WORLD: David Miliband restricts arms exports to Israel

Miliband ordered review of export licences in wake of conflict
12 April 2012

Britain has suspended a number of arms export licences to Israel following concerns about the use of UK-supplied equipment in the offensive against Gaza.

The move, which officials insisted did not amount to a partial embargo, came after a review of all export licences to the country ordered by Foreign Secretary David Miliband in the wake of the conflict.

"We reassessed these licences against the UK and EU consolidated criteria," a Foreign Office spokesman said.

"We judged that in a small number of cases Israeli action in Cast Lead (the code name for the operation) would result in the export of those goods now contravening the consolidated criteria.

"These licences have been revoked. This is standard practice: a number of licences to both Russia and Georgia were revoked following the Georgia conflict."

He said: "There is no partial UK arms embargo on Israel. UK policy remains to assess all export licences to Israel against the EU and national arms export licensing criteria."

Israeli officials said five licences had been revoked, all applying to parts for Saar-class missile boats, which were used to fire missiles and artillery shells at coastal targets and to provide cover for the ground offensive which was widely condemned as disproportionate.

Amnesty International, which has accused both Israel and Gaza's ruling Hamas party of committing war crimes during the conflict which began in December, called for an outright embargo on all arms exports to both sides.

UK Campaigns Director Tim Hancock said: "Given the weight of evidence that Israel committed war crimes in their offensive against Gaza, it is quite right that the UK should revoke any licences of weapons or components that may be used in this way. However, this doesn't go far enough.

"Amnesty has uncovered evidence of war crimes committed by both sides in the conflict. We are calling on all countries to suspend all transfers of military equipment, assistance and munitions, to Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups until there is no longer a substantial risk that it will be used for serious violations of human rights.

"We will also be monitoring closely to ensure that the UK does not renege on its promises. In the past we have seen a tightening of restrictions against Israel in the wake of a major offensive, only for them to be loosened again once the issue falls out of the public eye."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in