UKLFI referred to legal regulator over Israel lobby group’s anti-Palestine ‘lawfare’

Three barristers who are part of the lobby group, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), have been reported to the Bar Standards Board for participating in a “pattern of legal intimidation”.

The barristers include crossbench peer, David Pannick KC, and crossbench (originally Labour) peer, Anthony Grabiner KC. The third is Times columnist Stephen Hockman KC.

The complaint was brought this week by the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC) and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC). The groups are acting on behalf of a coalition of individuals, NGOs, medics and other organisations.

UKLFI to be investigated by legal regulator

The dossier outlines the way in which UKLFI frequently uses the lawyers’ high profile and status to “amplify the authority and perceived seriousness of legal threats and allegations” against groups and people engaged in perfectly lawful and, indeed, protected expression on Palestine.

ELSC and PILC have asked the Bar Standards Board, which regulates barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales, to “determine whether this use of professional status engages the [BSB] Code of Conduct, including the duties of integrity and independence, and the requirement to maintain public confidence in the profession”.

 The complaint focuses on whether senior legal standing has been invoked in a way that materially strengthens pressure on recipients engaged in protected expression.

UKLFI uses the names and titles of senior lawyers to add weight to the threats and arguments it sends to institutions hosting plays, art exhibitions and museums that humanise Palestinians.

This is UKLFI’s ‘modus operandi’ against those who oppose Israel’s genocide or even platform Palestinians and those who support them.

The group’s chief executive recently caused outrage by suggesting that Israel’s starvation blockade of Gaza would reduce obesity.

Its main mouthpiece, Natasha Hausdorff, has given a number of cold-eyed car crash interviews denying that Israel is committing genocide or any crimes at all.

Tactics ‘erase Palestinians from public consciousness’

It is not the first complaint submitted to law industry regulators. The same groups submitted formal allegations to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2025, listing an array of professional breaches to shut down criticism of Israel and speech supportive of Palestinians.

An European Legal Support Centre spokesperson said:

…these mechanisms are deliberate attempts to erase Palestinians from the public consciousness. This narrows democratic space, threatens freedom of expression and must be examined by the regulator to protect public confidence in the legal profession.

Attack dog apartheid apologists

UKLFI does what it says on the tin and is considered one of the UK’s top two “apartheid apologists” using ‘lawfare’ for Israel. The group has targeted individuals, hospitals, art exhibitions and even media giant Netflix in its attempts to keep the public from seeing pro-Palestinian content — and even plates painted by Palestinian children.

It has also repeatedly tried  — 11 times so far — to remove the medical licence of British Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sitta, after he spoke of his experiences as a volunteer medic during the Gaza genocide.

UKLFI appears almost 130 times in the ELSC’s Index of Repression, a database recording the systematic repression of Palestine solidarity in Britain.

Featured image via European Legal Support Centre