Israel arms embargo would risk confidence in UK, former Attorney General warns

An arms embargo on Israel would “risk international confidence” in the UK as an export partner, the former Attorney General has warned.

Those calling on Britain to stop selling weapons to Israel are “virtue signalling”, according to Sir Michael Ellis MP, who argues that an arms embargo would be the “wrong step – strategically, economically and morally”.

Writing for The Telegraph, he says that the UK’s reputation as a reliable arms exporter, which is worth billions of pounds to the UK economy, “must not be risked for the sake of perceived political point-scoring”.

His remarks come after three former Supreme Court justices, along with more than 600 lawyers and academics, signed a letter warning that the UK government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel.

But Sir Michael argues that a UK arms embargo would have “far-reaching unintended consequences” such as destroying our “stated goal of securing Israeli-Palestinian peace and countering Iranian belligerence”.

He adds that such a ban would “bring our projection of values on the world stage into disrepute”.

The UK supplies far more arms to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and many other “non-democracies”, he says, arguing: “How could we justify continued sales to Qatar, which actually harbours Hamas’ leaders, while refusing to supply arms to Israel as it fights terrorists?”

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, is yet to be convinced that the legal threshold has been met to suspend arms exports because of Israel’s actions in Gaza, according to Government sources.

There is a legal mechanism in the UK that requires an arms export ban if it is determined that a country is not showing commitment to international humanitarian law.

On Saturday, more than three dozen congressional Democrats, including key Biden ally Nancy Pelosi, wrote to the US president urging a halt to weapons transfers to Israel.

“In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers,” the letter, signed by 40 lawmakers, said.

It said that any current and future arms transfers should be withheld until the US has conducted its own investigation into the Israeli air strike on Monday that killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen, one of whom was a dual US-Canadian citizen.

Earlier this week, Boris Johnson said it would be “insane” to ban arms sales to Israel.

Mr Johnson, who is a former foreign secretary and prime minister, wrote in the Daily Mail: “If you want an example of the death wish of Western civilisation, I give you the current proposal from members of the British establishment that this country should ban arms sales to Israel.”

He argued the move would amount to “government madness”, given the Hamas attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza conflict.

‘Government madness’

Two Cabinet ministers have made similar arguments, in a sign of support at the top of Government for Rishi Sunak’s current stance.

Marking the six-month anniversary of the October 7 massacre, Mr Sunak said this was “the most appalling attack in Israel’s history, the worst loss of Jewish life since the Second World War.

“We continue to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security.”

He added: “This terrible conflict must end. The hostages must be released. The aid – which we have been straining every sinew to deliver by land, air and sea – must be flooded in.”

On Sunday, the Foreign Office will commit up to £9.7 million of funding as part of a package of military and civilian support to set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza, including the deployment of a Royal Navy ship.

The ship, alongside new UK aid and British expertise, will support the establishment of an international humanitarian maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza and is expected to be operational in early May.

Banning arms sales to Israel while we continue to supply Qatar would be the worst virtue signalling

The noise of those clamouring for an arms embargo against Israel has increased following the tragic killing of aid workers in Gaza, writes Sir Michael Ellis.

But while Israel simply has to avoid such incidents, the world’s only Jewish state is undeniably held to stratospherically high standards, which are routinely exploited by its terrorist enemies.

Israel is a fellow democracy and, reassuringly, has responded with an immediate admission of responsibility, sincere expressions of remorse, and the summary dismissal of those found to have acted wrongly following a thorough investigation.

It is sadly a regrettable reality of war that tragedies such as these occur. Much commentary has seemingly ignored the fact that other allies have frequently been involved in incidents in which civilians were killed in recent years. Strangely enough, these incidents were not followed by concerted calls for arms embargoes. We should be suspicious of motivation when different rules are applied to Israel.

So let us take a step back from the virtue-signalling din. What would a UK arms embargo against Israel actually mean in practice?

In this case, a UK arms embargo would have far-reaching unintended consequences. Not for Israel, but for us. It will not “stop” Israel, as campaigners claim, since our arms to Israel are, in trade terms, a pittance.

However, such a ban would bring our projection of values on the world stage into disrepute. The UK supplies far more arms to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and many other non-democracies. The UK sends an eye-watering amount of weapons to Qatar. How could we justify continued sales to Qatar, which actually harbours Hamas’ leaders, while refusing to supply arms to Israel as it fights terrorists?

The move would destroy our stated goal of securing Israeli-Palestinian peace and countering Iranian belligerence. Indeed, it would allow Hamas to remain in Gaza and thereby condemn Palestinians and Israelis to future violence. All the while, Iran and its terror proxies are watching closely – a fact we can ill afford to forget.

A decision to target Israel would also risk international confidence in our reliability as an arms export partner. The UK’s defence industry makes a huge contribution to our economic prosperity and the livelihoods of thousands of workers across the country – and this must not be risked for the sake of perceived political point scoring.

The UK benefits tremendously from Israel’s military technology, which has protected the lives of thousands of British soldiers. The Sky Sabre missile defence system, for example, which is based on Israel’s game-changing Iron Dome, is now helping to protect the Falklands.

An arms embargo would be the wrong step – strategically, economically and morally.

Sir Michael Ellis MP is the former Attorney General