CAA should be investigated by new foreign interference review

London — In light of the government’s announcement of an independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics, to be led by Philip Rycroft, CAGE calls for the activities of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) to be examined as part of this process.

This review comes amid growing evidence that pro-Israel advocacy organisations operating in the UK have exercised undue influence over regulators, public institutions, and political actors, while presenting themselves as charities or civil society bodies.

In May 2025, CAGE published Britain’s Apartheid Apologists, documenting how CAA and UKLFI defend and advocate for the State of Israel’s apartheid and genocidal policies in a manner that contravenes UK charity law, while systematically submitting vexatious complaints to silence professionals, academics, artists, and activists who speak out for Palestine.

Following a formal complaint by CAGE, the Charity Commission issued the Campaign Against Antisemitism with a remedial Action Plan, requiring its trustees to take steps to address serious concerns relating to governance, management, and compliance. The Commission is also investigating the UKLFI Charitable Trust over whether its activities fall outside its charitable purposes.

Despite these findings, regulators and public bodies have continued to entertain and act upon complaints submitted by CAA and UKLFI, raising serious questions about regulatory complicity in the suppression of lawful expression and political dissent.

Concerns about CAA’s conduct were further reinforced by a recent Westminster Magistrates’ Court judgment, which found that the organisation pursued a vexatious and abusive private prosecution against comedian Reginald D. Hunter, misleading the court and seeking to weaponise the criminal justice system for political ends.

Judge Michael Snow, the presiding Judge over the case, said: 

“My view of the conduct of the CAA is consistent with them as an organisation which is not ‘playing it straight’ but is seeking to use the criminal justice system, in this case for improper reasons.”

Judge Snow further criticised the CAA for its 'wilful, repeated, failure to meet its disclosure obligations' adding that had he known then what he does now, he would have rejected the application as 'vexatious'.

Given CAA’s sustained access to politicians and its alignment with the interests of a foreign state, CAGE urges Philip Rycroft to examine the organisation’s influence, funding structures, and regulatory relationships as part of the independent review.

Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, said:

“The Campaign Against Antisemitism has operated as a leading enabler of state-led repression against those opposing genocide, while regulators and politicians have repeatedly treated it as a legitimate authority. This review must investigate how organisations aligned with a foreign state have been allowed to masquerade as charities and exert political influence in the UK, before more Britons lose their livelihoods and our collective freedoms to oppose genocide are further eroded.” 

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Photo courtesy of Weiss Paarz on flickr