Just as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israel defence minister Yoav Gallant, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has launched a new map documenting the arms dealers exporting military equipment to Israel from the UK. It once again raises questions over the UK government’s role in Israel’s genocide – and implicates Keir Starmer and his government, too.
Arms dealers in the UK: mapped
The map, based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and CAAT’s arms companies browser, gives campaigners all the information they need to find and take action against the arms dealers on their doorsteps:
The map expands on CAAT’s previous map that focused on the manufacturers of F35-combat aircraft components. Included in the map are companies that have previously slipped under the radar. One such company is Gooch and Housego who, with the acquisition of Phoenix Optical Technologies, are the largest recipient of arms export licenses to Israel.
While the Labour Party government temporarily suspended a small proportion of arms exports to Israel in September, it made an exemption for the F-35 programme despite evidence that Israel is using F-35s to commit war crimes.
The UK makes 15% of every F-35 with contracts just for the F-35 programme worth at least £360m since 2016. This makes the F-35 almost certainly the single largest and most important part of the UK arms trade with Israel. CAAT has produced a detailed briefing on the F-35 exemption and other loopholes and problems with the partial suspension.
The ICC should be looking at the UK government’s complicity with Israel’s genocide
The launch of the map coincides with new revelations about the UK’s role in arming Israel. These include:
- An admission in the GLAN/Al-Haq court case against the UK government that the foreign secretary assessed that Israel is not committed to complying with international humanitarian law
- The case also confirmed that Keir Starmer’s government accepts it is possible that Israel is using F-35s to commit war crimes, and that the exemption was made because including them would disrupt the F-35 supply chain which would “have a profound impact on international peace and security” and “would undermine US confidence in the UK and NATO at a critical juncture in our collective history and set back relations”.
- FOI data showing that there was a large increase in the number of spare parts Israel imported for F-35s in 2023. The licence was used almost three times more than any other year on record. Between 2016-2023, the F-35 Open General Export License (OGEL) was used 34 times. In 2023, it was used 14 times. Previously, the highest figure in a year was 5.
- FOI data that shows the value of UK arms exports to Israel is much higher than government figures suggest as they do not include incorporation licences to the US. Under these licences, equipment is exported to a country for assembly, and then re-exported to a third country. Between 2022-2023, £165m of incorporation licences were issued for export to the US where Israel was listed as one of several end users. £52m of these licences listed Israel as the only end user.
Starmer and arms dealers should be in the ICC dock
CAAT’s media coordinator Emily Apple said:
Both the government and the arms industry are deeply complicit in Israel’s genocide. Arms dealers are making vast amounts of money from Israel’s horrific war crimes, with successive governments bending over backwards, and using every loophole available to prioritise shareholder profits over Palestinian lives.
GLAN and Al-Haq’s court case is essential in holding successive governments to account for their complicity in the atrocities Israel is committing in Gaza. But it isn’t enough. Despite supposedly being fast-tracked, the court case has already run for a year, and it is still unknown when the full case will be heard.
In the meantime, the situation for Palestinians is beyond horrific, Israel continues to kill civilians with impunity, and still refuses to allow vital humanitarian aid into Gaza. This genocide is happening now.
Our government is not acting, and Palestinian people cannot wait for the conclusion of the court case. This is why we have released our updated interactive map to enable campaigners to take action against the genocide profiteers on their doorsteps.
Featured image via the Canary
