Khaberni - The Israeli army, in a first-of-its-kind event, has disclosed detailed official data about the number of soldiers bearing foreign nationalities, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
The newspaper stated that the data from the Israeli army shows that there are 50,632 soldiers holding other nationalities in addition to the Israeli nationality.
According to the data published by the newspaper, the army ranks include 12,135 soldiers carrying American nationality, a significantly higher proportion than other nationalities, followed by more than 6,100 French, and over 5,000 Russian.
The list also includes thousands of recruits from Germany, Ukraine, the UK, Romania, Poland, Canada, and Latin American countries.
The diversity is not limited to Western countries; the list includes Arab nationalities as well, such as Yemen, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, and Algeria, albeit in limited numbers.
The data also indicates that there are 4,440 soldiers with dual foreign nationalities in addition to Israeli, and 162 soldiers with three or more foreign nationalities.
Legal Accountability
Since the outbreak of the genocide in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has relied on tens of thousands of soldiers with dual and multiple nationalities for operations, opening the door to potential legal accountability abroad based on the principle of "universal jurisdiction," which allows the trial of war crime perpetrators regardless of their nationalities or the location of the crime.
Prominent international organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called for independent investigations and urged Western governments to uphold their legal responsibilities towards their citizens involved in violations.
Several countries have already seen civil and legal actions, including Canada where its federal police have opened investigations into suspected war crimes, some of which are believed to involve dual-nationality reserve soldiers, while human rights organizations in Belgium and the UK have filed complaints with the International Criminal Court and police targeting hundreds of soldiers, including those holding European nationalities.
Additionally, the Investigative Unit in Al Jazeera network - within its "Eagle Eye" program - revealed the involvement of 6 Israeli snipers with dual nationalities in systematic killing operations of civilians in the Gaza Strip, in clear violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.
The genocide in Gaza, which lasted two years, left more than 72,000 martyrs and over 171,000 wounded, and destruction touched 90% of the infrastructure.
