Kings College Cambridge to divest from Israeli occupation and Arms Industry following ICJP legal campaign and student pressure
London/Cambridge, 22nd May 2025 – Kings College Cambridge has announced that it will divest from all the arms industry and companies complicit in ‘the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories.’ ICJP can now reveal it conducted a coordinated legal campaign over the last 12 months, working closely with the student movement to put pressure on Kings to divest.
On the 8th May 2024, ICJP submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, regarding King’s College’s investments in a number of arms companies and companies operating in illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The college responded that it ‘does not hold the information’ requested, despite the fact that a previous FOI on the 31st March 2023 did provide evidence that the college had over £1.5 million worth of investments in companies related to occupation and arms.
In response, ICJP sent a letter to the Kings College Provost on the 6th June 2024, putting Kings ‘on notice that participating in the supply of weapons to a military that uses them in the commission of war crimes may be a criminal offence and [Kings] office holders’ risk being prosecuted in the UK or elsewhere for doing so.” The letter outlined that these actions may render office holders and decision-makers personally liable in law as accessories to war crimes.
The letter went on to highlight specific investments that Kings College held, including investments in BAE Systems, Boeing, General Electric, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Rolls Royce and RTX Corp. (formerly Raytheon).
On 20th May 2025, following over a year of legal pressure from ICJP and grassroots pressure from students including Kings Cambridge for Palestine (KCFP), the college finally succumbed to pressure and announced that they would end all investments by the end of the calendar and year, claiming that the new policy was ‘prompted by the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories.’
This work forms part of a wider programme of both public and private work that ICJP carries out to ensure that universities are not financially complicit in companies that support illegal occupation and/or Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Mira Naseer, Legal Officer for ICJP said:
“This is a testament to the power of grassroots student pressure combined with the legal action the ICJP takes. Complicity in Israel’s genocide is everywhere, it must be fought in parliament, in corporations, and indeed, in the universities.
Others must now follow suit. No university should be investing in the unlawful occupation, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, or in arms companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
A spokesperson for King’s Cambridge for Palestine (KC4P) said:
“Israel’s current escalations in Gaza are beyond horrifying, with hundreds murdered in the past few days alone. Israel has refused the entry of aid in Gaza for almost three months, enforcing widespread famine and using starvation as a weapon of genocide. King’s College’s decision must trigger global condemnation of Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people.””
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- ICJP is a legal organisation based in London, working to uphold international law and defend the rights of Palestinians.
- For more information or for media inquiries, please contact the ICJP news desk at press@icjpalestine.com