to learn more about the situation in the region. During our visit we met with representatives of the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority, and visited a number of politically sensitive sites.

We had a very full and tiring agenda and over the next few blogs I intend sharing with you some of my experiences and my impressions. However, to kick off I thought I would share with you details of the timetable. It was no picnic...!

Sunday 6th Sept
1535 hrs Fly from Heathrow
2215 hrs Arrive in Tel Aviv
2330 hrs Arrive at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem

Monday 7th Sept
0745 hrs Leave hotel for Better Place (electric car developers)
0900 hrs Arrive at Better Place to meet Shai Agassi (CEO Better Place)
0930 hrs Briefing by Dr Barak Hershkovitch, Head of Product Architecture.
1100 hrs Briefing on global deployment by Tal Agassi
1130 hrs Test drive electric car
1230 hrs Lunch with British Ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips
1530 hrs Visit Alfe Menashe for security briefing on the West Bank
2000 hrs Dinner with members of the Knesset

Tuesday 8th Sept
0800 hrs Meeting with Uzi Landau, Israeli Minister for National Infrastructure
1100 hrs Visit to Hadassah Hospital to see trauma ward
1430 hrs Visit Jerusalem Old City
2000 hrs Dinner with leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group.

Wednesday 9th September
0800 hrs Travel to Ramallah
0900 hrs Meeting with Bassim Khoury Nasr, Palestinian Minister of National Economy
1100 hrs Visit the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah
1300 hrs Lunch with British Deputy Consul General, John Edwards
1530 hrs Meeting with Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli Education Minister
1700 hrs Meeting with Danny Ayalon, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister
1800 hrs Meeting with Yael Ravi-Zadok, Head of Middle East Economic Affairs
2000 hrs Dinner at Gabriel Restaurant