Rights group urge UK govt to clarify position on Israel arms export licenses

Rights groups have called on the British government to urgently clarify whether it is still issuing new arms licenses to Israel in the wake of reports that licenses had been suspended.

Over the past week, reports in the UK press emerged suggesting civil servants had suspended processing new applications for arms exports to Israel.

In a statement sent to The New Arab on Tuesday, the The Department for Business and Trade (DBT), which deals with the licenses, said there had been "no change" in policy.

The DBT is awaiting the results of a review instigated by Foreign Secretary David Lammy into possible legal issues surrounding the licenses to Israel amid its brutal war on Gaza.

The government issues various sales export licenses to Israel on behalf of defence firms in the UK which among others, supply Israel with components for combat aircraft like the F-35, believed to be used by the Israeli air force in the Gaza war.

UK arms trade monitoring group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government’s failure to officially clarify the status of arms exports "compounds impunity for Israel’s genocide against Palestinians" and is against the public interest.

CAAT’s research coordinator Sam Perlo-Freeman said the government review "appears to be an exercise in kicking the can down the road, while desperately digging for some excuse to maintain the flow of F-35 components, by far the most significant of UK arms sales to Israel".

The subject has been raised in parliament throughout Israel’s ten-month war on Gaza, which has seen Israel be accused of committing war crimes against the Palestinian people, including "extermination".

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague is currently reviewing a case on whether Israel is committing genocidal acts against Palestinians.

Since coming to power in July, the Labour government reinstated funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA after a suspension following Israel’s allegations against its staff members in Gaza — something that the Conservative government sat on.

Despite coming under pressure, the previous government avoided disclosing whether the UK was breaching international law by supplying Israel with licenses, amid reports that in-house lawyers had warned the foreign office it was at risk.

Then business secretary Kemi Badenoch insisted that the government’s position “would remain unchanged” in April, even after three British aid workers were killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza.

However, Starmer’s government has stood by what it says is Israel’s “right to defend itself” within bounds of international law but took the different step to issue a review of licensing criteria.

Perlo-Freeman said the government must implement a “full two-way arms embargo on Israel immediately, as the most concrete step the UK can take to bring an end to this obscene slaughter”.

Defence and technology firm BAE Systems has several factories across the UK and is responsible for producing parts for the F-35 alongside Lockheed Martin, another UK-based defence firm.

CAAT estimates that 15 percent of every F-35 used by Israel is manufactured in the UK. It comes under the Department for Business’ ‘Open General Export License’ which allows companies to export unlimited quantities of equipment without needing to apply individual licenses each time.

Since 2008, the UK has issued arms licenses worth over £576 million to Israel, according to CAAT which campaigns to end the global arms trade.

Recent data made public showed that the government issued 42 licenses between 7 October 2023 and 31 May 2024.

A spokesperson for the business department said there is no change in the government’s position as it awaits the findings of the review ordered by Lammy last month.