THE Israeli state has been strongly condemned for attempting to interfere in the prosecution of Palestine Action activists.

A freedom of information request submitted by the organisation and published by the Guardian newspaper reveals extensive correspondence between Attorney General’s Office director Doug Wilson and the Israeli embassy between May 2022 and February this year.

One email refers to discussions on the ability of the Attorney General’s Office to bring about prosecutions and Tory plans to limit non-violent protests, as well as the “operational independence of the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service]” and “the Attorney General’s power to refer questions of law to the Court of Appeal.”

The exchange came just four months before the judgement in the appeal that the Attorney General’s Office brought against the Colston Four, which left protesters on private property without the protections of articles 10 and 11, relating to freedom of expression and association, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Palestine Action said that the mention of the Colston Four had huge significance for its members, over 100 of whom currently face prosecution for protests at British sites of companies such as Israeli weapons giant Elbit Systems.

Palestine Action said: “This is confirmation of what has been suspected for a long time: that the Israeli state is attempting to exert top-level diplomatic influence to lock up those who stand against its war machine.

“This goes some way to explaining the ludicrous charges brought against activists: conspiracy to blackmail, aggravated criminal damage or a seven-week trial for ‘going equipped.’ These bogus charges have been brought about because the heads of the British Attorney General’s Office, Ministry of Justice, and police have been working in close collaboration with an apartheid state.

“If this has surfaced now after just one freedom of information request, we urge all supporters to undertake research themselves and to find what else is out there.”