
Legal experts question UK sharing of police details in Palestine Action case with Israel
Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosures revealed an email sent by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to the Israeli embassy that appeared to be sharing contact details of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the "SO15" Counter Terrorism Command, which is overseeing the investigation of 28 PA activists - including the "Filton 18" and the "Instro 10".
The email, which is redacted apart from the subject heading: "to Israelis re CPS/SO15 contact details' was sent by Nicola Smith, the head of international law at the AGO, to Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK, in the weeks following the first arrests of the 'Filton 18' activists in August 2024.
The Filton 18 are currently held in remand after being arrested on terrorism charges in connection with an action in August 2024 when activists drove a modified van into the research and development hub of UK-based Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol.
Ten activists were initially arrested at the scene in August 2024.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Two months after the email, 10 more activists were rounded up in raids by counterterrorism police, with eight of them charged and remanded to prison.
In response to a request for comment by MEE, the AGO said: 'It has been routine under successive governments for AGO to help embassies get in contact with the relevant authorities purely for purposes of sharing information that could be relevant to a case."
'Decisions to prosecute, convict and sentence are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service, juries and judges respectively," the statement added.
PA warns the revelations suggest political interference - a violation of the CPS's principles - and are calling for charges against the activists to be dropped.
Anas Mustapha, head of public advocacy at CAGE International, said in a statement that the alleged Israeli interference in the case "is deeply concerning and amounts to an abuse of process".
"Every additional day the Filton 18 remain detained is a violation of their fundamental rights. They must be freed, and the case against them must be dropped immediately," Mustapha said.
'The [sharing of these documents] is a complete corruption of the legal system'
Spokesperson, Palestine Action
Simon Pook, a solicitor representing several of the Filton 18 activists, told Middle East Eye: "It raises questions as to why the correspondence is so heavily redacted. It calls into question the transparency of the communications between the Attorney General and the Israeli embassy.
'I'd like to know what, if any, reference was made to any of those arrests in the communication, and were those arrests the result of a request from another government?' Pook added.
The email sent on 9 September, in the weeks following the first arrests, appears to be a follow-up to a meeting held on the 28 August between Smith, Ekstein, the Embassy's Counsellor of Political Affairs Yosef Zilberman, and AGO Director Douglas Wilson.
A read-out of the meeting between Smith and Ekstein was heavily redacted.
'There was no correspondence before this, so the logical conclusion is that it was a follow-up on the meeting,' the PA spokesperson said. 'It implies it must have been discussed in this meeting.'
'Everyone already knew there was something political happening behind the scenes, this gives us a glimpse into the fact that there is something going on and the Israelis are very likely involved,' they added.
'It's a complete corruption of the legal system".
'Terrorism connection'
While the defendants were not charged under the Terrorism Act, CPS said in a press release that it would argue in court that the offences have a 'terrorism connection', a term which refers to a classification of offences not included in the Terrorism Act but which according to the CPS website, ensures that the charges "properly reflect the conduct concerned".
Offences with a terrorism connection can carry heftier sentences.
The use of counterterrorism legislation in the case, which has been condemned by four UN special rapporteurs, has resulted in harsher detention conditions for the 18, including prolonged pre-trial detention and restrictions on their mail correspondence.
'It's unprecedented, there hasn't been a case like this where people have been accused of having a terrorism connection,' a PA spokesperson said.
Just days after the revelations, 10 more PA activists, known as the "Instro 10," became the second group to face charges with a terrorism connection in relation to an action in June 2024 targeting Instro Precision, a weapons manufacturer, allegedly causing over £1m ($1.34m) in damages.
In Britain, Palestine and climate activists face an 'unprecedented' wave of criminalisation Read More »
Unlike the Filton 18, the Instro 10 were not arrested under the Terrorism Act, but both groups of defendants are facing the same charges, including aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.
"The terrorism definition is broad. If it's serious property damage of an ideological cause, they claim that we're intimidating Elbit or influencing the government. That's all they need," the PA spokesperson said.
According to PA, eight of the activists are on bail, while two of them are in the Filton 18 case.
PA reported that the police operation targeting both the Filton 18 and the Instro 10 is known as "operation recomply".
Amnesty International issued a statement on X expressing concern about "reports of a further misuse of anti-terrorism powers against Palestine Action".
"This is now the second instance in which direct action protest has been subject to the UK's overly broad terrorism laws, which are wide open to misuse and abuse. We will continue to monitor developments in this case closely," the statement read.
An abusive process
PA also highlighted that the correspondence coincides with the counterterrorism police raid targeting journalist Asa Winstanley.
'What is going on there? Why did that happen a few weeks after the deputy Israel ambassador was in contact with the CPS and counterterrorism police?' the spokesperson said.
Journalist Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by counterterrorism police in a dawn raid on her home shortly before the correspondence on 29 August 2024, while journalist Richard Medhurst was detained under the Terrorism Act upon arrival at London Heathrow Airport on 15 August.
On 30 August, Palestine Action co-founder Richard Bernard was charged with violating the Terrorism Act - although he was arrested in October 2023.
'A lot of things happened around the same time,' the spokesperson said.
PA have called for a full investigation into the correspondence, and for the release of the 18 activists.
The group highlighted that the potential political interference in the case could constitute a violation of the CPS's General Principle 2.1, which stipulates that, "Prosecutors must be free to carry out their professional duties without political interference and must not be affected by improper or undue pressure or influence from any source.
UK counterterrorism police raid home of Electronic Intifada journalist Asa Winstanley Read More »
'Any political pressure amounts to an abusive process, and we have evidence of that, so they shouldn't be continuing these prosecutions. The Filton 18 should not be in prison right now, but especially not in light of this," the spokesperson said.
'I would like the Attorney General to release unredacted material to the solicitors, to show that, in fact, this is a trial that hasn't been influenced in any way, and that the actions of the police and of the Crown Prosecution Service are independent as we expect them to be,' Pook told MEE.
'Any questions should be answered and we should have documents before us if they are relating to any case that's before the courts,' he added.
PA say the documents are the latest in a series of disclosures detailing apparent interference in cases concerning the group.
Past disclosures revealed apparent requests by the Israeli embassy for intervention in individual cases. In August 2023, documents seen by the Guardian indicated that Israeli embassy officials pushed for AGO director Douglas Wilson to interfere with court cases relating to protesters.
While the disclosed emails and meeting minutes are heavily redacted and specifics of the officials' demands are unclear, Wilson refers to the 'operational independence and the sensitivities of engaging with them on individual cases'.
Wilson was also present at the meeting in August 2024 between Smith and Ekstein.
MEE asked the AGO why the FOI response was so heavily redacted, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The National
an hour ago
- The National
Israeli drone strike blows up car near Beirut
Israel attacked a busy road near Beirut on Thursday, blowing up a car and killing an alleged arms smuggler. CCTV footage showed the moment the vehicle exploded in a ball of flame, while cars passed the scene of the explosion on the Khaldeh road. Authorities in Lebanon said one person was killed and three were injured in the attack on Beirut's southern suburbs. The Israeli military said it had 'struck and eliminated a terrorist responsible for smuggling weapons and advancing terror attacks against Israeli civilians and troops". It claimed the target worked on behalf of Iran 's Quds Force, a foreign operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The attack is the latest Israeli strike to breach a ceasefire in Lebanon that followed a 14-month conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah, including an intensive two-month Israeli air campaign. It ended in November under a US-brokered truce, leaving Lebanon with huge reconstruction needs. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah is required to withdraw all military equipment and fighters from south of the Litani River, which lies 30km from the Lebanon-Israel border. Israel is supposed to fully withdraw from positions it has occupied since launching a ground invasion in October. The Lebanese government has accused Israel of breaching the truce more than 3,000 times. It says Hezbollah has abided by its commitments. Israel separately said its military hit "weapons storage facilities, military structures, and terrorist infrastructure" belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where breaches of the ceasefire have been common. It said "the presence of weapons and Hezbollah's activity constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon". Lebanon has recently come under increasing US pressure to include Hezbollah's disarmament in its official government agenda as soon as possible. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Thursday the group would 'never accept surrendering our weapons to the Israeli enemy' nor 'accept surrendering our land'. Hezbollah saw its power dramatically diminished and most of its senior leaders killed in the war with Israel. But it is still believed to possess medium and long-range missiles, and it continues to command a broad Shiite support base.

Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Trump cannot prevent migrants from seeking asylum at US border, judge says
A US federal judge on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he signed an executive order in January that barred all migrants at the US-Mexico border. 'The president cannot adopt an alternative immigration system, which supplants the statutes that Congress has enacted," US district judge Randolph Moss said in a 128-page opinion. Trump, he added, does not possess "an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum". The American Civil Liberties Union, as well as a litany of other immigrant rights groups, brought the case against the government, arguing that preventing asylum seekers from a chance at protection in the US violates congressional mandates as well as international treaties. "No president has the authority to unilaterally block people who come to our border seeking safety," Keren Zwick, director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said in a press release shortly after the decision was announced. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "The courts have repeatedly sided with us on this issue, and we will continue to fight cruel policies, under any administration, that harm individuals and families who flee persecution," he added. Javier Hidalgo, legal director at the immigrant advocacy organisation Raices, said the judicial branch "is what stands between us and anarchy". "The Trump administration's prerogative is once again found to be unlawful. It is increasingly clear where the illegality lies, and it is not with the immigrant families upon whom this administration is inflicting unfathomable harm". The Trump administration has two weeks to appeal the decision. 'Invasion' Just hours after being sworn in on 20 January, Trump signed an executive order declaring a "national emergency" at the southern border and blocking migration north of Mexico. This was necessary, he said, because of the "invasion" of migrants from "cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans, including America". "America's sovereignty is under attack," the order said. Trump authorised the Pentagon to deploy "as many units or members of the Armed Forces, including the Ready Reserve and the National Guard, as the Secretary of Defense determines to be appropriate to support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border". Additional funds were also allocated to construct physical barriers and deploy more surveillance drones along the border. That executive order was followed by another one halting all refugee admissions to the US and ending federal funding for refugee programmes to help with resettlement, transportation, and education. Trump has also moved to end birthright citizenship and is now prioritising a crackdown on naturalised immigrants who may have criminal or even civil violations dating back several years. Birthright citizenship is the legal right for people born in the US to acquire citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution automatically. ProPublica, an investigative journalism outfit, has called the decisions to go after US citizens and lawful residents "unprecedented".


Middle East Eye
3 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Israeli strike hits vehicle on southern Lebanon highway
An Israeli drone has targeted a car on the Khaldeh highway in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency. The Israeli army said it "eliminated a terrorist", who it said was responsible for smuggling weapons and advancing attacks against Israel on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Middle East Eye could not independently verify the claim. Despite a ceasefire declared on 27 November 2024, Israel has launched attacks on Lebanon on a near-daily basis.