Col. Richard Kemp, a British Army veteran, is one of Israel's most cogent and effective spokespersons who stood by the country since the war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023. Talking to Ynet on Monday, he said this came at a significant price for him: “I had many threats made to my life for my support of Israel.”
Kemp served in active duty from 1977 to 2006, during which time he held the position of an infantry battalion commanding officer. His tenure included leading Operation Fingal in Afghanistan from July 2003 to November 2003.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former head of international terrorism intelligence at the UK Prime Minister's Office
(Video: Lior Sharon)
Following his retirement, Kemp, in collaboration with Chris Hughes, authored "Attack State Red," a book detailing the 2007 Afghanistan campaign carried out by the Royal Anglian Regiment, including their initial deployment. He also wrote the British forces' doctrine on dealing with suicide bombings.
“My name was found on an al-Qaeda death list in Syria a few years ago. Very rarely does a day go past without me receiving on social media severe threats against me and my family as well as a result of my support for Israel,” he said, adding these threats don’t worry him but are rather a compliment knowing he’s prodding in the right way to show the truth.
"The IDF, Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Defense in Israel have been doing an extraordinary job in a very demanding and complex situation."
“I'm attempting to tell the truth about a situation that's so often distorted in the Western media, particularly on social media. If anything, it will encourage me even more to continue supporting Israel.”
'The key to the conflict is Iran'
Kemp, who kept fighting for Israel following Hamas’ attack, made it clear Israel is the victim in the current war. “But it's not just a war against Israel. It's also a war against the West. It's striking against all of our Western values. When you look at protests in the UK and in the U.S. and other countries, which actually support Hamas, they may not say they do, but the practical effect is to support Hamas.”
When asked about his advice to Israeli leaders amid the war, Kemp said: “I don't think Israel's leadership needs my advice. As far as I can see, the IDF, Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Defense in Israel have been doing an extraordinary job in a very demanding and complex situation.”
“I do believe that the key to the conflict is Iran,” he added. “Iran has been severely damaged by the partial destruction of Hezbollah, the partial destruction of Hamas and the loss of Syria, all of which are down to Israeli actions. I think now it's the next major target really for Israel's offensive should be directly against Iran itself.”
"I think we're going to see much more of a Turkish-motivated proxy war accelerating against Israel from Syria."
Speaking on the war at large and the Iranian threat, Kemp also stressed that Turkey’s attempts to establish itself in Syria are also a cause for serious consideration and concern: “I think Turkey has gained immense strength as a result of the fall of [Bashar] Assad.”
“You'll have a really negative jihadist state on your doorstep and that state of course is supported by Turkey that will be should I say the HTS the organization that's now largely in control of Syria is supported by Turkey. They will be a major player in Syria and Turkey of course is a supporter and Sponsor of Hamas maybe they will replace Iran as the main supporter of Hamas and other anti-Israel Jihadist groups in the region.”
“I think we're going to see much more of a Turkish-motivated proxy war accelerating against Israel from Syria,” he warned.
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Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
(Photo: AL ARABIYA TV/Handout via REUTERS, Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
As fighting ramps up across all fronts, action against IDF soldiers is taken out of the battlefield and into courtrooms by anti-Israel organizations like the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) trying to prosecute Israeli soldiers for alleged war crimes. “This is partly a product of weakness in Western governments for actually standing up and telling the truth about what's been going on in Israel.”
“Western governments like Britain and the U.S. know exactly what Israel's doing, yet they also do criticize Israel for infringing human rights and carrying out unnecessary killings. That, of course, fuels the anti-Israel sentiment, which also directly supports and encourages Hamas and targeting Israeli soldiers as part of that,” Kemp said.
'The game will change when Trump comes into the White House'
“I think it's incumbent on Israel to use whatever diplomatic means it can to try and combat any legal action in Western countries, but also down to Western governments,” he added.
Kemp also believes that the current hostile environment toward Israel will change once U.S. President-elect Donald Trump enters office next week: “In many ways, the game will change when Trump comes into the White House.”
“Although the Americans have been extremely supportive of Israel since this war began, they've also in many ways have hampered Israel's efforts by placing numerous restrictions on them, applying a partial arms embargo on Israel and effectively preventing Israel from carrying out some of the actions it needs to carry out. I hope that situation will change when Trump comes into the White House, freeing Israel to be more aggressive,” he explained.
"I think it's incumbent on Israel to use whatever diplomatic means it can to try and combat any legal action in Western countries."
“For example, we've just seen a bill pass in Congress to sanction the International Criminal Court for its egregious arrest warrants against your prime minister and former defense minister. I'm slightly optimistic on that front from January 20,” Kemp added.
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US President-elect Donald Trump
(Photo: SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
Meanwhile, Kemp is concerned with the state the UK is heading toward as topics of grooming and gang rape cases cause heated national debate across the country about its immigration policy.
“We've had decades of pedophile rape gangs of victims sometimes as young as 11, 12-year-old white girls in Britain being targeted by street rape gangs, mainly by Pakistani men, but also Pakistani women assisting in procurement.”
“That's mainly as a result of political correctness and prioritizing a fear of inciting or causing racial tensions as a result of identifying the reality of these Pakistani rape gangs in the UK, prioritizing that over actually stopping it from happening and bringing justice to the offender. Hopefully, we're going to see that causing much more effective action against these rape gangs,” he added.
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Kemp added that the British public is now waking up to these issues and taking a stand against them. “It's not just the current British government, but successive British governments have been afraid to tackle this. And by doing so, they've actually encouraged the continuation of these horrible events, which are probably the worst atrocity that has occurred in the UK since the Second World War.”
“Even now the Labour government that's in power has refused to launch what's been demanded, which is a full-scale national inquiry into the problem overall, which affects many different parts of the UK. Hopefully, sufficient pressure will be applied to them now to force their hands.”