A campaign calling on the UK government to investigate and monitor British nationals who served in the Israeli army during the Gaza genocide has gained public support, with Green Party leader Zack Polanski among more than 60 signatories to an open letter published by Declassified UK and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).
The campaign, titled Nobody Wants to Live Next to a War Criminal, calls on the government to track the movements of British nationals who have served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since October 2023, subject returning fighters to screening at ports of entry and support robust war crimes investigations under domestic and international law.
The campaign follows revelations that at least 2,069 British nationals served in the Israeli army during Israel’s military assault on Gaza. These included 1,686 British-Israelis, 383 triple nationals and 54 so-called “lone soldiers”.
Other signatories include 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 open letter says concerns over returning Israeli army soldiers are “well-founded” given the “extensive documentation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide perpetrated by the IDF since October 2023,” and calls on the UK to investigate potential links to war crimes.
