Direct action group targets a key UK lobbyist and arms broker for Israel in one night

Overnight on Monday 26 August, direct action group DISMANTLE targeted two London-based companies linked to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The group spray painted and smashed windows at arms trade group ADS Group and weapons consultancy firm, Eagle Strategic Consulting Ltd.

DISMANTLE does it again and takes aim at Israel’s arms suppliers

In one action, activists visited the offices of ADS Group, at Salamanca Place, London. They left behind broken windows, blood-red paint, and graffiti.

The ADS Group acts as both trade association and lobbyists for the biggest players in the arms trade. It promotes weapons companies such as Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm, and the manufacturer of 85% of the Israeli military’s lethal drone fleet.

ADS has a prominent role in the notorious Defence and Security International (DSEI) arms fair. This will be taking place in London in September. DSEI is the biggest event of its kind in the world. It sees weapons manufacturers and representatives of many of the world’s most repressive regimes hob-nobbing together, and making arms deals. There are always protests at DSEI, and this year the Campaign Against the Arms Trade is calling for the specific exclusion of Israel, due to its genocide in Gaza.

Head of the ADS Group, Kevin Craven, lobbied both the UK government and Scottish government to proscribe Palestine Action. He called for the authorities to:

carefully monitor the activities of direct action groups including Palestine Action and stand ready to commit greater resource to investigate and disrupt their activities.

Labour home secretary Yvette Cooper proscribed the group only a month after Craven’s intervention.

Eagle Strategic Consulting: knee-deep in Elbit’s arms complicity

In a second action DISMANTLE carried out overnight, the group also visited the registered offices of Eagle Strategic Consulting in London. Activists shattered the windows of the building. They plastered it with paint and graffiti.

Eagle Strategic are a weapons consultancy firm owned by Richard Applegate. Applegate is head of strategy for Israel’s biggest weapons maker, Elbit Systems. After a long career in the British Army, Applegate previously headed up Elbit in the UK, and is a director of their drone-manufacturing subsidiaries. The consultancy firm have a clear role in embedding Israel’s weapons trade in Britain, securing the defence contracts and government deals, which financially support the genocide in Gaza.

Before the government banned it, Palestine Action repeatedly targeted two former registered addresses of Eagle Strategic Consulting. This led to to the company being struck off the company register in 2025. Following the proscription of Palestine Action, Eagle Strategic are back with a new registered address.

Profiting from and fueling genocide: enabling the worst crimes against humanity

Earlier this month, on the 10 and 11 of August, DISMANTLE targeted two other companies linked to the Gaza genocide. These were Stemmer Imaging of Tongham, Surrey, and PwC, an auditing firm used by Caterpillar.

A spokesperson for the Dismantle group said:

Both ADS group and Eagle Strategic Consulting profit from, and fuel, the genocide in Gaza. Their complicity will not be met with complacency by the general public. Direct action is a powerful tool which we will continue to use against companies which enable the worst crimes against humanity in Palestine.

Feature image via Getty Images