UK: Israeli Embassy officials attempted to influence court cases, documents reveal 

Israel attempted to influence court cases in the United Kingdom, according to documents obtained through a freedom of information (FoI) request by activist group Palestine Action. The documents indicate that officials from the Embassy of Israel in London attempted to exert diplomatic pressure on the prosecution of Palestine Action activists. The group primarily targets UK factories owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

The disclosures show correspondence between the Director General of the Attorney General’s Office, Doug Wilson, with representatives of the embassy in London, over the period May 2022 to February 2023. At the time, current Home Secretary Suella Braverman was the Attorney General. 

Although extensive redactions prevent a detailed understanding of the exact nature of the Israeli officials’ requests, an email from Wilson to embassy representatives indicates that the case regarding Palestine Action activists was raised within the Home Office on behalf of the state of Israel. 

The Attorney General’s Office justified the redactions of the documents exposing Israel’s pressure on the CPS by saying that disclosure of further information contained within them “would be likely to prejudice the UK’s relations with Israel.” The documents include discussions between the Israeli Embassy and the Attorney General’s Office about the Sentencing Act, which imposed controversial, tougher penalties on protestors. 

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The disclosures within the documents have raised concerns about attempts to pervert the course of justice by representatives from the Israeli Embassy. Lydia Dagostino, director of Kellys solicitors, the firm which defends Palestine Action activists, called for further investigation into such attempts.

Correspondence in February also revealed interactions between Israeli embassy officials and Wilson regarding private arrests in the UK for alleged war crimes. Again, details of the Israeli requests were redacted. Past instances have seen British courts issue arrest warrants for high-ranking Israeli officials, including Tzipi Livni in 2009. However, procedures were introduced to protect Israeli officials in particular from facing prosecution under the law of universal jurisdiction. 

In his correspondence with the Israeli embassy, Wilson commented on the changes and described how rules were tightened for the issue of private arrest warrants, including the requirement for consent from the director of public prosecutions. He also mentioned the option to apply for “special mission immunity” from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, a rarely used status that provides immunity from prosecution for officials representing a state on a temporary mission.

“Attempts to meddle in Palestine Action’s court cases by the Israeli Embassy is evidence of the threat direct action posed to Israel’s weapons trade,” the co-founder of the group, Huda Ammori, told MEMO. “Nonetheless, the lobbying attempts by a foreign apartheid state in the British judicial system is an abuse of power and a deliberate attempt to pervert the course of justice. 

“Activists, including myself, face trial for disrupting the production of weapons, whilst the Attorney General’s Office is simultaneously offering Israeli officials immunity from prosecution for war crimes. The cases against us are not in the public interest, they only serve to protect Israel’s weapons trade, as evidenced by this newly disclosed information.”

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