UK Surveillance Flights Over Gaza: Are We Israel's Useful Idiots?
Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
The phrase "useful idiots" is often attributed to Lenin, though the provenance is uncertain. In the Cold War, it described Westerners who, knowingly or not, advanced Soviet interests while imagining themselves independent actors. The insult implied being duped: thinking one was clever while in reality serving another's design.
A century on, the phrase may apply less to credulous intellectuals than to British politicians and air marshals. For in Gaza's skies, the United Kingdom is flying missions that, whatever their stated purpose, risk serving Israel's campaign. In so doing, Britain has placed itself in danger of becoming Israel's "useful idiot".
This idiocy has been hard to prove. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to give details of its actions. Yet open source flight data shows that, since December 2023, the Royal Air Force has conducted more than 600 surveillance missions. These sorties, flown largely from Britain's base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, use the RAF's Shadow R1 reconnaissance aircraft and, more recently, planes contracted from an American firm, Straight Flight Nevada.
In the little it does say, the MoD insists the missions are unarmed and designed solely to assist in the rescue of hostages. This claim has been repeated by ministers under both Conservative and Labour Governments. Each has assured the public that Britain does not help Israel prosecute its war.
Yet such assurances seem to ring hollow. After all, the flights often coincide with Israeli operations that kill civilians, such as the 8 June 2024 raid on Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed more than 270 Palestinians. In the fortnight before the raid, the RAF flew 24 missions.
Some suggest this means British officers are marking targets.
That is almost certainly not the case.
The reality seems to be subtler. Intelligence gathered and shared may be used by the IDF not only to locate hostages but also to rule out their presence in certain areas. Such "negative intelligence" would be of immense value to Israeli commanders.
UK Charity Sanctioned Over 'Distressing' Fundraising Video for Israeli Military
The action by the Charity Commission followed a Byline Times investigation into the video, which appeared to show a Palestinian being hit by Israeli munitions
Iain Overton
If a site can be certified as free of Israelis, it becomes a safer bet for bombardment.
In other words, Britain may not be handing over coordinates, but it may be providing Israel with reassurance that civilian areas can be destroyed without risk to its own prisoner citizens. This is the essence of being a useful idiot: believing you are acting for one cause while enabling another.
Ministers lean heavily on the line that flights are "solely for hostage rescue". The phrasing suggests a humanitarian purpose. Yet intelligence, once shared, is beyond Britain's control.
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner has refused to say whether oversight exists. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee has long warned that data can be repurposed. In Gaza, such repurposing may be measured in funerals.
On 12 December 2024, Israel bombed Nuseirat again, killing more than 30 civilians. The day before, a contractor-flown Beechcraft surveillance plane, hired by the RAF, had circled the camp.
BBC Admits 'Regret' After Again Failing to Disclose British Colonel's Links to Israeli Defence Force
The broadcaster failed to inform listeners of Colonel Richard Kemp's connections to the IDF, despite an earlier rebuke from the Charity Commission, following an investigation by Byline Times
Iain Overton
The MoD insists the mission was for hostage recovery. But when bombs fall on the very places British-linked aircraft have watched, coincidence is hard to sustain.
Article 16 of the International Law Commission's Draft Articles on State Responsibility makes c...
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
The phrase "useful idiots" is often attributed to Lenin, though the provenance is uncertain. In the Cold War, it described Westerners who, knowingly or not, advanced Soviet interests while imagining themselves independent actors. The insult implied being duped: thinking one was clever while in reality serving another's design.
A century on, the phrase may apply less to credulous intellectuals than to British politicians and air marshals. For in Gaza's skies, the United Kingdom is flying missions that, whatever their stated purpose, risk serving Israel's campaign. In so doing, Britain has placed itself in danger of becoming Israel's "useful idiot".
This idiocy has been hard to prove. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to give details of its actions. Yet open source flight data shows that, since December 2023, the Royal Air Force has conducted more than 600 surveillance missions. These sorties, flown largely from Britain's base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, use the RAF's Shadow R1 reconnaissance aircraft and, more recently, planes contracted from an American firm, Straight Flight Nevada.
In the little it does say, the MoD insists the missions are unarmed and designed solely to assist in the rescue of hostages. This claim has been repeated by ministers under both Conservative and Labour Governments. Each has assured the public that Britain does not help Israel prosecute its war.
Yet such assurances seem to ring hollow. After all, the flights often coincide with Israeli operations that kill civilians, such as the 8 June 2024 raid on Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed more than 270 Palestinians. In the fortnight before the raid, the RAF flew 24 missions.
Some suggest this means British officers are marking targets.
That is almost certainly not the case.
The reality seems to be subtler. Intelligence gathered and shared may be used by the IDF not only to locate hostages but also to rule out their presence in certain areas. Such "negative intelligence" would be of immense value to Israeli commanders.
UK Charity Sanctioned Over 'Distressing' Fundraising Video for Israeli Military
The action by the Charity Commission followed a Byline Times investigation into the video, which appeared to show a Palestinian being hit by Israeli munitions
Iain Overton
If a site can be certified as free of Israelis, it becomes a safer bet for bombardment.
In other words, Britain may not be handing over coordinates, but it may be providing Israel with reassurance that civilian areas can be destroyed without risk to its own prisoner citizens. This is the essence of being a useful idiot: believing you are acting for one cause while enabling another.
Ministers lean heavily on the line that flights are "solely for hostage rescue". The phrasing suggests a humanitarian purpose. Yet intelligence, once shared, is beyond Britain's control.
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner has refused to say whether oversight exists. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee has long warned that data can be repurposed. In Gaza, such repurposing may be measured in funerals.
On 12 December 2024, Israel bombed Nuseirat again, killing more than 30 civilians. The day before, a contractor-flown Beechcraft surveillance plane, hired by the RAF, had circled the camp.
BBC Admits 'Regret' After Again Failing to Disclose British Colonel's Links to Israeli Defence Force
The broadcaster failed to inform listeners of Colonel Richard Kemp's connections to the IDF, despite an earlier rebuke from the Charity Commission, following an investigation by Byline Times
Iain Overton
The MoD insists the mission was for hostage recovery. But when bombs fall on the very places British-linked aircraft have watched, coincidence is hard to sustain.
Article 16 of the International Law Commission's Draft Articles on State Responsibility makes c...
Activity