Richard Tice, deputy leader of Britain’s Reform UK party, is under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog over whether he should have verbally disclosed a trip to Israel sponsored by a pro-Israel organization before participating in a House of Commons debate on alleged Israeli influence in British politics.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened the investigation on July 28, although the inquiry was not publicly disclosed until Monday. At issue is whether Tice should have made an oral declaration before speaking during a June 22 parliamentary debate that he had traveled to Israel in September 2025 as the guest of Reform Friends of Israel.

The Israel trip had already been properly listed in Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Tice dismissed the complaint, arguing that it is politically motivated and stems from his outspoken opposition to antisemitism.

“I am being investigated for standing against antisemitism. You could not make it up,” he wrote Monday on X.

In the same post, Tice alleged—without naming the complainant—that the complaint was filed by an “antisemitic anti-Israel lobby group.” Under parliamentary rules, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards does not identify complainants while investigations are ongoing, and no individual or organization has publicly claimed responsibility for filing the complaint.

The September 2025 visit to Israel included airfare, lodging, and hospitality provided by Reform Friends of Israel, an organization that works with Reform UK candidates and elected officials to strengthen ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. The investigation will determine whether parliamentary rules required Tice to mention that sponsored trip orally before taking part in the June debate.

The Commons debate was triggered after a public petition surpassed 100,000 signatures, qualifying it for parliamentary consideration. The petition called for an investigation into what its organizers described as “pro-Israel influence.”

During the debate, Tice forcefully rejected the premise of the petition, calling it “antisemitic in its very motivation and at its core.”

He also argued that accusations of excessive Jewish or Israeli influence in politics echoed “the oldest antisemitic trope in the book” and defended the role of parliamentary organizations such as Conservative Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Israel.

“We should celebrate the extraordinary genius and impact of Israeli scientists, entrepreneurs, and people specializing in medical research and AI applications, the work they do and the innovation they create, whether they are in the State of Israel or living somewhere else, such as London,” Tice said during the debate.

Tice also praised then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to combat antisemitism within the Labour Party and maintained that Parliament should reject claims that Jewish organizations or supporters of Israel wield improper influence over Britain’s political system.

In his X post, Tice further claimed that the same group responsible for filing the complaint against him had not sought an investigation into independent MP Ayoub Khan, whom he accused of failing to disclose a donation from a pro-Palestinian organization. Tice did not identify either the complainant or the organization involved, and Khan has not publicly responded to the allegation.