An open letter published by Declassified UK and the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) titled ‘Nobody Wants to Live Next to a War Criminal’, calls on the government to investigate British Nationals who have served in the Israeli army since October 2023.
Yesterday (June 3rd), Green Party leader Zack Polanski joined the 60+ signatories on the campaign, alongside human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield KC, genocide scholar Prof Martin Shaw, former British Army Major General Charlie Herbert, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott and anti-apartheid campaigner Andrew Feinstein.
The British government has so far declined to collect data on UK nationals serving in the Israeli army. The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Unit closed its scoping exercise into ten British nationals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s genocide in Gaza, citing an inability to conduct an effective investigation and no realistic prospect of conviction.
The campaign follows revelations that at least 2,069 British nationals served in the Israeli army during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
