Colonel Richard Kemp

A Man of Valor, on and off the battlefield

By Cindy Saltzman

Colonel Richard Kemp has spent the majority of his adult life commanding British troops on the front line of many of the world’s most dangerous battles including Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan to name a few.

Currently, he consults on intelligence, counter-terrorism, and defense. In addition, he is an author, journalist, and media commentator.

Though not Jewish, he has always been a strong advocate for Israel. While the world watched in horror as Hamas brutally attacked Israel, Col. Kemp has been a witness.

Despite the constant barrage of missiles, Colonel Kemp generously took the time to speak with me by phone as missiles continued to fly above him.

[Comments have been edited for clarity]

JEWISH LIFE NOW: I came across an old broadcast of yours from 2016, and you were talking about the Arab/Israeli conflict at the time. You said, “We are fighting an existential threat with fundamental Islam and Western civilization, and Israel’s on the front line.” Do you ever think about how far we’ve come or not come at this stage?

COL. RICHARD KEMP: I think everything that’s happening now was predictable for a long time, and if you look at Hamas, their whole objective has been to annihilate Israel, that’s what they exist for.

And they’ve never deviated from that path, they’ve tried attacking from the sea, and they’ve tried using hang-gliders in the past as well, and everything that they’ve tried to do has largely failed, because they’ve been prevented from doing severe damage.

But unfortunately, they got very lucky on this occasion, because there were various failures in intelligence and security that led to, for them, spectacular success. For Israel, an absolute disaster. But to me, it’s not a surprise that they kept trying until they succeeded in this way.

Most Israelis recognize this threat and what the consequences would be. The inhumanity of the mass, the murderous focus of Hamas, most of the rest of the world didn’t. And the failure to understand what Hamas was really about, led the rest of the world-the US in particular and Europe--to pressure Israel into not taking decisive action against Hamas.

And it was a massive propaganda campaign against Israel over the years that pressured Israel into effectively trying to contain the threat from Hamas rather than defeating it. And now we’re seeing the consequences of that.

JLN: Do you foresee this becoming a bigger problem that incites even more terrorism abroad?

RK: Yes, I do, and we’ve already seen the beginning of it and we’ve seen attacks in Belgium and France, which are almost certainly motivated by the massive violence over here and Israel’s response to it. I think that is going to grow and is probably going to increase as Israel works to defeat Hamas.

You can draw comparisons with the Islamic State, when the Islamic State was at its height and they inspired jihadists around the world, including in Europe and the U.S., to try and attack and in some cases succeed in attacking. So, when you have a rise in violence of this sort, it inspires jihadists everywhere, so I think yes, the answer is we will see this rising.

We also saw when the Islamic State was not destroyed, but when the Islamic State was extremely battered by Western and Arab countries’ actions against them. We saw the level of jihadism around the world fall off a bit, as I hope [will happen] once Israel has dealt effectively with Hamas and they are defeated.

But of course, then the next concern is what Hezbollah does and whether actions by Hezbollah are going to extend this conflict beyond what’s happening in Gaza now.

JLN: It does feel like there’s a lot of disbelief, and a lot of people are accusing Israel of all kinds of things that aren’t true. It’s like the barbaric actions are too much for a lot of people to accept, so they’ve turned it on its head. It’s very scary.

You’ve been in a lot of dangerous places including Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently, do you think this is the most volatile area around the world or is there anywhere worse?

RK: Well, I was in Ukraine several weeks ago, and I would say that’s a pretty dangerous place to be as well. Obviously, this is an extremely dangerous situation, but it doesn’t really compare with the war that’s going on in Ukraine in terms of sheer violence and huge death rates on both sides.

The progress of that war is much more predictable than what’s happening here because there’s a danger in Israel of this war, as I mentioned, expanding to embrace Lebanon and also Syria and of course Iran. It’s Iran that is behind all of this, all of it.

I think it’s probably worth making the connection between Ukraine and Israel in terms of Iranian influence. Iran has funded, armed, supplied, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the proxies in Syria, as well as the Russians in Ukraine. Not directed them, but Iran has supplied them with drones. I was in Ukraine under drone attack from Iranian drones and I was in

Kemp in 1991 with the 7th Armoured Brigade before assult into Iraq with US 3rd Army.

Israel under rocket attack from Iranian rockets. So, there is that common factor.

Maybe going off on a tangent slightly, but I think Russia also has a hand in what’s going on here, maybe encouraging Iran to attack because it diverts attention from Ukraine. I’m talking about U.S. attention, it diverts attention. It also diverts U.S. resources from Ukraine to here, and it’s another way of striking back against the United States by hitting one of its closest allies in Israel, so, it certainly suits Russia’s purposes. I would not be at all surprised if Russia didn’t have a hand in encouraging Iran to push this conflict out.

JLN: Well, that’s terrifying. Do you feel now that other countries in the world are more directly supporting Israel because this is a very black and white situation? Do you feel that the United States and Europe understand what the Hamas really is and that’s why they’re being more supportive?

RK: I think they understand it. And they are very strong, particularly the U.S. and the UK. I would say they are being particularly strong in their support for Israel now, but I’m concerned about how long that lasts. Because a lot of it a lot of the support is motivated by the horrors of October 7th, but as that memory fades--and memories do tend to fade very quickly--we’re already seeing greater anti-Israel sentiments because one, memory’s fading, two, we’re now seeing Israel hit back, and that invokes the opposite sentiment among many people. So, I don’t think that strong support is going to last forever.

JLN: Are you ever concerned about your own safety, or is that not something that even enters your mind.

RK: No, it doesn’t enter my mind at all. I’ve been in a lot of dangerous situations. And it’s something I suppose you become immune to. If a rocket’s got my name on it, it’s going to hit me. If it hasn’t, it won’t. I don’t spend my life worrying about all that sort of things. I have no desire to be safe. I just have a desire to do what I need to do.

My name was found on an Al Qaeda death list.

Kemp

Oh, my God. Years ago. And I took that as a badge of honor. I’ve been doing and saying things that they didn’t like. And I like things that people don’t like.

JLN: I think you’re a very brave man. Before I let you go, I wanted to just ask you a couple of more personal things about you, specifically your motivation. What keeps you motivated to do what you’re doing, both in your career and your life?

RK: Well, when I was a child, I was taught right from wrong. And I was also taught that if you can influence any situation for the better, then you have a duty to do so. And that’s whether it’s fighting in an army in the defense of your country and in the defense of other people, or if you can do it, in media and political circles, as I try to do now.

I have abilities and experience that many people don’t, and those can be directed towards influencing people’s decisions and opinions for the good. I feel I have an obligation to do so, whether that’s over Israel or Ukraine or any other situation. It’s not for me, it isn’t something that I choose to do or choose not to do. It’s something that I believe I have an obligation to do if I can assist and be beneficial. In relation to Israel, firstly, Israel is a very good friend of the UK and they’ve helped us in so many different ways in intelligence, in technology, and in various other ways. They’re our friends and I want to do what I can to support them.

And secondly, the fight that Israel is fighting is a fight against those people who want to destroy our civilization and our way of life. And so maybe it’s directly helping Israel, but I hope it’s also directly and indirectly helping my own country and other European countries as well as the U.S.

JLN: What can people do to help Israel, besides giving money to various charities? Is there anything you would recommend?

RK: I would say there are two issues here really. One is the defense of Israel, sticking up for Israel. I think that’s so important for Jews and non-Jews alike. But anyone who wants to provide support for Israel at the moment, needs to do everything in their power to counter the anti-Israel narrative. I think that’s extremely important. And will get even more important given what I believe is going to happen in world opinion against Israel.

And I think organizations like StandWithUs are invaluable for organizing people and informing people and rallying people to the aid of Israel. There are other pro-Israel organizations out there as well, but StandWithUs is a great example of an organization that people should join and support.

Jewish university students are also under fire all the time and they’re going to be under even more fire with what is happening now and what’s going to happen. So, anything anyone can do to support Jewish university students and to give them strength in what’s often a very, very hostile environment, I think that is extremely important because this whole business is not just a war in Israel. It’s what I mentioned. It’s also a war on civilization. But, it’s focused a great deal on Jews around the world.

One of the things that the narrative and those people like the BDS movement and other anti-Israel movements, one of their primary goals, if not their primary goal, is to undermine foreign support for Israel and in the US. That means undermining the support of Jews for Israel primarily. And that’s why they target Jewish students at universities, to try and deter them from standing up for Israel.

So, they need all of our help. And I think again,

Opposite page: Delegation from Friends of Israel Initiative meet with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (fourth from left) and Minister of Startegic Affairs, Ron Dermer (second from left). Kemp is sixth from left.

Above left: Discussing current situation and future plans with the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen, in Jerusalem.

Avove: Kemp meets Major General Itai Veruv, Assistant Commander of IDF Southern Command, fighting inside Gaza.

StandWithUs is an organization that provides phenomenal support to Jewish students in the US, in the UK, and elsewhere.

JLN: My last question: do you ever feel like you just need to give up? Do your friends ask why are you supporting the Jews all the time? Do you ever feel like it’s kind of a hopeless mess? Or do you still feel you can make a make a difference?

RK: Well, I try to make a difference and make a small contribution, and I certainly have no intention of giving up on it. Nor will I while I’ve got breath in my body. I will continue to support Israel and support any causes I can.

JLN: We appreciate you so much, please stay safe! ♦