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The Israeli military has disclosed that 50,632 of its service members hold at least one foreign citizenship in addition to Israeli nationality, including 112 who hold Turkish citizenship, according to official data released following a Freedom of Information request.
The figures were published in response to a request submitted in March last year by the NGO Hatzlacha and later published by the British website Declassified. The Israeli military detailed the distribution of foreign citizenship among serving personnel for the first time.
According to the official document, 4,440 soldiers hold two foreign citizenships in addition to Israeli nationality, while 162 hold three foreign citizenships.
The list shows that 112 soldiers hold Turkish citizenship in addition to Israeli nationality. The data categorizes soldiers by those holding one additional citizenship and those holding at least two foreign citizenships.
The Israeli military noted that some servicemen may be counted in both columns.
According to the data, 12,135 soldiers hold U.S. citizenship, making Americans the largest single group among dual nationals.
The figures show that 6,127 soldiers hold French citizenship and 5,067 hold Russian citizenship.
More than 3,000 soldiers hold German and Ukrainian citizenship, while more than 1,000 hold British, Romanian, Polish, Ethiopian and Canadian citizenship.
The data identify at least 2,069 soldiers holding British nationality.
The list also includes personnel holding citizenship from several Arab countries. The data show 14 soldiers with Yemeni citizenship and eight with at least two foreign citizenships linked to Yemen.
It lists 15 soldiers with Tunisian dual citizenship and seven with multiple citizenships, four with Lebanese citizenship, three with Syrian citizenship and one with Algerian citizenship.
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The publication of the data comes amid international legal scrutiny under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows national courts to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes regardless of where the acts occurred.
Major rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called for independent investigations and urged governments to examine the conduct of their nationals serving in the Israeli military.
Authorities in Canada have reportedly opened probes into suspected war crimes that may involve dual-national reservists, while rights groups in Belgium and the United Kingdom have filed complaints with international and domestic legal bodies targeting individuals holding European citizenship.
The International Court of Justice in January 2024 warned of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli military said the figures were provided in response to the Freedom of Information request.
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