UK decision on limiting arms exports to Israel to be delayed amid review — report
British ministers looking into suspension of specific weapons suspected of use in alleged war crimes and process will take weeks, according to The Times
A possible suspension by Britain of arms sales to Israel will only be made later in the summer as ministers work to determine exactly which weapon deliveries would be paused, the UK’s Times newspaper reported Monday.
A decision will apparently take longer because ministers want to suspend licenses for specific weapons that are linked to suspected alleged war crimes in the ongoing conflict against Palestinian terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Investigations to clarify those details are expected to take weeks, the report said.
The assessment came a day after Hebrew media outlets reported Jerusalem officials were worried that a decision on the matter would likely be made in the coming days, amid concerns it could trigger other countries to also suspend weapons deliveries.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has stated he does not back a blanket arms embargo, stressing Israel’s need to defend itself against surrounding enemies, including terror groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. While still in the opposition, Lammy said earlier this year that the government should suspend the sale of arms if there was a clear risk they might be used in a serious breach of humanitarian law.
Now in government, he said last week that he had requested an assessment of the legal situation regarding weapons use in Gaza and that he hoped to be able to communicate any decisions with “full accountability and transparency.”
Questioned by a Green Party lawmaker on whether he would act to stop “all UK arms exports to Israel,” Lammy answered in the negative, stressing the need for Israel to have access to defensive weapons.
“Israel is a country surrounded by people who would love to see its annihilation,” Lammy said at the time. “It is being attacked by the Houthis, missiles are being fired from Hezbollah, notwithstanding the desire for Hamas to wipe Israel off the map.”
“For those reasons, it would not be right to have a blanket ban between our country and Israel,” he added.
According to the Times report, arms sales from Britain to Israel last year were relatively minor, at £18.2 million ($23.4 million).
However, an arms ban that would satisfy anti-Israel campaigners, including some in Lammy’s Labour party, could face a complication over Britain’s position as a key manufacturer of parts for the F-35 fighter jet, used by both the Israeli and British air force. Critics accuse Israel of using its F-35 in problematic bombing raids on Gaza. As a tier-one partner in the US-made fighter program, Britain makes 15 percent of the jet’s parts, The Times noted.
Under the new Labour government that earlier this month ousted the Conservatives, the UK restored funding to UNRWA — the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants — and will withdraw its objection to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
According to The Times, last week, UK Attorney General Richard Hermer, who is Jewish, was in Israel to explain why the ICC arrest objections were dropped.
While the UK’s previous Conservative government was a strong supporter of Israel’s right to defend itself following the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, Reuters found in June that Britain’s approvals of new arms licenses had dropped sharply after the start of the war, with permits granted for the sale of military equipment to its ally falling by more than 95 percent to a 13-year low.
War erupted with the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, during which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 39,000 people have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack. Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 331.
