ISRAEL has been banned from attending a top military academy in the UK over the genocide in Gaza.
The Royal College of Defence Studies will not accept students from Israel from next year, The Telegraph reports.
It comes amid Israel's ongoing brutal assault in Gaza, with at least 25 Palestinians – including two six-year-old twins – killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City since dawn.
Earlier this year, the Labour Government admitted that the UK is hosting and training soldiers from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) despite allegations that the military is engaged in genocide in Palestine.
The Royal College of Defence Studies, established in 1927, is part of the UK's Defence Academy, which is overseen by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
An MoD spokesman told The Telegraph that British military educational courses had long been open to personnel from a “wide range of countries, with all UK military courses emphasising compliance with international humanitarian law”.
He added: “However, the Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong.
“There must be a diplomatic solution to end this war now, with an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
The college said its postgraduate course in international strategic studies focuses on “political, diplomatic, security, social and economic issues at the grand strategic level – the level at which governments take decisions on these issues both nationally and within the international community”.
However, the institution noted that its main course is “practical rather than theoretical.”
Around 110 members from the UK and overseas enrol in the programme each year.
Notable alumni include Field Marshall Alan Francis Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War, and Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan.
The Israeli ministry of defence said that the ban applied to all Israeli citizens enrolling, not just soldiers.
Amir Baram, the director general of Israel’s defence ministry, who studied at the college, blasted the decision as “a profoundly dishonourable act of disloyalty to an ally at war”.
It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Israeli president Isaac Herzog to Downing Street last week.
The pair held talks in Number 10, where the Prime Minister described the UK and Israel as "long-standing allies", while Herzog said the discussion had been "frank" and "tough".
