An organisation of pro-Israel lawyers in the UK is under investigation after a complaint that it threatened people with legal action to suppress support for Palestine.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has been accused of sending eight letters to individuals and organisations between January 2022 and May 2025 that “demonstrate a seeming pattern of vexatious and legally baseless correspondence aimed at silencing and intimidating Palestine solidarity efforts”, according to the complainants.
The complaint was lodged with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) by the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and the European Legal Support Center. They allege “serious breaches” of the SRA’s principles and code of conduct.
A spokesperson for the SRA said: “We have had a complaint and are investigating before deciding on next steps.”
UKLFI was formed in 2011 to use its members’ legal skills “to combat BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] and the delegitimisation of Israel”.
Its website says: “We employ advocacy, legal research and campaigning to support Israel, Israeli organisations, Israelis, and/or supporters of Israel against BDS and other attempts to undermine, attack or delegitimise them.”
The complaint says UKLFI uses “strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps), which are lawsuits intended to limit freedom of expression on matters of public interest”.
One of the letters included in the complaint was sent by Caroline Turner, a director of UKLFI, to the Scottish Storytelling Centre, an arts centre in Edinburgh, that had announced plans to host a Palestinian film festival in May in partnership with Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
According to the complaint, UKLFI’s letter claimed the scheduled events were “inherently antisemitic and anti-Zionist in nature” and could lead to a referral to the Scottish charity regulator. UKLFI requested the festival’s cancellation.
Another letter was sent by Turner on behalf of UKLFI to the Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust, which had organised a classical music concert called The World Stands With Palestine at a London college in November 2024.
The concert was to feature new music written “in response to the struggle of the Palestinian people”. Flyers advertising the concert included an image of a placard reading: “Stand with Palestine!! Stand with the Resistance!!”.
According to the complaint, UKLFI’s letter said the concert was “siding with the viewpoint” of Hamas and was likely to be in breach of the Terrorism Act 2000. It appeared to be “designed to stir up racial hatred against Jews and Israelis, and to sympathise with the aims of the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
The concert was cancelled by the college that was due to host the event.
Paul Heron, the founder of PILC, said: “UKLFI are acting in a manner that chills public participation and intimidates those who stand in solidarity with Palestine … We will not allow legal threats to shut down the public’s right to speak out on Palestine. The SRA has a duty to step in, to uphold professional standards, and to protect civil society from intimidation dressed up as law.”
The SRA’s website describes Slapps as a “type of abusive litigation” that can “undermine freedom of expression, the rule of law and amount to a misuse of the legal system”.
In a statement published on its website, UKLFI said the allegations against it were unfounded.
It said: “We are accused of writing vexatious and baseless letters, and the complainants say they have acquired eight examples from a period of over three years.” It added that since October 2023 UKLFI had been called on to address “hundreds of requests for help every year from Jewish members of the public expressing genuine concerns in many areas of life including medical services, retailers, education and the arts”.
“Many of the concerns relate to conduct creating an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment for Jewish patients, workers, customers or students, and sometimes excluding them altogether.
“If appropriate, we write to the relevant organisation and point out what is happening, the effect that this has had on the Jewish or Israeli customer or patient, and how applicable laws or regulatory requirements are being breached. We also explain how the problem may be solved.”
