IDF: They wear masks so as not to be identified

...for future prosecution in their own countries.

[Opinion. Many of these countries prohibit citizens serving in foreign wars. The penalty is loss of citizenship.]

Thousands of foreign passport holders serve in Israeli forces, newly released data shows

Action on Armed Violence: 11 Feb 2026

The data, released following a freedom of information request in Israel – dated March 2025 – and published by the UK investigative outlet Declassified UK, lists the foreign citizenship held by soldiers serving in the Israel Defence Forces.

It shows that tens of thousands of personnel hold Israeli nationality alongside at least one additional passport, drawn from dozens of countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The largest contingent is from the United States (12,135 plus 1,207 recorded in a second multiple-citizenship category).

France follows (6,127 plus 337), then Russia (5,067 plus 102), Ukraine (3,901 plus 292) and Germany (1,668 plus 149). The figures confirm the extent to which diaspora communities form a significant part of Israel’s military manpower.for war crimes.

The United Kingdom is among the most politically sensitive cases. The tables record 1,686 British-Israeli dual nationals, alongside a further 383 individuals listed as holding British, Israeli and at least one other nationality. In total, more than 2,000 soldiers in the IDF hold British citizenship.

Until now, public debate in Britain had focused largely on “lone soldiers”, volunteers without Israeli citizenship, previously estimated at around 54. The new data therefore shifts the scale of known British involvement significantly.

Western Europe is heavily represented beyond the UK and France. Italy appears with 885 plus 53. Belgium shows 406 plus 65. The Netherlands records 302 plus 16. Spain appears with 372 plus 79, while Switzerland is listed at 373 plus 135. Sweden appears with 130 plus 20 and Denmark with 85 plus 14. Smaller but notable numbers appear from Norway (30 plus 5), Finland (56 plus 6) and Ireland (47 plus 0).

Eastern Europe and the former Soviet sphere feature prominently. Poland records 309 plus 22. Romania appears at 161 plus 19. Hungary shows 181 plus 31. Lithuania appears with 265 plus 30. Latvia records 192 plus 10 and the Czech Republic 52 plus 3. Smaller numbers appear from Estonia (27 plus 6), Slovakia (4 plus 3) and Bulgaria (262 plus 12).

The Americas form another major bloc.

Canada appears with 505 plus 91. Brazil records 1,686 plus 383. Argentina shows 609 plus 56. Mexico appears at 181 plus 31, Chile at 92 plus 19 and Colombia at 112 plus 27.

Smaller numbers are listed from Peru (35 plus 2), Panama (35 plus 2), Costa Rica (27 plus 6) and Uruguay (5 plus 1).

Africa and Asia are also represented. South Africa appears with 589 plus 16. Ethiopia records 112 plus 27. India appears with 197 plus 4. Japan is listed at 164 plus 9. South Korea appears with 189 plus 3, Thailand with 112 plus 21 and the Philippines with 105 plus 6. Australia (264 plus 5) and New Zealand (39 plus 11) round out the global spread.