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The UK’s chief rabbi has attacked the Labour government’s decision to suspend some export licences to Israel used for arms in military operations in Gaza, even as London insisted the move would not hit Israeli security.
The criticism by Sir Ephraim Mirvis came after Britain blocked about 30 licences for a range of items including components in military aircraft. That announcement followed a government review that found possible breaches of international humanitarian law by Israel in its offensive against Hamas in the strip.
“It beggars belief that the British government, a close strategic ally of Israel, has announced a partial suspension of arms licences, at a time when Israel is fighting a war for its very survival on seven fronts,” the chief rabbi wrote on X.
He added that the announcement by David Lammy, UK foreign secretary, “feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law, when in fact it is going to extraordinary lengths to uphold it”.
Lammy told the House of Commons on Monday he had concluded “with regret” that there was a clear risk of some items exported to Israel being used in serious violations of international humanitarian law.
John Healey, UK defence secretary, said on Tuesday that the UK move would not “have a material impact on Israel’s security” and that Britain remained “a staunch ally” of Israel.
“This is not about making a political gesture, this is about following the rule of law,” he told the BBC, adding that the conflict in Gaza “requires the government to review the licences which may be involved”.
Responding to the UK decision on Tuesday morning, former prime minister Boris Johnson emphasised that Hamas was still holding Israeli hostages. “Why are Lammy and Starmer abandoning Israel?” he posted on X. “Do they want Hamas to win?”
But human rights groups and aid agencies argue London should have gone further and included components for Israel’s F-35 war planes, which have been bombing the besieged Gaza Strip.
There are about 350 UK arms export licences to Israel currently granted. Britain’s suspension of about 30 of these will be kept under review, while any new licence applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Human Rights Watch said the suspension “took far too long and didn’t go far enough”, labelling the F-35 “a workhorse of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign” and the UK’s decision to exempt components for it “a miscomprehension of the law or a wilful disregard”.
Hannah Bond, co-chief executive of ActionAid UK, added: “The UK remains at risk of being complicit in the atrocities taking place in Gaza daily” as long as it does not “halt all new and existing arms licenses to the Israeli government”.
Although the UK is not a big exporter of arms to Israel compared with the US or Germany, with British arms accounting for only about 1 per cent of Israeli imports, the decision will deal a significant diplomatic blow.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said he was “deeply disheartened to learn of the sanctions placed by the UK government on export licences to Israel’s defence establishment”.
“This comes at a time when we fight a war on seven different fronts: a war that was launched by a savage terrorist organisation, 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,” Gallant said in a statement.
Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack killed 1,200 people and led to another 250 being taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Israel’s assault in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, and led to UN warnings about the risk of famine and widespread disease in the besieged strip.
While supporting Israel’s right to defence, the UK and other nations have repeatedly criticised it for the limited flow of humanitarian aid into the strip, while also expressing concern about the civilian death toll and the displacement of about 1.9mn of Gaza’s 2.3mn population.