Gaza Herald _For the first time, the Israeli military has released detailed official data revealing the number of soldiers within its ranks who hold foreign citizenship, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The figures show that 50,632 soldiers currently serving in the Israeli army possess at least one additional nationality besides Israeli citizenship, highlighting the military’s significant reliance on dual- and multiple-nationality personnel.
According to the data, American nationals represent the largest group by a wide margin, with 12,135 soldiers holding U.S. citizenship. They are followed by more than 6,100 soldiers with French nationality and over 5,000 Russian nationals serving in the army.
The list also includes thousands of recruits from various other countries, including Germany, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, and Canada, as well as several nations in Latin America.
The diversity is not limited to Western countries. The data also revealed the presence of soldiers holding Arab nationalities, including Yemeni, Tunisian, Lebanese, Syrian, and Algerian, although their numbers remain relatively small.
Additionally, the report indicates that 4,440 soldiers hold two foreign nationalities alongside Israeli citizenship, while 162 soldiers possess three or more foreign citizenships, reflecting an unusually high level of multinational affiliation within the military.
Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military has relied on tens of thousands of dual and multi-national soldiers to participate in its military operations. This reliance has raised growing legal concerns internationally.
These concerns are partly based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows individuals accused of war crimes to be prosecuted regardless of their nationality or where the alleged crimes occurred.
Major international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called for independent investigations and urged Western governments to fulfill their legal obligations regarding citizens suspected of involvement in violations.
Several countries have already witnessed legal and civil actions. In Canada, federal police have launched investigations into suspected war crimes, some of which reportedly involve dual-national reservists. Meanwhile, human rights groups in Belgium and the United Kingdom have filed complaints with the International Criminal Court and law enforcement authorities targeting hundreds of soldiers, including individuals holding European citizenship.
The war on Gaza, which has lasted for two years, has resulted in more than 72,000 deaths and over 171,000 injuries, while approximately 90 percent of the territory’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
