LONDON — Israeli officers have been allowed to study at a British military academy in central London throughout the genocide in Gaza, a new investigation by Declassified UK has revealed, following months of secrecy from the Labour Party.
At least two Israeli colonels have attended the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), one of Britain’s most eminent military academies, since 2023. One of the soldiers, thought to be Elad Edri, only graduated a fortnight ago.
Another officer, Yeftah Norkin, completed the course in July 2024 and almost immediately led the army’s “Bang” division in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. Norkin commanded a patrol company in Israel’s 2008-9 assault on Gaza which killed hundreds of children.
The RCDS organises training for “rising stars” among the officer class from the UK and abroad. RCDS alumni include Major General Hidai Zilberman, the former Israeli military spokesperson and now Israeli defence attaché to the US, and General Harel Knfao, who served as Chief of Staff of Israel’s Southern Command.
The revelation about where Israeli soldiers are training in the UK comes after months of secrecy from ministers and officials under both Labour and Conservative administrations, Declassified said. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) disclosed that Israeli soldiers were studying at the RCDS, admitting that fewer than five officers had trained there in 2023 and 2024.
In addition to hosting Israeli soldiers, the RCDS also welcomed “senior staff” from the Israel National Defense College (INDC) earlier this year, according to a post on LinkedIn.
INDC alumni have served in the Israeli military during the ongoing Gaza assault, including Colonel Ahsan Daksa, a senior Israeli commander who was killed in the Jabalia area of the strip in October 2024, Declassified found.
The news comes as John Deverell, a retired brigadier who was director of defence diplomacy at the MoD, is writing to the prime minister urging him to “cut all military collaboration with Israel”, including training.
Deverell told Declassified earlier this year: “Any relationship between the two militaries is useful to the IDF because an onlooker can infer that the British Army agrees with how the IDF conducts operations. In effect, it gives a sort of fig leaf to the IDF.”
Charlie Herbert, a retired British army general, told Declassified: “It is extraordinary that IDF personnel are still receiving training in the UK.”
“All training should have been suspended and individuals returned to Israel when the International Criminal Court issued warrants against prime minister Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant [in November 2024].
“It discredits our Armed Forces to be working alongside IDF officers at RCDS.”
Former Conservative cabinet minister and army veteran Rory Stewart also protested in a recent interview how “we continue to train IDF soldiers”.
He added: “How is it possible for David Lammy on the one hand to describe this horror and on the other hand continue providing military assistance, training?”.
Last month, Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George challenged David Lammy in parliament over reports that Israeli soldiers were being “trained on UK soil”.
Lammy defended the training, saying: “The UK of course provides military courses for our allies, but we always emphasise, in all those courses, the critical importance of international humanitarian law.
“It is important that we work with our allies to meet the amazing standards of our own armed services, and I am sure the honourable gentleman would not want us to depart from that.”
The revelation came the same day Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK will recognise Palestine as a state during a UN meeting in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza following intense pressure over the mounting humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and internal calls to follow France in acknowledging Palestinian statehood.
The UK has supplied Israel with arms during the course of its military operation in Gaza, which is confirmed to have left close to 60,000 people dead and has involved the ethnic cleansing of most Palestinians from their homes in various parts of the territory. Around 80 percent of buildings and homes have been destroyed.
C. QNN
