French journalist and analyst Catherine Perez-Shakdam has been appointed to lead the advocacy group We Believe in Israel, succeeding Luke Akehurst, who was recently elected as the Labour MP for Durham North.

Perez-Shakdam is a former United Nations Security Council consultant on Yemen and is known for her work on Islamic terrorism, radicalisation and antisemitism.

We Believe in Israel has led calls to proscribe the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and spearheaded a campaign to remove extreme anti-Israel content from Spotify.

Perez-Shakdam grew up in a secular Jewish family in France and married a Muslim Yemeni man, whom she met at the University of London. She divorced him in 2014 and now identifies as a Zionist Jew.

While working as a journalist for state-controlled Russian television station RT in 2017, Perez-Shakdam met with senior Iranian leadership.

She spent time with Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as the former Quds Force Commander Soleimani and late President Ebrahim Raisi. The encounters left her with an abiding sense of the Iranian threat from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

She told the JC: “If we are serious about combating terrorism and Islamic radicalism, and stand by the rule of law, we have to proscribe the IRGC.”

Perez-Shakdam said she would continue in her new role trying to persuade UK politicians to proscribe the IRGC : “I intend to prioritise our efforts to secure the proscription of the IRGC, curtail Tehran’s influence in the UK and engage with social media to reduce anti-Israel delegitimisation.

“I also hope to apply a more data-driven approach to our campaign efforts, utilising emerging technologies to refine our output and maximise impact.”

She added that she was “honoured to have been selected as Luke’s successor and intend to build on his legacy in providing a united front that brings together all the existing supporters of Israel in the UK, facilitate and support a grassroots network of activists, and help create a fair and balanced political environment for Israel in the UK.”

James Burchell, chair of We Believe in Israel says: “We are so excited to welcome Catherine to our team. Having undergone a period of unprecedented challenge since October 7, we look forward to her beginning her tenure and building on Luke Akehurst’s excellent work. We thank Luke for all he has done for us as our first director and wish him well in his new role.”