Declassified UK and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) have launched a major campaign to demand the end of impunity for British nationals who fought for Israel in Gaza, writes John McEvoy.
IDF soldier in Gaza, 2025. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit / Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0)
By John McEvoy
Declassified UK
Earlier this year, Declassified revealed that over 2,000 Britons served for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since October 2023.
This information would never have come to light using sources in Britain.
The U.K. government does not collect data on British nationals serving in the IDF, and soldiers returning from Israel have not been questioned about their activities in the region.
Instead, the information came from a Freedom of Information request issued to the IDF by a lawyer in Israel. The U.K. government’s failure to collect data on the movements of potential war criminals or properly investigate their activities raises serious concerns.
Individuals who have returned from committing war crimes in Gaza may now be living alongside us and working in public institutions such as hospitals, the police, and schools.
Nobody wants to live next to a war criminal — not least members of the Palestinian community in the U.K. who have family or friends who have been subjected to war crimes.
Major Campaign
In the interests of transparency, public safety, and justice, Declassified and the ICJP are launching a major campaign to demand that the U.K. government:
- Track the movements of Brits who have served in the IDF.
- Subject them to secondary screening where necessary at ports of entry.
- Support robust war crimes investigations in line with domestic and international law.
These demands come on the back of a meeting earlier this year of the Hague Group, in which forty states convened to demand accountability and the enforcement of international law in Palestine.
They are also simple requests, and firmly in the public interest. Our campaign letter has already been signed by over 60 prominent figures — from lawyers and genocide scholars to military veterans and politicians.
They include human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield, genocide scholar Martin Shaw, former British army general Charlie Herbert, anti-apartheid campaigner Andrew Feinstein, Green party leader Zack Polanski and the Mother of the House of Commons, Diane Abbott MP.
We are now opening the letter up to the public, and need as many signatures as possible. You can sign the letter here.
Not One Prosecution
The IDF’s Gaza Division change of command ceremony, September 2024. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0)
This could not come at a more important moment.
The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Unit announced last month the closure of its scoping exercise into ten British nationals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity while fighting in Gaza.
In its decision letter, the Met said an effective investigation could not be conducted, nor was there a realistic prospect for a conviction. That means there still hasn’t been one prosecution of — or apparently even a thorough investigation into — Brits fighting for Israel amid the genocide. This apparent indifference does not apply to Britons who have travelled to fight in Ukraine.
Foreign Office travel advice specifically notes that travelling to Ukraine “to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war… may amount to offences under UK legislation,” adding: “You could be prosecuted on your return to the UK.”
There is no such warning explicitly cautioning Britons against fighting for the IDF in advice for travelling to Israel. And while nobody in Britain has been prosecuted for serving in a genocidal army, the authorities have dedicated much-needed resources towards arresting over 2,000 people for displaying placards saying they oppose genocide and support Palestine Action.
Jonathan Purcell, ICJP’s Head of Public Affairs and Communications said:
“It’s possible that British people are taking part in a genocide and returning home to live, work and socialise alongside us. It is a truly chilling thought and it poses a serious threat to our national security. The UK government must take this seriously and ensure it thoroughly investigates individuals who have gone to fight for the IDF, a genocidal army that has perpetrated countless war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Laura Pidcock, Declassified UK co-director said:
“To think, after everything we have witnessed over the last two years in Gaza — the way in which the population has been systematically killed, tortured, starved and displaced, with infrastructure destroyed and life made untenable by genocide — that there could potentially be people in Britain who participated in war crimes and yet not being investigated by authorities is staggering. We urge as many people as possible to sign this letter asking for these entirely reasonable steps to be taken.”
If you have any information which might relate to this campaign, please contact the ICJP in confidence at: info@icjpalestine.com
John McEvoy is chief reporter for Declassified UK. John is an historian and filmmaker whose work focuses on British foreign policy and Latin America. His PhD was on Britain’s Secret Wars in Colombia between 1948 and 2009, and he is currently working on a documentary about Britain’s role in the rise of Augusto Pinochet.
This article is from Declassified UK.
Views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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