Netanyahu calls UK decision to halt arms export licenses to Israel 'shameful'

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Tuesday the decision by the British government the day before to suspend 30 arms licenses to Israel, arguing that London’s move will empower Hamas. 

"This shameful decision will not change Israel's determination to defeat Hamas," said Netanyahu on the X platform, noting that Hamas killed 14 British citizens Oct. 7 and that five UK citizens are among the hostages held by the group in the Gaza Strip. 

"Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas," the Israeli premier wrote. "Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilization, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror. With or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future."

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy explained Monday that the suspension of 30 arms export licenses was decided after an overall review of all 345 arms export licenses to Israel granted or extended since Oct. 7. It was the previous UK government that ordered the review over concerns that British weapons would be used to violate international law in the war in Gaza. Lammy stressed that the decision does not mean a full arms embargo against the Jewish state.

The suspended items include components that go into military aircraft — including fighter jets, helicopters and drones, as well as items that facilitate ground targeting — that would be used in the Gaza Strip.

British components for the multinational F-35 joint strike fighter program were excluded from the suspensions, except when going directly to Israel. The ministry said that a decision on the F-35 fleet would have "serious implications for international peace and security."

Shortly after Lammy's announcement, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said, "Israel is disappointed by the British government’s recent series of decisions, including the latest decision regarding security exports to Israel, the British Government’s decision to withdraw its request to submit an amicus brief to the ICC, and its stance on UNRWA, as well as the UK’s recent conduct and statements in the UN Security Council."

On Tuesday, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Lammy of abandoning Israel. "Hamas is still holding many innocent Jewish hostages while Israel tries to prevent a repeat of the 7th October massacre. Why are Lammy and Starmer abandoning Israel? Do they want Hamas to win?" Johnson wrote on X. 

Britain's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis also criticized the British government's decision. In a statement on X on Monday night, Mirvis said that it “beggars belief” that such a decision was 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 chief rabbi argued that the decision would do nothing to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza.

Yet despite all the outcry, British arms make up a small fraction of Israeli military imports. In 2022, former British Business Minister Greg Hands said that the United Kingdom accounted for only around 0.02% of Israel's arms imports. However, between May 2015 and August 2022, the UK government licensed over 448 million euros ($589 million) worth of arms to Israel, including for aircraft, missiles and other lethal military technology.