Last month, Labour's leadership candidates took part in the first-ever Jewish community hustings , marking the start of a bridge-building exercise between the party and the community.

In May, too many normally loyal Jewish Labour voters felt torn between their support for their party and their support for Israel. Jewish voters do not vote only, or even mainly, on the parties' attitudes towards Israel but many Jewish voters see a party's position on the Middle East as a proxy measure of its governing credibility.

It's now time to turn the page. I want Labour Friends of Israel to be at the forefront of helping Labour reset its relationship with Israel. Our test should be a simple one: do our actions help or hinder the search for a two-state solution? There are three elements to this.

First, Labour must show we understand Israel's security concerns and the complexities of the situation, and the nature of the enemies, it faces. That understanding has to be coupled by a willingness to challenge Israeli governments when we believe they are in the wrong. So, we must be clear: illegal settlement-building must stop.

Second, LFI supports a Palestinian state, but we must leave the Palestinian Authority in no doubt that this will only be achieved by serious negotiation and compromise. We must also press the PA unequivocally to accept Israel's right to exist and have zero tolerance for antisemitic incitement.

Third, we must work to strengthen the hand of progressives in both Israel and Palestine - from the Israeli Labour party to Palestinian trade unionists, as well as civic society groups which promote coexistence and the young entrepreneurs who are building the economic foundations upon which peace will be built.

Talk of boycotts and sanctions, and the whole language of delegitimisation, is wrong and does nothing to further this aim. Labour's new leader must confront any instances of it.

Last December, I joined an LFI delegation to Israel and the West Bank. Even amid a bleak political situation, I was inspired by the desire of Israelis and Palestinians to build a better future.

I remember especially the residents of a kibbutz in southern Israel which had come under repeated rocket attack last summer, and the concern they expressed for the people of Gaza.

"We are both victims of Hamas," they told us.

I remember, too, the Palestinians we met working on the new city of Rawabi. They viewed Israelis not as enemies but partners for economic development.

These are the people that Labour must stand shoulder-to-shoulder in support of.

Joan Ryan is chair of Labour Friends of Israel