Polanski and Corbyn join calls for Britons who served in Israeli army to be tracked

Polanski and Corbyn join calls for Britons who served in Israeli army to be tracked Imran Mulla on Thu, 06/04/2026 - 12:47 Around 2,000 British-Israeli dual nationals have served in the Israeli military during its genocide in Gaza An Israeli soldier raises his rifle as part of an occupation patrol through the market in the Old City of Nablus, in the northern West Bank on 12 April (AFP) Off Green Party leader Zack Polanski and Your Party leader Jeremy Corbyn have joined calls for the British government to place British citizens who have served in the Israeli military under surveillance. Polanski signed an open letter organised by Declassified UK to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urging them to "track the movements of Brits who have served in the IDF" and "subject them to secondary screening where necessary at ports of entry". The letter called for "robust war crimes investigations in line with domestic and international law". Around 2,000 British-Israeli dual nationals have served in the Israeli military during Israel's war on Gaza, which a UN commission of inquiry found was a genocide last year. Israeli forces have killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, with a further 170,000 wounded. Thousands more in Gaza remain missing and are presumed dead beneath the rubble. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The letter says: "We, the undersigned, are politicians, lawyers, campaigners, human rights defenders, journalists, and other professionals who believe the public interest is best served by monitoring the entry of British-Israeli dual national citizens into the UK and investigating potential links to war crimes, in cases where they have served in the IDF." Israel seeks to recruit ultranationalists for police unit at Al-Aqsa Mosque Read More » It adds: "Individuals who have returned from fighting 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 potential war criminal – not least members of the Palestinian community in the UK who have family or friends who have been subjected to war crimes." In April London's Metropolitan Police announced it would not investigate 10 British nationals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity while fighting with the Israeli military in Gaza. This came after the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) filed a 240-page dossier to the Met's War Crimes Team in April last year. The PILC said the report detailed the alleged involvement of the 10 British nationals, including dual citizens, in the “targeted killings of civilians and aid workers, indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, attacks on hospitals and protected sites, and the forced transfer and displacement of civilians”. But the Met said it would not progress the matter, saying there was no realistic prospect of conviction and that an effective investigation could not be conducted. 'UK government should be taking robust action' The letter has been signed by parliamentarians including independents and Labour MPs John McDonnell and Diane Abbott. Hasan Piker was set to meet Zack Polanski and Jeremy Corbyn in UK before being banned Read More » Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Party chairman, condemned the letter in comments to The Telegraph, saying: “At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise, Zack Polanski should not be stoking further division and hostility in our society." Meanwhile a spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which has supported Israel's war on Gaza, said the letter was "another attempt to demonise Israelis and promote an atmosphere of intimidation against British Jews". A spokesperson for Polanski, however, said the Israeli military "has been credibly accused of horrific war crimes in Gaza by bodies including the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and the UK Government should be taking robust action against any British citizen complicit in these crimes." Israeli forces killed 119 Palestinians in May, the highest monthly death toll since November, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The army has also continued to expand its control on the ground, now holding around 60 percent of Gaza and seeking to increase that figure to 70 percent, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0