UK Blocks Arms Deals With Israel

Getty Images

UK Blocks Arms Deals With Israel

Britain’s stance toward Israel looks more and more like the European Union’s.

The British government blocked one third of its military exports to Israel this year, citing Israel’s “attitude to terrorism” and the fear of human rights violations. Since 2005, total military exports from Britain to Israel have plunged 75 percent.

The rules used to reject the deals came from the European Union’s “Consolidated EU and National Arms Licensing Criteria.” The British Foreign Office cited “concerns the shipments would not respect ‘human rights and the fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination,’ would worsen … ‘the internal situation in the country of final destination;’ and would harm ‘regional peace, security and stability’” (Jerusalem Post, August 14).

One export license was denied due to the “behavior of the buyer country with regard to the international community; in particular its attitude to terrorism, the nature of its alliances and respect for international law,” the Foreign Office stated. It was also worried the equipment would be “diverted” for unapproved use or “re-exported under undesirable conditions.”

Former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the British have not sold “main equipment” such as tanks, artillery and warships to Israel since 1997, specifically because the Blair government conformed to the EU’s guidelines.

The sudden reduction in exports since 2005 may be partially due to legal pressures Palestinians are exerting in the British court system. A group of lawyers working with a Palestinian rights group filed suit against the government last November on behalf of Saleh Hasan, who says the sale of military goods to Israel contributes “to his ‘oppression’ as a Palestinian by Israel,” according to the Post. Using the legal system to hamper Britain’s military has already proven a successful strategy.

In contrast to the 190 contracts for military sales denied to Israel in the last 10 years, only two have been denied to Jordan. In addition, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is supporting Mark Malloch Brown, a critic of U.S. and Israeli policy, for a key Foreign Office post.

As Britain’s government draws closer to Europe, London is finding itself forced to pull back from Israel and helping to keep its enemies at bay. However, Britain will find that it is, in fact, embracing a deadly sickness, a fact it is sure to recognize at some point. To read more about this trend in Britain, please read “The Sickness in Britain’s Heart.”