BT Group POLITICAL

This audit records public evidence located through 22 September 2026. It distinguishes BT Group conduct from the conduct of counterparties, former shareholders and current 10%+ shareholder groups. A counterparty or shareholder-group fact is not attributed to BT unless a source establishes BT’s own participation.^{1, 2}

Examiner-Bounded Findings

BT-authored post-2023 communications about Bezeq or Israel operations

Confirmed facts. BT’s FY2024 and FY2026 financial statements both list B.T. Communication Israel Ltd, Beit Oz, 14 Abba Hillel Silver Road, Ramat Gan, as a 100%-owned group undertaking. The repeated BT-authored statutory disclosures establish continuation of a directly owned Israeli corporate presence across the post-7 October 2023 period and beyond the 19 July 2024 ICJ advisory opinion and November 2024 ICC warrant dates.^{1, 3}

BT’s FY2024 Annual Report also contains one conflict-specific Israel/Gaza reference: under “Inclusive health” it says BT partnered with its Jewish and Muslim Networks on coping with the impact of the situation in Israel and Gaza. The statement concerns colleague wellbeing; it does not set out BT’s position on the conduct of the war, Palestinian civilian harm, settlements or Israeli military operations.⁴

Scoped researched absence. No public evidence identified in targeted searches of BT Group, BT Business/Global Services and BT International newsroom/current policy materials of a post-2023 BT-authored communication naming Bezeq or Bezeq International, renewing the BT-Bezeq relationship, announcing its termination, or describing current Bezeq contract terms. The current BT-authored evidence located for Israel is therefore the continuing Israeli subsidiary disclosure and the FY2024 colleague-wellbeing reference, not a new Bezeq-specific statement.^{1, 3, 4, 5}

Post-notice contract and operational continuity or termination

Confirmed facts. [pre-2020] Bezeq’s 2017 SEC-filed annual disclosure described an exclusive partnership under which Bezeq International operated as a BT Alliance partner in Israel and marketed BT global IT and communications products, including global data networks, MPLS and international access lines.⁶ [pre-2020] In 2011, BT itself said Bezeq International was a BT Alliance partner, that BT worked in Israel to provide communications services to multinational companies, and that much of that work was done with Bezeq; BT declined campaign demands to sever the relationship.⁷

Bezeq’s 2024 periodic report, published in 2025, states that Bezeq International’s international data-communications services continue to use business partnerships with telecommunications providers that give customers access to global network services. Unlike the older disclosures cited below, that post-notice filing does not name BT as one of those providers. It therefore confirms continuity of the partnership model, but does not by itself establish post-notice continuity of the BT-specific contract.⁸

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global’s Council on Ethics stated in its 3 December 2024 publication that Bezeq supplies telecommunications services in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and that its physical presence and services help facilitate their maintenance and expansion; the Council’s recommendation was submitted on 30 August 2024 and Norges Bank excluded Bezeq on 3 December 2024. Who Profits also records a 2020 West Bank fixed-line licence and reports a September 2025 Bezeq fibre project serving settlements in the West Bank and Syrian Golan.^{9, 10}

The Bezeq settlement evidence does not by itself establish that BT-origin products, capacity, MPLS routes or support are used for those settlement services. The post-notice Bezeq filing does not identify the providers used for particular customers, destinations, traffic classes or settlement-specific downstream use.^{8, 9}

BT’s own FY2024 and FY2026 filings continued to disclose its 100%-owned Israeli subsidiary, and BT’s 2026 International/Verizon announcement says BT International continues operating independently until the planned 2027 joint-venture completion. No public evidence identified of a BT announcement terminating the Israel subsidiary, the historic Bezeq relationship, or Israel-facing International operations before that transaction closes.^{1, 3, 5}

Ukraine connectivity relief - duration, audience, repetition and prominence

Confirmed facts. BT Group’s Annual Review 2022 embedded a BT Group post dated 25 February 2022 stating that, for anyone wanting to contact loved ones in Ukraine, mobile and landline calls, texts and data to and from the region were free from 25 February 2022.¹¹ BT’s formal 2022 Annual Report repeated the measure and specified mobile and landline calls, data and texts on BT, EE and Plusnet to and from Ukrainian mobiles; it also described thousands of powerbanks for displaced people, work with government and industry partners, and colleague donations to UNICEF’s children’s emergency fund.¹²

The communication was not confined to a transient tariff notice: the BT Group post was reproduced in the Annual Review’s “Strategic progress - Create standout customer experiences” material, while the Annual Report repeated the relief in its discussion of communities and society. In June 2023, BT Ireland separately published a BT Group/ServiceNow case study describing support to UNHCR in setting up a cloud-hosted digital contact centre for Ukrainian refugees. This establishes repeated Ukraine-specific corporate communications across 2022 and 2023, although the 2023 item is a different assistance measure rather than proof that the free-tariff measure was still running.^{11, 12, 13}

Scoped researched absence. The reviewed BT-authored material gives the free-connectivity start date but no end date. No public evidence identified in the reviewed BT Annual Review, Annual Report or newsroom material establishing how many days or months the free BT/EE/Plusnet calling, texting and data measure remained in force. Its exact duration therefore remains unconfirmed.^{11, 12}

No comparable BT Group customer-connectivity relief announcement for Israel, Gaza or the Palestinian territories was identified in the targeted BT-site/newsroom searches. The FY2024 Israel/Gaza reference located concerns internal colleague wellbeing rather than free telecoms service or external crisis logistics.^{4, 11}

Political, military-welfare and anti-BDS conduct by current 10%+ shareholder groups

BT’s FY2026 governance report records two holders above 10% of voting rights at 31 March 2026: Bharti Televentures UK Limited, 24.95%, and T-Mobile Holdings, 12.06%. Companies House identifies Deutsche Telekom AG as the active person with significant control of T-Mobile Holdings, with 75% or more of shares and voting rights and a right to appoint or remove directors.^{2, 14}

Deutsche Telekom group - confirmed conduct. Deutsche Telekom’s 2023 Annual Report says that, “as a gesture of solidarity with Israel,” Telekom Deutschland made calls and texts to, from and within Israel free from 12 to 31 October 2023, including roaming for data, text and voice in Israel.¹⁵ On 23 October 2023, Deutsche Telekom publicly supported the German-business #NieWiederIstJetzt / Never Again Now campaign against antisemitism and called for solidarity with Jewish citizens in Germany.¹⁶

In an October 2023 public post, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges described Deutsche Telekom and Israel as closely connected through T-Labs and DT Capital Partners, said he travelled to Israel regularly, condemned the 7 October attacks and called solidarity with Israel important; he also said Telekom was in contact with local colleagues and partners and supporting where it could.¹⁷ This is shareholder-group executive advocacy and activity; it is not a BT Group statement.^{2, 14}

Post-notice, in a 14 November 2025 article after a four-day Israel visit, Höttges wrote that he regularly visits Israel with an expert team, described interaction among Israeli start-ups, the military and academia, and said Deutsche Telekom wanted to support high-tech activity in Israel’s defence sector by setting up a fund, citing potential links including drone technologies, 5G and Israeli partner Vorpal. This is evidence of post-July/November-2024 defence-sector investment intent at the Deutsche Telekom shareholder group; the source does not identify an IDF/FIDF donation or a military-welfare grant.¹⁸

Deutsche Telekom group - scoped researched absence. No public evidence identified in targeted searches of Deutsche Telekom’s current corporate, compliance, political-advocacy and Israel-related materials of an IDF/FIDF/JNF/KKL or Israeli reservist-welfare donation, settlement-organisation sponsorship, or anti-BDS lobbying campaign by Deutsche Telekom. Its current compliance materials describe a general donation framework and prohibit donations to political parties, but those policies do not establish the absence of every non-party charitable contribution.^{15, 16}

Bharti group - scoped researched absence. Bharti’s 12 August 2024 acquisition announcement framed the BT investment as a strategic telecom investment and India-UK relationship; Bharti’s current corporate-social-responsibility material describes its philanthropic arm as focused on education and youth in India, and its public press-release archive was searched for Israel, Gaza, Palestine, IDF, FIDF, JNF and BDS-related terms.^{19, 20, 21} no public evidence identified meeting this audit’s source-quality threshold of Bharti Enterprises, Bharti Airtel Foundation, Sunil Bharti Mittal or Gopal Vittal making an Israel/Palestine-specific military-welfare donation, settlement-organisation contribution, or anti-BDS lobbying intervention.^{19, 20, 21}

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

Statements

BT’s only post-7 October 2023 conflict-specific wording identified in its annual-report material is the FY2024 colleague-wellbeing reference to Jewish and Muslim Networks coping with the impact of the situation in Israel and Gaza.⁴ no public evidence identified of an official BT Group statement setting out a position on Gaza hostilities, Palestinian civilian harm, Israeli military operations, the legality of settlements, the 19 July 2024 ICJ advisory opinion or the November 2024 ICC warrants in the BT corporate/newsroom materials reviewed.^{4, 22}

BT’s current responsible-tech page instead states a general human-rights framework grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and describes regular human-rights due diligence and impact assessments.²²

Comparative public posture

BT’s Ukraine response is documented in both its Annual Review and formal Annual Report, including the 25 February 2022 free-connectivity measure, customer brands, powerbanks and UNICEF-linked support; a further Ukraine-refugee technology story appeared on a BT-owned site in 2023.^{11, 12, 13} No comparable BT Group external customer-relief or humanitarian-asset announcement concerning Israel/Gaza was identified in the targeted BT-site searches; the located FY2024 Israel/Gaza statement was internal wellbeing support.⁴

Market framing

BT currently presents International as a commercial multinational-connectivity business. On 29 June 2026 BT and Verizon announced a 50:50 joint venture expected to serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, with the businesses continuing independently until the planned 2027 completion. The announcement frames the transaction around multinational connectivity, cloud/AI, resilience, compliance, sovereignty and scale rather than Israel-specific geopolitics.⁵

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

Territorial presence

BT’s FY2024 and FY2026 financial statements list B.T. Communication Israel Ltd in Ramat Gan as 100% owned, establishing continuing direct corporate presence in Israel across the relevant period.^{1, 3} no public evidence identified in the reviewed BT corporate records of a BT-owned office, branch or named BT customer site inside an Israeli settlement or elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory.^{1, 3}

The separately owned Bezeq International’s 2024 periodic-report material states that its international data-communications services use business partnerships with telecommunications providers for access to global network services, but the filing does not identify BT by name.⁸ The Norwegian Council on Ethics found that Bezeq itself provides telecommunications services in Israeli settlements in the West Bank; that finding concerns Bezeq’s conduct and does not establish that BT’s platform is used for those settlement services.⁹

Legal and regulatory scrutiny

The 26 September 2025 OHCHR settlement-business database lists Hot Mobile Ltd and Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd in Annex I for specified settlement-related activities, while BT Group, British Telecommunications and B.T. Communication Israel are not named in the published Annex I or Annex II. OHCHR states that the database is limited to the listed categories of activity and is not exhaustive of all business activity related to settlements or the occupied Palestinian territory.²³

The December 2024 Norwegian Council on Ethics publication is directly relevant to BT’s historical/currently represented Bezeq counterparty relationship because it records Bezeq’s settlement telecom activity and the resulting exclusion recommendation. It does not state that BT participates in that activity.⁹

Civil society and boycott campaign history

[pre-2020] In 2010-2011, NGOs and campaigners urged BT to disconnect from Bezeq over allegations relating to Bezeq’s services in Israeli settlements. BT’s March and April 2011 responses said it worked with Bezeq to serve multinational companies in Israel and declined to sever the relationship.⁷ The current BDS National Committee corporate-priority guide reviewed for this audit does not name BT Group/British Telecommunications among the guide’s stated priority corporate targets.²⁴

No public evidence identified of a current organized BT-specific BDS priority campaign in the material reviewed beyond the historical Bezeq-focused campaign.^{7, 24}

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

Employee relations

BT’s current code describes Speak Up as an independent, free and confidential service for people working for, with or on behalf of BT Group.²⁵ The FY2024 Annual Report documents wellbeing engagement with both Jewish and Muslim employee Networks concerning Israel/Gaza.⁴ no public evidence identified in targeted searches of dismissal, discipline, litigation against unions, or restrictions on pro-Palestinian employee speech, symbols or organizing at BT.^{4, 25}

Platform and editorial policy

BT’s privacy and free-expression policy says authorities may legally request access to data or communications for serious-crime or national-security purposes, that BT assesses requests and may seek clarification, and that a Board-level National Security and Investigatory Powers Committee oversees this area.²⁶ no public evidence identified of Israel/Palestine-specific algorithmic content suppression, editorial takedown policy or content-moderation regulatory action involving a BT-operated platform.²⁶

Retail and supply-chain practices

No public evidence identified in the reviewed corporate, regulatory or civil-society sources of BT settlement-origin product labelling, settlement-specific retail categorisation, or a BT retail sourcing policy directed specifically at products from Israel or the occupied Palestinian territory.^{22, 24}

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

Marketing positioning

BT’s current international positioning is as a provider of secure multinational communications and network services, not as a company founded around Israeli military, defence or state-security heritage.⁵ no public evidence identified of BT using Israeli military heritage as a current consumer or corporate brand proposition.⁵

Institutional ties and sponsorships

[pre-2020] On 13 September 2017, BT hosted and sponsored an “Israel innovation cyber event” at BT Tower with the UK Israel Tech Hub and Mishcon de Reya; BT’s event page said 15 Israeli cyber-security start-ups were showcased and described Cyberbit as an Elbit Systems subsidiary. The continuity of that event sponsorship is not confirmed in 2026.²⁷

[pre-2020] A 2008 report described an Israeli Innovation event at BT Tower as a combined project involving BT, the commercial department of the Israeli embassy in London and the Israeli Foreign Trade Administration, with incoming BT chief executive Ian Livingston scheduled to speak. No current equivalent programme was identified in the reviewed BT materials.²⁸

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

Political lobbying

BT states that it engages with regulators, politicians and policymakers on matters including national security, online harms, trade and economic policy; its matters-reserved schedule assigns Board-level oversight to key strategy and governance matters.^{29, 30} BT’s FY2026 governance report says group policy prohibits cash or in-kind contributions to political parties by gift or loan, while British Telecommunications plc paid £9,315 in FY26 to attend events at six UK political-party conferences under the wider Companies Act definition of political donations.²

No public evidence identified of BT Group lobbying for or against BDS legislation, lobbying on Israel/Palestine policy, or making an Israel/Palestine-specific political contribution in the reviewed BT public-policy and governance materials.^{2, 29}

Financial contributions

No public evidence identified of a verified BT Group corporate donation or sponsorship to the IDF, FIDF, JNF/KKL, Israeli reservist funds, settlement organisations or military-welfare bodies in the sources reviewed.^{2, 25, 29} Historical UK-Israel technology events are documented above and are not treated as military-welfare donations.^{27, 28}

Crisis asset mobilization

No public evidence identified that BT Group directed free connectivity, cloud credits, transport/logistics assets or other corporate resources to the Israeli government, IDF or state-aligned military-welfare organisations during the post-7 October 2023 conflict period.^{4, 22} BT’s documented Ukraine response shows that the group has publicly disclosed conflict-related connectivity, physical equipment and humanitarian-partner support when it has provided such assistance.^{11, 12, 13}

The 12-31 October 2023 Israel free-calling/roaming measure described above was undertaken by Telekom Deutschland, part of Deutsche Telekom, whose controlled T-Mobile Holdings vehicle is a 12.06% BT shareholder; it is not attributed to BT Group.^{2, 14, 15}

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

Foundational mandate

BT’s current corporate disclosures and International communications describe a commercial telecommunications and digital-connectivity enterprise serving UK and multinational customers.^{1, 5} no public evidence identified of a foundational charter or primary corporate mission directing BT to advance Israeli state geopolitical objectives.^{1, 5}

Ownership and governance

At 31 March 2026 BT reported Bharti Televentures UK Limited at 24.95% of voting rights and T-Mobile Holdings at 12.06%, with other disclosed substantial holders below 5%.² Companies House identifies Deutsche Telekom AG as the active person with significant control over T-Mobile Holdings.¹⁴

BT announced in August 2024 that Bharti Global had agreed to acquire Altice UK’s approximately 24.5% BT stake; Bharti’s own announcement described the investment as strategic and linked it to India-UK relations.^{31, 19} BT’s 15 September 2025 relationship agreement gave Bharti two Board nomination rights while it and affiliates hold at least 20% economic interest and one nomination right while they hold at least 10% but below 20%.³²

Former 10%+ shareholder nexus

On 24 May 2023 a BT major-holdings notification recorded Altice UK S.à r.l. at 24.5% of BT voting rights and identified Patrick Drahi at the top of the control chain.³³ Who Profits separately documents settlement-related activity by Altice International’s HOT group, including West Bank telecommunications licensing and infrastructure; this is evidence about the former shareholder group, not proof of BT operational control over HOT.³⁴

The BT-Altice major-shareholder relationship ceased through the Bharti transaction announced in August 2024 and is not treated as a current 10%+ shareholder relationship.^{31, 19, 2}

Executive & Leadership Footprint

Current BT leadership

BT’s current leadership material identifies Adam Crozier as Chairman and Allison Kirkby as Chief Executive; the 2025 Bharti relationship agreement added Sunil Bharti Mittal and Gopal Vittal as Bharti-nominated non-independent non-executive directors.^{32, 35} no public evidence identified meeting the audit threshold of Crozier, Kirkby, Mittal or Vittal personally donating to IDF/FIDF/JNF/settlement or military-welfare entities or conducting anti-BDS advocacy.^{20, 21, 35}

Current shareholder-group executive advocacy and affiliations

Sunil Bharti Mittal’s current Bharti role and the Bharti group’s investment in BT are documented by Bharti’s own materials; targeted Bharti searches produced no verified Israel/Palestine-specific advocacy or military-welfare financing by Mittal or Vittal.^{19, 20, 21}

By contrast, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges publicly expressed solidarity with Israel in October 2023, described longstanding Deutsche Telekom activity through T-Labs and DT Capital Partners, and in November 2025 published a post-constructive-notice account of an Israel visit that expressly discussed supporting Israeli defence-sector high technology through a Deutsche Telekom fund.^{17, 18} These are actions/statements of a current 10%+ shareholder group’s executive, not BT Group leadership conduct.^{2, 14}

Board memberships and personal philanthropy

No public evidence identified of current BT executive or Bharti-nominated director board seats in AIPAC, CFI, FIDF, JNF/KKL, settlement organisations or anti-BDS advocacy bodies in the materials reviewed.^{20, 21, 35} No independently corroborated evidence meeting the audit threshold was identified of personal IDF/FIDF/JNF or settlement-group donations by current BT leaders or Bharti-nominated directors.^{20, 21, 35}