UK bans Israelis from military academy over Gaza war

A prestigious British defence academy has banned Israeli students due to the war in Gaza.

London's Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) will not enrol students from Israel from next year, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed. The college is part of the Defence Academy, overseen by the MoD.

The announcement comes after Declassified reported in July that Israeli army officers had been studying at the RCDS since 2023.

One officer, Yeftah Nortkin, commanded a patrol company during Israel's 2008-9 war in Gaza, in which hundreds of children were killed.

After he completed his RCDS course in July last year, Nortkin led the Israeli army's "Bang" division in its invasion of Lebanon.

An MoD spokesperson told the Telegraph that "the Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong. There 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.”

The spokesperson said all military courses in Britain emphasise "compliance with international humanitarian law".

Meanwhile, Amir Baram, the director general of Israel's defence ministry who studied at the RCDS, said Britain's decision was "a profoundly dishonourable act of disloyalty to an ally at war".

Baram said in a letter to the MoD that it was a "discriminatory act" and a "disgraceful break with Britain’s proud tradition of tolerance – and plain decency".

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The ban is the latest diplomatic spat between the UK and Israel, two historic allies, in recent months. 

The UK government banned Israeli officials from Britain's largest arms trade show last week.

And Britain is poised to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, a move which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced as "rewarding Hamas".

However, Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Britain last week and met Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street.

Herzog said afterwards that he both "argued" and had points of agreement with Starmer, whom he called Israel's "ally".