Exclusive: Declassified obtained data on the number of UK nationals in the IDF. We are publishing it for the first time
JOHN McEVOY and Alex Morris
11 February 2026
Israeli soldiers repair a tank near Gaza in April 2025, when thousands of British nationals were serving in the IDF, new data (left) reveals. (Photo: Jim Hollander / Alamy)
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More than 2,000 Britons served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during the Gaza genocide, it can be revealed.
The information was obtained by Declassified via a Freedom of Information request issued to the IDF by lawyer Elad Man from the NGO Hatzlacha.
The data outlines the number of people with dual and multiple nationalities who were IDF service members as of March 2025.
It shows how 1,686 British-Israelis and a further 383 people with British, Israeli, and another nationality served in the IDF amid the annihilation of Gaza.
They were among over 50,000 IDF soldiers with Israeli and at least one other nationality.
The largest cohorts come from the US, Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany.
Prior to this, data was only available on the number of Britons without Israeli citizenship serving in the IDF, so-called lone soldiers, a figure that was as low as 54.
‘Authorities must investigate’
The revelation that far more UK passport holders served in the IDF will raise serious legal questions for the British authorities, which have thus far failed to prosecute any citizens returning home after fighting in Gaza.
Paul Heron, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), told Declassified: “There must be no impunity where credible evidence links British nationals to grave breaches of international law.
“The UK has clear duties to prevent genocide and avoid assisting unlawful military action.
“Where dual nationals have served in units implicated in atrocities, the authorities must investigate promptly and, where the evidence meets the threshold, pursue arrest and prosecution like any other serious crime”.
Declassified contributor Hamza Yusuf previously exposed how Britons were serving in some of Israel’s “craziest” combat units in Gaza where they viewed Palestinian fighters as “rats” and “animals”.
Among the Britons identified by Yusuf was Levi Simon, who was seen “rummaging through the underwear drawers of Palestinian women forced to flee their homes” in Gaza.
Another was master sergeant Sam Sank from London, who filmed himself fighting in Gaza between December 2023 and January 2024.
Sank had told The Times that “based on the number of his friends in the IDF, which includes a Scot in his own small unit, [he] believes there are hundreds, if not thousands, more Britons fighting in Israel.”
His estimates match with the data Hatzlacha has now obtained from Israeli authorities.
The UK Foreign Office declined to comment on the new data but confirmed that it does not collect information on the number of Britons in the IDF.
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‘No one is above the law’
The Metropolitan police’s war crimes unit was handed a complaint against ten Britons serving in the IDF last year.
Although their names were not made public, the 240-page dossier accused the British suspects of “targeted killing of civilians and aid workers, including by sniper fire, and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas”.
It was submitted by the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.
“British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law”, said Michael Mansfield, one of the lawyers who issued the complaint.
Heron told Declassified: “In our report to the Metropolitan Police, we set out credible evidence that 10 British nationals served in the Israeli Defence Forces and were involved in war crimes and acts giving rise to genocide.”
He said our findings showed “the issue is far deeper than we could ever believe.”
The Metropolitan Police did not respond when Declassified asked last year whether the people referred by PILC would be investigated for potential involvement in war crimes.
Lone soldiers
In addition to dual nationals, over 50 “lone soldiers” from Britain – defined as IDF members without family in Israel to support them – have served for Israel amid the genocide.
That data was released last year in a report on “lone soldiers” published by the Knesset Research and Information Center within Israel’s parliament.
“Lone soldiers” also include immigrants who arrive in Israel alone and volunteers from abroad.
The Knesset report detailed how 54 Britons were among around 3,000 lone soldiers serving in the IDF in August 2024.
Thirty-three of those Britons joined through the Tzabar programme, which is an Israeli support system for young Jewish adults to “make Aliyah” (emigrate to Israel) and serve in the IDF.
In the past, the UK government itself has offered support to “lone soldiers” in Israel.
Chaim Schryer, originally from Manchester, served in Netzah Yehuda, an Israeli military unit which the US considered sanctioning in 2024 over evidence of gross human rights violations.
Schryer was invited onto a British Royal Navy ship in 2021 alongside other British ‘lone soldiers’ who joined the IDF without family in Israel to support them.
He was pictured walking onto the HMS Richmond wearing his Netzah Yehuda uniform, before being given a tour of the boat and meeting Britain’s defence attaché in Israel, Colonel Jim Priest.
Schryer is among at least three Britons identified by Declassified, using open-source data and facial recognition software, who served with Netzah Yehuda over recent years.
Legal concerns
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice handed down its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The court advised that all UN member states – including the United Kingdom – were obligated to refrain from assisting Israel in maintaining its occupation.
In January 2024, the ICJ also put all member states on notice of the serious risk that genocide was being committed by Israel in Gaza.
“The duty to prevent genocide was triggered due to the actual or constructive knowledge of the immediate plausiblity that genocide was being or was about to be committed”, the UN commission of inquiry subsequently wrote.
To this end, the UK government’s failure to investigate or even monitor the activities of Britons serving in the IDF could be interpreted as tacit support for Israel’s military campaign.
Britain’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state might also mean that British nationals serving in the IDF could be in breach of the Foreign Enlistment Act.
This law, passed in 1870, makes it an offence for Britons “to fight for a foreign state at war with another state with which the UK is at peace”
A spokesperson for the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said: “No one in the UK wants to live next door to a potential war criminal.
“And yet, British people who fought in the IDF are allowed to return to this country and live freely amongst us, despite fighting for an army that is committing genocide.
“It is utterly inexcusable that the UK government is failing to take action to hold citizens accountable for potential violations of international and domestic law”.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John McEvoy is Chief Reporter for Declassified UK. John is an historian and filmmaker whose work focuses on British foreign policy and Latin America. His PhD was on Britain’s Secret Wars in Colombia between 1948 and 2009, and he is currently working on a documentary about Britain’s role in the rise of Augusto Pinochet.
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