THE Israeli government has reacted with fury to the UK Government’s decision to suspend some arms sales to the country over fears it may be committing war crimes.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Monday announced that the licences for parts used in some fighter planes and drones had been suspended – but stopped short of a blanket ban.
Most controversially, they have not suspended licences for F-35 fighter jets parts, saying they are unable to do so without “prejudicing” the entire programme, which also supplies arms to Ukraine and Nato.
The Government has only suspended around a tenth of its total arms exports to Israel and the sanctions only apply to weapons officials believe are being used in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu (above), the embattled Israeli prime minister who is facing intense internal criticism over his failure to return hostages held by Hamas or to secure a ceasefire, called the UK’s decision “shameful”.
He added: “Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilization, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror.
“With or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future.”
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said he was “deeply disheartened” by the UK’s actions.
He tweeted: “This comes at a time when we fight a war on seven different fronts – a war that was launched by a savage terrorist organization, unprovoked.
“At a time when we mourn six hostages who were executed in cold blood by Hamas inside tunnels in Gaza. At a time when we fight to bring 101 hostages home.”
Israel Katz, the foreign minister, added: “A step of the type taken by Britain now sends a very problematic message to the terrorist organisation Hamas and its agents in Iran.”
And it has opened up rifts within the Labour Party, with internal pressure group Labour Friends of Israel saying it feared “these restrictions risk encouraging Israel’s enemies, leading to greater escalation”.
The announcement has also angered pro-Palestine campaigners and politicians who believe the Government has not gone far enough.
Both the LibDems and the SNP have called for a total arms embargo – as Margaret Thatcher did in 1982 – on Israel.
SNP foreign affairs spokesperson Brendan O’Hara (above) previously asked the Foreign Secretary why “if there is in his words a clear risk of the violation of international humanitarian law” all arms sales had not been suspended.
LibDem MP Alistair Carmichael added: “The Government must act to suspend arms exports to Israel and use all our influence to mitigate this humanitarian disaster.”
The Government had been facing the threat of a legal challenge in the run-up to this week’s announcement.
Lawyers with the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the West Bank-based human rights organisation Al-Haq who had been preparing for a court case against the Government claimed victory after the announcement, saying ministers had been “backed into a corner”.
GLAN lawyer Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe said: “The Government knew that they could not defend the failure to suspend all weapons licences and that they would face urgent applications for an injunction as soon as this week.”
The organisations have called on the Government to go further and “abide by its obligations under international law to do everything in its power to prevent the commission of genocide”.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, Defence Secretary John Healey defended the decision to exempt F-35 components from sanctions, saying the Government was “not prepared to put at risk” the global fighter jet construction scheme overseen by arms giant Lockheed Martin.
It is believed that a partly-UK made F-35 plane commanded by Israeli forces was responsible for a recent deadly attack on civilians near a Palestinian refugee camp.
