A group of Conservative MPs and peers are visiting Israel this week, in the ninth trip of its type since the general election last year.

The visit, organised by Conservative Friends of Israel, will see UK parliamentarians meet both Israeli MKs and David Quarrey, the British Ambassador. They will receive strategic briefings and tour the country’s northern borders with Lebanon and Syria.

The itinerary also includes time at the Israel-Britain Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Save a Child’s Heart NGO in Holon, which provides life-saving heart surgery for children from developing countries.

Five MPs and three peers are on the trip, including Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole and CFI officer, and Lord Polak, CFI’s honorary president.

Others taking part include Jonathan Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon, Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West and Stuart Andrew, MP for Pudsey.

James Gurd, executive director of the CFI, said that by the end of 2016, 100 Conservatives will have visited the country in the 19-month period since the general election – a number which he called “unprecedented.”

Mr Gurd said that the “high demand for fact-finding visits to Israel” showed “the strength of support for the Jewish state across the Conservative Party”.