U.S. Reportedly Warned UK Against Arms Export Restrictions to Israel

Latest Development

Biden administration officials privately warned the United Kingdom against suspending arms exports to Israel over concerns that it could harm attempts to broker a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the London-based The Times reported on September 4. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced on September 2 that the United Kingdom was suspending 30 of 350 export licenses to Israel over concerns that those exports could be used in violation of international humanitarian law in Israel’s war against Hamas. The licenses that were immediately put on hold include parts for fighter planes, helicopters, drones, and ground targeting equipment.

The report in The Times cited an unnamed senior British government source, noting that the UK Foreign Office denied that such a conversation between British and U.S. officials had occurred. U.S. officials have publicly stated that the United States would not follow the United Kingdom with its own suspension, with U.S. State Department spokesman Matt Miller saying on September 3 that the UK decision was made based on its own legal standards and that the United States will make “our determination based on U.S. law.” U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on September 3 that there has “been no determination by the United States [that Israel has] violated international humanitarian law … we’re going to continue to do what we have to do to support Israel’s defensive capabilities.”

Expert Analysis

“There’s really no choice but for Congress to ask the Pentagon to draw up emergency contingencies for replacing British defense supply chain members in the future, noting how the United Kingdom is showing itself to no longer be a reliable military ally. States with anti-BDS laws may also want to consider their application to British firms that comply with boycotts of Israel.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“Given that Israel imports less than 1 percent of its weapons from the United Kingdom, this decision is unlikely to impact Israeli fighting capabilities. At the same time, it is enormously symbolic, especially as it comes from a governing party that was awash with antisemitism while in opposition. If Sir Keir Starmer is serious about consigning those days to the garbage can of history, he needs to explain why the United Kingdom has chosen Israel, which is fighting a war of survival, for this policy, and not Qatar, China, Turkey, or any of the authoritarian states who continue to purchase British weapons.” — Ben Cohen, FDD Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Manager

Labour Party’s Shifting Policy Towards Israel

According to The Times, one unnamed British government minister described the decision as an attempt to “please all sides” that had ended up “pissing everyone off.” Lammy announced the pause one day after Israeli troops recovered the bodies of six hostages in tunnels under the southern Gazan city of Rafah. According to autopsies, the hostages were executed by Hamas shortly before their discovery. UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said on X that the move “beggars belief,” having been made “at a time when Israel is fighting a war for its very survival on seven fronts forced upon it on the 7th October, and at the very moment when six hostages murdered in cold blood by cruel terrorists were being buried by their families.”

The United Kingdom’s decision came after a two-month internal review initiated by the center-left Labour Party government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer following the defeat of the incumbent Conservative Party in the June 4 election. Throughout the campaign, Starmer said that he would support Israel’s right to defend itself, which cost the party votes among Britain’s Muslim population. Approximately 500,000 voters refused to vote for the Labour Party over Starmer’s refusal to label Israel’s military operations in Gaza a genocide. One of the new government’s first acts was to reinstate the United Kingdom’s funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on July 19, after having paused the funding in January following revelations that UNRWA employees participated in Hamas’s October 7 atrocities. On July 26, the government also dropped the previous government’s plans to challenge the right of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Starmer was first elected Labour leader in 2020, running on a promise to eradicate the rampant antisemitism in the party that mushroomed under former far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Related Analysis

“Worrying signals on the Middle East from Britain’s new Labour government,” by Ben Cohen

“U.S. Resumes Shipment of Bombs to Israel,” FDD Flash Brief

“Canada Bans Arms Exports to Israel,” FDD Flash Brief

“How to Ensure Israel Has the Weapons it Needs,” by Bradley Bowman and Richard Goldberg