Killing for Money: Role of Foreign Mercenaries in Israeli Military

To this end, the Israeli forces have flooded the social media with their images and footages of their looting, wearing Gaza women cloths, taking pictures with the bodies of civilian victims, blowing off the houses, threatening to kill the Palestinians, and burying the Palestinians in mass graves. What captivates the attention is that this conduct has not stopped even after criminal case was raised by such countries as South Africa with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Israeli regime for war crimes. 

As the Israeli regime is preparing for a full-scale invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip that shelters 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, this situation sounds the alarm internationally about consequences of this catastrophic action. 

A look at the history can prove that since the foundation of the Israeli regime, terrorist organizations like Haganah, Palmach, and Irgun constituted the backbone of it. In other words, the Israeli regime is given birth to by operations of terrorist organizations with the aim of occupation of the Palestinian territories. 

In this regard, there is a famous quote from David Ben-Gurion, who later became the first prime minister of this regime. He said in 1937: "We must expel the Arabs and take their place."

In the meantime, recruiting foreign mercenaries and giving them a leeway to carry out terrorist activities and crimes against Palestinians has been one of the regular methods of the Israeli army for the past 75 years, which has been repeated in the recent Gaza war.

According to estimates, thousands of American, British, Spanish and other foreigners serve in the Israeli military as mercenaries.

These mercenaries participate not only in combat operations, but also in protecting settlements, providing logistical support and training local forces.

According to the Israeli army, more than 23,000 American citizens are currently serving in various military ranks. In fact, about 10 percent of the military's casualties since the invasion of Gaza have been American.

In December, a French lawmaker revealed that over 4,000 French citizens served in the Israeli army since Gaza war began. According to reports, up to 1,000 Australians, 1,000 Italians and 400 Indians are also present in the Israeli army. Other countries, including Germany, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Finland and South Africa, have also been mentioned as recruitment origins for the Israeli military.

Recruitment methods 

One of the main recruitment programs is known as MAHAL that is intended for Jewish youth from foreign countries who wish to volunteer for a short military service in the Israeli military. According to the program's official website, young Jews from foreign countries can join the military as tourists and receive residency visas.

The program only recruits "highly motivated" fighters who do not have family in Israel. The program's official website states that many volunteers come to the occupied territories independently to enlist in the army and are known as "lone soldiers" during their service.

According to reports, these soldiers whose number goes beyond 7,000 are paid twice the ordinary monthly salaries. According to military estimates, 35 percent of them are from the US. In 2020, 9 percent of lone soldiers in the Israeli army were from Canada. Nearly 90 of volunteers enroll in combat units.

According to the London-based Arab Institute for Human Rights, Zionist organizations seek to recruit foreign volunteers from Europe, the US, and other countries for service in the Israeli army. 

The most prominent of these organizations are Sar-El, Garin Tzabar, Aish Malach, Friends of the IDF, and MAHAL, in addition to charities that raise funds for the Israeli occupation army.

Organizations like Sar-El recruit necessaries from tens of countries with the promise of high payments and permanent residency in the occupied territories.

Founded in 1983 by Israeli general Aharon Davidi and today having branches in 30 countries, Sar-El is the most active organization in this field and is considered as an important unit in the Israeli Army. According to statistics, the number of mercenaries recruited by this organization in 2012 was 4,011.

Just like Israeli soldiers, all of these foreign fighters enjoy complete immunity, which may explain why some of them behave in such a ruthless and reckless manner, bragging about their crimes online and posting evidence of the violation of war laws. 

Yehuda Feder, a Jewish member of Lehi paramilitary group, is one of these mercenaries who was involved in Deir Yassin massacre. 

Like tens of thousands of Zionists who came to Palestine as refugees from Europe and elsewhere, Feder was a Jew from Poland. After Lehi was dismantled, he joined the Israeli army, and from 1986-94, he served as chairman of the Likud branch in Jerusalem. 

In April 2001, he was reportedly given the “Jerusalem Notable Citizen” award. This is just one example of foreign terrorist fighters who created the Israeli army later being rewarded for their massacres.

Zionist terrorists immune to prosecution 

In addition to the many economic benefits in the occupied territories for foreign mercenaries who are serving in the Israeli army, another factor that has led to their peace of mind despite committing crimes against Palestinian civilians is immunity against prosecution should they return to their home countries. 

For example, in 2023, ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met a group of British soldiers of Israeli army in Jerusalem and lauded them without mentioning their recruitment as illegal. 

The Spanish government has not taken any action against the Spanish mercenaries serving in the Israeli army either. Spanish newspaper El Mundo recently reported that Israeli regime uses private military companies to recruit foreign fighters, including Spanish citizens. 

This comes as many legal experts argue that foreign mercenaries of Israeli army should be internationally prosecuted as war criminals for their war crimes and genocide.