Trump’s pick for ambassador to London says he will push UK to restore all arms exports to Israel

US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to London says he will ask Britain to reverse a partial suspension of arms exports to Israel, a decision taken over rights concerns.

Warren Stephens, an Arkansas-based investment banker and political donor to Trump named for the coveted diplomatic posting, says he is “a little perplexed” by the decision of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“What I’ve read about that, with the UK halting some of their shipments to Israel, is certainly concerning,” Stephens says at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I would do my part to encourage them to reinstate those permits and to try to get them, you know, what they need to continue the fight,” he says.

His comments come in response to a question from Republican Senator Rick Scott, who said Starmer’s Labour Party “treats Israel as a problem and not a solution” and called on Stephens to “try to educate” Britain on Israel.

Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, announced in September that Britain would suspend 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel out of fear the weapons could be used in breach of humanitarian law amid the war in Gaza, sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

Starmer said at the time that the UK still supported “Israel’s right to self-defense” but was “committed to the international rule of law.”