British prosecutors announced Saturday that they will seek a retrial after six anti-Israel activists were acquitted last week of aggravated burglary for a 2024 attack on Israeli defense company Elbit’s UK facility.
The verdict cleared members of Palestine Action of charges stemming from the raid on Elbit Systems’ factory in Filton, near Bristol. Prosecutors said the incident caused approximately £1 million in damages and left a police officer with a fractured spine after she was struck with a sledgehammer.
In a statement posted to social media, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it was examining the legal grounds for fresh proceedings against some of the six defendants.
“Prosecutors are now considering the precise basis on which that retrial would proceed, including the form of the indictment, in accordance with CPS legal guidance," a CPS spokesperson said. A new hearing has been scheduled for February 18.
The announcement came after the Conservative Party called for a retrial of the activists.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, wrote on Thursday to Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson urging a retrial on the unresolved charges. Philp said Crown Prosecution Service guidance allows for a retrial when a jury fails to reach a verdict, there is “sufficient evidence" for a realistic prospect of conviction, and a retrial is in the public interest.
“I therefore urge you to seek a retrial on these charges. There is no justification for this violence, no matter how strongly someone feels about a cause," Philp wrote. “This verdict risks giving the green light to mob violence in pursuit of a political objective."
The Police Federation also wrote to Parkinson, warning of “serious concerns" about the “operational and safety" implications for officers dealing with protests and public order situations.
British police recently released footage from the Palestine Action raid on the Elbit factory.
At the start of the trial in November, prosecutors told the jury at Woolwich Crown Court that the defendants were part of a larger group involved in the attack. The activists argued they were motivated by a desire to stop what they called Israel's "genocide" in Gaza and admitted they intended to damage the factory, but also claimed they opposed violence against people.
The British government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization last July, days after its activists protesting the Gaza war broke into an air force base in southern England, causing an estimated £7 million in damage to two aircraft.
Palestine Action has challenged the ban in court.
Founded in 2020, Palestine Action describes itself as a “direct action" network opposing what it calls British “complicity" with Israel, particularly in relation to arms sales.
The group also previously defaced a painting of Lord Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge, spraying the portrait with red paint and slashing it.
In another incident, Palestine Action members stole two busts of Israel’s first President, Chaim Weizmann, from a glass cabinet at Manchester University.