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The UK government came under increasing pressure on Thursday to end arms sales to Israel following the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza earlier this week.
In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, three former Supreme Court judges joined more than 600 jurists and dozens of Labor MPs in warning that the UK risks breaking international law due to a “plausible risk of genocide ” in Gaza if it does not stop its weapons. exports to Israel.
Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, joined the chorus of criticism from senior Conservative figures, including MP Mark Logan and Lord Nicholas Soames, grandson of Winston Churchill, on Thursday telling the BBC that “a insufficient assistance [by Israel] to collateral risks”.
Most of Britain’s arms exports are destined for the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, with sales to Israel relatively small compared to those from other countries, including France, Germany and Italy. But they are dwarfed by the United States, which accounts for the majority of Israel’s arms imports.
The UK has sold more than £574 million worth of weapons to Israel since 2008, with exports of £42 million in 2022, compared to total global exports of £70.6 billion that year, according to analysis of government data by the Campaign Against Arms Trade group. .
According to CAAT, the main exports to Israel in 2022 and 2023 were aircraft parts and military radar systems, but the group said the UK’s weapons licensing regime “lacks transparency” and that it was “impossible” to know the entire value.
Britain also supplies around 15% of the F-35 fighter jets, built in the US by Lockheed Martin and used by the Israeli army. CAAT estimates that, given the UK share of the programme, the value of UK parts in F-35s delivered to Israel is as high as “£336 million since 2016”.
A CAAT spokesperson said that ending British arms exports would “send a clear message that the UK believes Israel is breaching international humanitarian law, which would put pressure on both the Israeli government and the US over their very high exports. larger”.
BAE Systems, which builds the rear fuselage section of F-35 jets at its factory in Samlesbury in Lancashire, said it has “no operations or employees in Israel or Gaza, nor do we sell military equipment directly to Israel”.
“We are a partner in Lockheed Martin’s global F-35 program, which includes Israel,” the company added.
The UK branch of Italy’s Leonardo produces the “advanced targeting laser” for the F-35 at a site in Edinburgh. Leonardo UK declined to comment.
The British branch of Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems has also been a target of anti-gun protesters for several years. It employs more than 600 people in Britain and is an established supplier to the British Armed Forces, including for the Army’s Watchkeeper drone programme.
Elbit’s Israeli parent builds the Hermes 450 drone that was used during the strike that killed aid workers, according to arms activists, who say the company’s British subsidiary, UAV Engines, supplies the drone’s engines.
A UK spokesperson for the company said: “Elbit Systems UK, its subsidiaries and joint ventures, including UAV Engines Limited and U-Tacs, are not involved in the Hermes 450 programme.”
Lord Ian Austin, the prime minister’s trade envoy for Israel, said a ban on arms sales to Israel could backfire on the UK. “The impact [of a ban on arms sales] towards Israel would be negligible, but a reciprocal move against Britain would be much more significant because much more vital equipment and information is coming in the other direction,” he said.
The UK government is already facing a legal challenge over arms sales to Israel by Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organisation. A person involved in the case told the FT that the decision currently being considered by politicians is “fundamentally political” and “will depend on publicity and public opinion”.
The Government has been contacted for comment.