UK government to ban Israelis from defence academy
Israelis will be barred from enrolling at the Royal College of Defence Studies due to ongoing war crimes against Palestinians. Credit: Dennis Jarvis
The British government confirmed plans on September 14th to bar Israelis from the Royal College of Defence Studies, which is a leading defence academy within the UK.
The New Arab reported on September 14th, citing The Telegraph, that the ban, which will be effective from 2026, applies to students from Israel hoping to study at the academy.
According to The Telegraph, the ban will mark the first time Israelis have been excluded from enrolment in the academy, since the Royal College of Defence Studies was established in 1927.
The government’s decision comes amid Israel’s war on Gaza, which has reportedly killed more than 64,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
Israel has faced global condemnation and scrutiny over the affect of its military campaign on the people of Gaza, with the starvation of the population triggering a famine due to Israel obstructing emergency aid and ultimately blocking access to essential food supplies for the enclave.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, the Israeli army has displaced much of Gaza’s population, targeted schools, places of worship, hospitals and shelters, and has also killed more than 200 journalists.
Israel has continued to attack the Gaza Strip in spite of ceasefire proposals from mediators and warnings from human rights defenders and the UN.
Plans to exclude Israelis from attending the top military college have infuriated Amir Baram, the director general of Tel Aviv’s defence ministry, who studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies.
The Israeli director general denounced the British government’s decision, describing it as “a profoundly dishonourable act of disloyalty to an ally at war.”
In a letter penned to the Ministry of Defence, the director general Baram called the ban a “discriminatory act”, and accused the British government of a “disgraceful break with Britain’s proud tradition of tolerance – and plain decency”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said that UK military academic courses had a history of being open to applicants from a “wide range of countries, with all UK military courses emphasising compliance with international humanitarian law”.
They added that “the Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong.”
The spokesperson continued: “[T]here must be a diplomatic solution to end this war now, with an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
Plans to ban Israelis from the academy follow the UK government’s decision to bar Israeli officials from participating in the country’s largest weapons exhibition.
Last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer suspended 30 out of 350 British arms export licenses to Israel amid an increasing international outcry over Israel’s war on Gaza.
The New Arab, The Telegraph, Maghrebi.org
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