UK Jewish group: 'Promoting atmosphere of intimidation'

UK Greens’ Jewish, anti-Israel leader backs ‘monitoring’ British-Israeli IDF soldiers

Zack Polanski signs open letter citing ‘public interest’ to demand disclosure of service in IDF, potential extra screening for all travelers with Israeli documents or arriving from Israel

Zack Polanski, the Jewish, anti-Israel leader of Britain’s Green Party, has backed a call to monitor UK-Israeli nationals who have recently served in the Israel Defense Forces, British media reported Wednesday.

Polanski signed a letter organized last month by the far-left Declassified Britain publication and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, which urges tracking the entry of dual nationals as they come into the country as being “in the public interest” due to possible war crimes suspicions.

“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,” it said.

The letter was sent to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

It said that signatories “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 Israel Defense Forces.”

It called for implementing a disclosure of service in the IDF and “subjecting travelers with Israeli travel documents or arriving from an origin of Tel Aviv airport” to potential secondary screening.

The letter also urged investigations “in compliance with the obligation to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law.”

According to Declassified UK, some 2,000 British-Israelis have served in the IDF since October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led an invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and triggered the war.

The letter was also signed by some other British MPs, including Labour’s Dianne Abbot and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Israel vehemently denies committing war crimes during its offensive against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. It has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main body representing British Jewry, told the Jewish News the petition “seems to be another attempt to demonise Israelis and promote an atmosphere of intimidation against British Jews.”

“The call of those who have signed it, including Zack Polanski, to treat people as potential criminals just because of their passport is a unique and wholly unacceptable form of discrimination,” the board said.

A spokesman for Polanski told The Telegraph newspaper, “The IDF 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.”

In May, Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Unit closed a probe into 10 Britons opened following a war crimes complaint.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 72,000 people in the Strip have been killed during the war — including over 600 since the October 2025 ceasefire — though the toll does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every dead terror operative.

The IDF says it has killed over 23,000 combatants in Gaza and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.