{"id":180741,"date":"2026-06-27T21:59:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/180741\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T21:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T21:59:36","slug":"british-israeli-idf-soldier-defeats-landmark-uk-prosecution-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/180741\/","title":{"rendered":"British-Israeli IDF soldier defeats landmark UK prosecution attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018I was low-hanging fruit,\u201d IDF Soldier A, a dual British-Israeli citizen, told The Jerusalem Post this week after a UK<\/a> pro-Palestinian legal group tried and failed to prosecute him for his military service.<\/p>\n

Soldier A<\/a> was born and raised in London, but moved to Israel in 2014 and enlisted in the army in 2017. On October 7, he was in London, but flew back to Israel the following day to join his reserve unit.<\/p>\n

On October 20, 2025, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) formally applied for a court summons to prosecute Soldier A for allegedly breaching UK law by voluntarily serving in the Israeli military<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If successful, the ICJP was hoping the case could set a legal precedent for accountability under Britain\u2019s<\/a> Foreign Enlistment Act (FEA) of 1870.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with ICJP\u2019s Global 195 campaign, this is a significant step in holding suspected war criminals accountable within domestic jurisdictions for offenses that they have committed outside of their home countries,\u201d Mutahir Ahmed, the ICJP\u2019s legal chief, said at the time.<\/p>\n

\"WESTMINSTERWESTMINSTER MAGISTRATES\u2019 COURT where judge Paul Goldspring ruled on April 8 that the ICJP\u2019s application was \u2018fundamentally misconceived in law,\u2019 as the Foreign Enlistment Act does not apply to dual nationals, and therefore does not apply to Soldier A. (credit: Hannah McKay\/Reuters)The prosecution\u2019s attempt failed dramatically in the Magistrates\u2019 Court<\/p>\n

\u201cWar criminals must be held accountable for their role in the genocide, from the most senior generals to the most junior foot soldier,\u201d Ahmed added.<\/p>\n

Despite all their intentions, the prosecution\u2019s attempt failed dramatically in the Magistrates\u2019 Court.<\/p>\n

Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring of Westminster Magistrates\u2019 Court ruled on April 8, 2026, that the ICJP\u2019s application was \u201cfundamentally misconceived in law,\u201d as the FEA does not apply to dual nationals.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a dual national, service in the armed forces of his other state of nationality is not \u2018foreign enlistment\u2019 in any meaningful sense,\u201d Goldspring wrote in his decision.<\/p>\n

The judge also unleashed a damning polemic against the legal team behind the ICJP attempt, calling it \u201cegregious\u201d and legally \u201cinadmissible.\u201d Then, on June 19, Goldspring ruled that the ICJP must pay legal costs to Soldier A, the exact amount of which will be decided later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy that the way that we chose to litigate, it was very much the correct decision,\u201d Soldier A told the Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought, let\u2019s not try and get out on a technicality. When it comes to these types of cases, let\u2019s try to destroy this whole act in and of itself, which is exactly what [barristers] Peter Wright KC, Natasha Hausdorff, and Dan Berke did. So I\u2019m very happy,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Post about the case, Berke called the ICJP\u2019s attempt \u201cmisconceived in law, misconceived in fact, politically motivated, and vexatious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivate prosecutors have a duty to conduct themselves to the highest standard. The ICJP did not. They failed to disclose vital information to the court,\u201d Berke said.<\/p>\n

The ICJP excluded information such as \u201cstatements by ministers from successive governments confirming that dual nationals may serve in the armed forces of their other nationality, including Israelis in the IDF,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Berke, \u201cThey failed to disclose that their \u2018expert\u2019 belonged to an ICJP WhatsApp group and was clearly partisan. The seriousness of their conduct was marked by the judge ordering that they pay Soldier A\u2019s costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soldier A, in fact, said he would have been happy to go to court over the case, adding that, in some ways, he was disappointed that the ICJP didn\u2019t appeal Goldspring\u2019s ruling, as then it would have been expedited to a higher court and \u201ccould have set a precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my case, they lost entirely, but in theory, they could litigate this with somebody else. So I wish they had appealed it and then we could have taken it to the High Court and set a precedent,\u201d Soldier A said.<\/p>\n

Berke, however, said that he was not surprised the ICJP did not appeal, noting that \u201cthe judgment was so strong, they must have known that if they were to appeal this, the High Court would likely have been just as scathing and the cost implications would have been even more severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post questioned Soldier A about why the ICJP singled him out, given that myriad other British lone soldiers also enlisted after October 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made it too easy for them in like … a naive way,\u201d they said. \u201cI had pictures online from 2014 and videos of me asking for donations for the army.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo they weren\u2019t looking to get me on war crimes because there was no way they could get me on war crimes. But with this act, with the Foreign Enlistment Act, I could have been doing any job in the army, like shredding paper or cooking food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berke concurred, calling Soldier A \u201ca low-hanging fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the UK\u2019s FEA, it was not necessary to show that a soldier had been involved in any alleged war crimes; simply joining a foreign army at war with a country with which Britain is at peace would have sufficed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prosecution was therefore able to target any British national, in any role. It could have been a cook or a medic,\u201d Berke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of fact, Israel was not at war with Lebanon or the alleged state of Palestine; rather, as the judge ruled, Israel was in an armed conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah, terrorist groups which Britain proscribes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

A publicity stunt?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I see it, they\u2019re not looking really to throw people in prison,\u201d Soldier A said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about getting a million news articles about it, getting the publicity. That\u2019s really what they\u2019re looking for, which is what really pissed off the judge. He was like, \u2018Don\u2019t use my court for political agendas,\u2019\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n

This is, in fact, what Goldspring ruled.<\/p>\n

In his April ruling, the judge said he believed that the ICJP\u2019s \u201cdominant motive\u201d was not the pursuit of justice for a specific criminal act, \u201cbut rather the advancement of a political and ideological agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe courts must not be used as a vehicle for political debate or to \u2018expose\u2019 individuals for alleged wrongdoing which falls outside the scope of criminal law in order to cause embarrassment to individuals or highlight a particular cause in a public forum, such as a courtroom. I fear that is close to being the case here,\u201d Goldspring said.<\/p>\n

Soldier A\u2019s advice to other lone soldiers or soldiers with dual nationality is: \u201cDon\u2019t be stupid and post stuff online; It\u2019ll come back to bite you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBe very careful with social media, or it\u2019ll come back to bite you when you fly to Australia, or France, or Spain to go on holiday, and you get arrested at the airport for war crimes,\u201d they advised.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in military reserve duty for almost 700 days. I can\u2019t imagine pulling out my phone to live stream on Instagram or post pictures,\u201d Soldier A said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the stupidest thing that you could possibly think about doing. Besides the fact that it could come back to you legally, you\u2019re giving the enemy live information that could compromise you,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n

Regarding whether the ICJP may seek to bring a similar prosecution against other soldiers, Berke said that in that case, \u201cin accordance with the duty of candor that has now been made abundantly clear to them, it would be incumbent upon them to disclose this judgment to any other court.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ICJP would have no choice but to do this \u201cso that the judge could be aware of this previous attempt and the way in which they conducted themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It is relatively common for anti-Israel legal advocacy groups to attempt to use soldiers\u2019 own footage to prosecute them.<\/p>\n

In fact, this is the organization Hind Rajab Foundation\u2019s (HRF) main body of work. It takes pictures and videos of IDF soldiers in conflict zones, then files arrest requests or crime complaints with local justice systems as soon as these soldiers travel abroad.<\/p>\n

For example, last month, the HRF filed a complaint with Dutch authorities against a young Israeli sergeant in the \u201cZion\u201d company of the Netzah Yehuda 97th Battalion.<\/p>\n

According to the organization, the young man was involved in the destruction of the Palace of Justice, otherwise known as the Palestinian Supreme Court complex in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The organization claimed this was a deliberate destruction of a civilian building. It described the event as a war crime.<\/p>\n

HRF\u2019s main evidence consisted of videos that it said the young man himself posted on Instagram in January 2024.<\/p>\n

In one of these videos, a voice can be heard saying, \u201cWe will reach their court … We are everywhere,\u201d and in another, a controlled demolition of the building is shown. For its part, the IDF said that the building was used as Hamas infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The group claims to have filed more than 80 complaints against IDF veterans since the beginning of 2026, with their goal being to target the ability of Israelis to \u201cmove freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to this case, UK Lawyers For Israel has set up a hotline to help ensure that any IDF soldier or veteran who is detained coming into the UK, or who faces arrest, investigation, or prosecution, can receive specialist legal support and representation.0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018I was low-hanging fruit,\u201d IDF Soldier A, a dual British-Israeli citizen, told The Jerusalem Post this week after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[10725,423,37,5539,5633,33588,2744,691,2773],"class_list":["post-180741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-anti-zionism","tag-idf","tag-israel","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-judiciary","tag-pro-palestinian-groups","tag-reservists","tag-united-kingdom","tag-war-crimes"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116824320550194438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}