The historic relationship between top Tories and the Israeli government has been laid bare in a remarkable cache of leaked emails seen by Declassified.

Over several years, senior figures within the party exchanged strikingly friendly correspondence in private with Ron Prosor, the former Israeli ambassador to the UK.

In one email, a Conservative lord wrote simply: “If you don’t call me while you are here, I will cry.”

Another Tory grandee told Prosor: “You still have friends close to number ten!!!”

The correspondence was discovered by Declassified after thousands of Prosor’s private emails were published by the file sharing website Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS).

In one case, in 2016, the director of a right-wing British think-tank boasted to Prosor about playing a “key role” in orchestrating critical news coverage about then Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Tory Lord Dean Godson, director of Policy Exchange, said: “We played the key role in organising and placing this excellent double page spread in the Daily Mail, and the quotes inside from some dear comrades.”

The article’s headline accused Corbyn of backing “terrorists who bomb Israel”, and included quotes from the likes of Dave Rich from the Community Security Trust, Labour MP John Mann, and journalist Tom Gross.

Godson attached the article, saying he was “delighted” with it. Prosor responded with a “big hug”, adding: “Phone me today”.

Tory treasurers

The leaked emails reveal that at least four former Tory party treasurers have privately corresponded with Prosor.

In one message, Richard Harrington – who served as treasurer between 2008 and 2010 – wrote in 2011 about “behind the scenes work we [Conservative Friends of Israel] have been doing at Number 10 over the Statehood issue”.

In another email sent in July 2014, Mick Davis, a major Tory party donor, assured Prosor that “[David] Cameron and the new Foreign Secretary (Philip Hammond) are totally on side.”

Davis – who went on to become the party’s treasurer in 2016 – referred to Prosor as “my dear friend” and signed off his email: “I am thinking of you and my Country and her People and soldiers all the time.”

He appears to have been referring to Israel and the IDF.

The email was sent during Operation Protective Edge, which saw more than 2,000 Palestinian deaths, including over 500 children, and several thousands of people injured.

“I never thought I would find myself praising Netanyahu – but so far he has done very well!!! The exit will be difficult!” Davis wrote.

Speaking to Declassified last month, Mick Davis claimed he had “no relationships with the current people in the Israeli embassy”.

When questioned, he said: “I’m finding this an exceptionally irritating conversation.”

And, noting the date of the email correspondence, he said: “What has 2014 got to do with 2025? … What has one got to do with the other?”

On a separate occasion, another Tory grandee exchanged friendly emails with Prosor, telling him in 2010: “You still have friends close to number ten!!!”

The Tory figure told Declassified he no longer has contacts with Israel and that he believes the IDF’s war aims in Gaza are “misguided”.

‘A great friend of Israel’

By 2015, the Conservatives had won the general election outright, under Cameron.

The Conservative peer Lord Howard Leigh – who had been the party’s treasurer a decade earlier – emailed Prosor that year saying: “5 more years of Israel friendly Conservatives Thank God”.

He ascribed this success to the outgoing Israeli ambassador Daniel Taub, who “really made a mark” on the British political scene.

In April 2015, Leigh also introduced Prosor to Stephen O’Brien, a former Tory MP who had just been appointed as the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

By this stage, Prosor had moved on from Britain and was now representing Israel at the UN.

Lord Leigh described O’Brien as “a great friend of Israel in many ways” and encouraged him to “hook up” with Prosor.

Responding, O’Brien said he would “very much welcome Ron’s views in particular” and provided his personal email address for future contact.

The Israeli diplomat was particularly happy with this arrangement because “we have serious problems with the organization he is going to lead”, Prosor wrote.

In a separate email, Prosor said he was “Looking forward to giving [Lord Leigh] a big hug.”

‘Money maker’

The leaked emails also reveal how one of King Charles’s top advisors offered Prosor more than $14,000 per day to provide his hedge fund with updates on the Middle East.

The firm, CQS, was set up by Lord Michael Hintze – a Conservative peer who served as an advisor to the Prince’s Council while Charles was the Prince of Wales.

An email from CQS dated April 2016, which Hintze was copied in to, reveals that Prosor was asked to provide “e-mail updates from time to time about significant developments in the Middle East”.

The message said the role would include speaking to staff and investors “from time to time”, adding: “It will always be appreciated if you are able to introduce us to any potential investors”.

CQS offered him $100,000 for “around seven days’ work a year” – working out as $14,285 per day.

It is not clear whether Prosor accepted the role, but the emails show that he consulted his son about the offer.

“It looks fine and these people are good,” his son replied. “… I don’t know if there is a way to return to them and ask for more money without looking like a ‘hog’ or being repetitive.”

Separately, Labour’s Lord Jonathan Kestenbaum also tried to help Prosor find new work after his stint at the UN.

His correspondence with Prosor included emails with the subject line: “From London with love”.

In 2016, Kestenbaum emailed the oil giant BP “at the suggestion of my friend and colleague Lord [John] Browne” – the company’s former chief executive – to recommend Prosor as an “exceptional asset”.

“He was a distinguished Israeli Ambassador to the UK and has just completed a successful assignment as Ambassador to the United Nations,” Kestenbaum wrote.

“He has an extraordinary blend of skills … He is now building a portfolio and I think would be an exceptional asset. May I discuss with you on the phone for a couple of minutes?”

It is unclear whether the introduction led to any paid work.

Kestenbaum, who was formerly a director of pro-Israel lobby group BICOM, went on to donate £5,000 to Keir Starmer in 2020.

Prosor is now Israel’s ambassador to Germany.

Lord Kestenbaum, Lord Godson, Lord Harrison, Lord Leigh, Lord Hintze and Stephen O’Brien did not respond to our request for comment.