🇬🇧🇮🇱 UK arms to ‘Israel’ questioned

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:00]You are still selling weapons [music] to Israel.

[00:00:03]Israeli settlements are a flagrant violation of international law. To prescribe Palestine action, we still think that was the right thing to do. On the note of sticking to a lawful basis for military action, how does that logic apply to arms sales? Because you have suspended some arms licenses, but the F-35 program remains very much active.

[00:00:26]So, you are still selling weapons to Israel. So, what was the criteria used internally? So, we've been very clear.

[00:00:33]When my party took office after a general election in 2024, we said that we would review the arms exports that the United Kingdom had with Israel. That assessment concluded that there that there could be a risk that some of the exports could be used in Gaza. So, we were very clear that we would suspend all those arms exports, and we have done that. The United Kingdom's participation in the F-35 program is a global program.

[00:00:59]So, we can't restrict the parts that we make for the F-35.

[00:01:04]Where there's a direct sale between the United Kingdom and Israel, we've suspended those. I think that was the right decision to take because what we've seen in Gaza was unacceptable. Far too many women and children in particular being killed. That's why the United Kingdom has made the stance that we would suspend arm arms exports, but we've done more besides. We've recognized the state of Palestine, a really important step that says the Palestinian people deserve their own state, their own ability to decide their future. We've also restored financial support for UNRWA, a really important part of making sure that the Palestinian people get the support they need, and we've put pressure on Israel to say not just do we need a ceasefire, but now we have a ceasefire, it needs to be one that allows aid in at huge scale, and a movement towards a two-state solution. So, the people of Palestine can finally get a country that can be viable and secure, that sits alongside Israel, who can also be viable and secure because ultimately that's we that's what we believe is the only lasting solution to the conflicts that we have seen for far too long. But when there are still people really struggling in the region to be able to access the food, the water, the medicines that they need, that's why the United Kingdom is continuing to make the case that we need more support going into Gaza, and also slightly different, but still aligned, the support for our friends in the West Bank as well. Why not impose harsher restrictions than like Spain or Belgium? So, we have already sanctioned a number of Israeli ministers, especially those that have been encouraging really quite significant violence or attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in particular there, but it is something we keep under review. What we have to do here is use the levers available to us to have the maximum impact.