Claims have been made that it would be illegal for British citizens to serve in Israeli forces, something rejected by the UK Government.
The latest confirmation came in response to a Written Parliamentary Question.
Afzal Khan Labour MP for Manchester, Gorton, asked:
“To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what guidance his Department issues to British nationals that plan to volunteer to assist the Israeli Defence Forces with the conflict in Gaza.
Andrew Mitchell, Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), responded:
“FCDO travel advice provides British nationals with information on the risks of travelling or living abroad. The FCDO provides advice to British nationals on the risks of travelling to Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. This guidance can be found on Gov.uk.
The UK recognises the right of British nationals with additional nationalities to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of the country of their other nationalities. The Israel Defence Force is a recognised armed force and British nationals are both able to volunteer into the Israel Defence Force and eligible for national service. For Israel, one does not have to be Israeli to serve in the Israel Defence Force.”
Doesn’t that mean, contrary to the headline, that it is legal ONLY if you already have dual UK-Israel nationality?
It’s open on that point. It says it’s legal if you have dual nationality, not that it’s illegal if you don’t.
It is perfectly legal for any UK National to join the Israeli defence force in the same way you can join the US forces or french foreign legion..it only becomes illegal to join a foreign army if that army is at war with a nation the UK is at peace with…as Israel is not at war with a formally recognised nation, it’s not illegal to enlist…but it is actually illegal to enlist in the Ukraine armed forces as they are at war with a nation we are at peace with ( 1870 the foreign enlistment act).
There’s a footnote; “For Israel, one does not have to be Israeli to serve in the Defence Forces”
Off topic: What is going on in Guyana?
Britain sent HMS Trent (an OPV, on-board crew about 46 plus a few marines) on a visit to Guyana to conduct exercises with the coast guard; it should have arrived on Friday. Venezuela protested, calling it British hostile provocation and Maduro reportedly sent 5,680 military personnel to conduct defensive exercises also off the coast of Guyana.
The numbers come from the Guardian, the Guyana Times and elsewhere, but I doubt the ability of Venezuela to put that many troops on exercise at short notice, despite the support of Iran and Russia, not to mention the cost. Maduro claims the troops will remain on exercise until HMS Trent leaves. It must be so tempting to extend the UK-Guyana exercises to watch the Venezuelan Finance Ministry mess themselves.
Its not just a case of HMSTrent being there, Maduro wants to stir the pot and make the UK look bad in front of his own people. The US has also said it supports Guyana, so unless Maduro is going to commit political suicide I think he’s talking out of his backside.
The law on this is actually really old and a bit out of date..the foreign enlistment act of 1870 states that a UK citizen is not allowed to enlist with the armed forces of a foreign nation that it’s at war with a friendly nation…friendly is basically defined as any nation that the UK is not at war with. There is an exclusion in that HMG can provide a license to allow someone to enlist with the forces of a nation at war with another nation the UK is at peace with….
So what does this mean
1) It is perfectly legal for any UK citizen to enlist in the armed forces of any nation the UK is at peace with as long as that nation is not at war with another nation the Uk is at peace with..so your free to joint the U.S. military ( if you have a green card) or the French foreign legion etc.
2) your are also free to join the Israeli defence force as they are not at war with a recognised nation..if for instance Israel ended up a war with a UN recognised Arab state it would become illegal to enlist in the Israeli defence force.
3) it is actually illegal to enlist in the Ukraine army as Ukraine is at war with Russia which is under the 1870 act defined as a friendly nation ( we are not at war with Russia). If prosecuted an individual could face 2 years in prison. It would only become legal if HMG issue a license. This was why there was uproar when the now ex foreign secretary made encouraging statements about Uk citizens going to fight for Ukraine..she was actually inciting breaking the law..
finally no one has been prosecuted under this law for around 100 years, the government has ignored people going of to fight for national armies.
Going to fight for a terror organisation or fighting for a nation at war with the UK are covered under different legislation..so the prosecutions related to the war on terror did not come under the 1870 act.
One thing I will say is that I personally think one thing the Uk government should do is issue licences related to those fighting for Ukraine as even if the government has no plans to prosecute them, they are still at preset criminalised..which in the case of defending Ukraine I think is a bit morally wrong.
Interesting in light of reports a while ago that it might be illegal for British nationals to go abroad to fight ISIS terrorists, by way of comparison. I am not saying there is legal equivalence.
Looking at Jonathan’s post, ISIS is not a nation so fill your boots..
Given RAF Operation Shader, presumably that mission may be open to the professionals too, depending on the threat..
As long as they were jointing a recognised nations army then it’s not illegal.The issue is if they join some random group…so you could sign up to the Iraqi army with no legal issue..joining some random fighters..you will probably fall into terror laws and get arrested.
Thanks Jonathan, I follow that. My point was about the moral cause, not the legal side.
Well in theory both legal and moral should be bound together..what is moral should be legal and what is legal should be moral, with the legal framework bound to a societies moral bedrocks…although you have seen over that last shall we say century or so a gradual drift and separation between what society considers moral and what is legal, this is a purposeful engineering by the legal professions as well as political classes/legislators who are out of touch. That’s put some serious tensions in play to be honest. Classic example is the wealthiest using legal loopholes to avoid tax..its legal but morally questionable and creates significant societal strain.. it does come in the field of defence and citizens rights…and creates some right moral issues.
Ukraine is the best example were it’s illegal to join the Ukrainian armed forces, but most Uk citizens would say it would be a morally appropriate act..and which is an ally that the Uk government is actively supporting, but it is not illegal to enlist in the Chinese armed forces, which a very significant number of UK citizens would consider a bit iffy.
fighting isis is a tricky moral one, as a lot of the groups fighting isis are themselves morally iffy and it’s difficult for a western to understand the complexity of the moral quagmire which is the levant, without getting themselves in hot water. I honestly don’t think there is any moral ground left in the Levant, just worst and less worst…although there is serous ground between the worst ( isis, brotherhood and all the other Islamists) and least worst ( various nationalists) , so I’m never sticking moral equivalence on the least worst (the various nationalist groups, which I consider brutal in their causes, but they have some form of reasonable causes ) as I consider the Islamists to be a profound evil outside of the pale.
so I suppose their is some moral cause in joining a nationalist group to fight isis…but is not completely morally neutral or positive…I suppose the best thing a UK citizen who wanted to combat Isis could do is join the RAF.
Thanks Jonathan for your thoughtful post. I can see the appeal to some young, single Brits to join the Kurdish YPG to rid the world of some ISIS terrorists but they probably don’t weigh up that Turkey has proscribed the YPG.
Oh if I was 30 or 40 years younger I’d be on the next flight. Israel is the only country other than my own, I would consider taking up arms to defend. I’m neither Jewish or religious but I would love to defend that parliamentary democracy from her enemies. This getting old business sucks!
Ditto.
Fighting for any foreign country should lead to removal of UK citizenship.