Boris Johnson volunteered in a Galilee kibbutz in the 1980s, kibbutz leader says

Israel’s kibbutz movement congratulates Boris Johnson on his election to the premiership — and notes he was once a hardworking volunteer on a kibbutz in northern Israel.

Calling Johnson a “true friend of Israel,” the secretary general of the umbrella body of the Kibbutz movement, Nir Meir, says he will invite Johnson to the organization’s annual conference.

Johnson volunteered in Kibbutz Kfar Hanassi, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the 1980s, Meir’s statement to the press explains. “He even worked in the fields,” the statement assures.

“I am convinced that his time at Kibbutz Kfar Hanassi as part of the famous volunteers program has left a warm place in his heart for Israel generally and the kibbutzim in particular,” Meir says.

Then, of course, he urges the Israeli government “to increase funding” to the volunteers program, which he calls the “most effective” public diplomacy tool in Israel’s arsenal.