Britain insists move is not an embargoThe British government has revoked several Israeli arms export licenses after heavy pressure from British MP’s and human rights groups following Israel’s war on Gaza earlier this year.
The bans cover replacement parts and other equipment for the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 4.5 gunships, which participated in the war in which approximately 1,400 Palestinians were killed. The British embassy in Tel Aviv explained that this move comes after the licenses were reviewed against UK and EU criteria governing the sale of military equipment to other states. In a statement it said, “We judged that in a small number of cases Israeli action in Operation Cast Lead would result in the export of those goods now contravening the …criteria. These licenses have been revoked.”
The British government announced a total review of its military exports to Israel in the aftermath of the Gaza war. 182 export licenses were reviewed, including 35 for the Israeli navy. In the end, only five licenses were revoked, but the move sparked claims that Britain was placing a partial embargo on Israeli arms.
The British government insists that no such embargo exists, but Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that "We've had many embargoes in the past... We can manage. This shouldn't bother us." Indeed, the revoked licenses are not expected to affect the operational capabilities of the Israeli navy in any way.
Amnesty International, which recently accused both Israel and, to a lesser extent Hamas, of war crimes during the war, says that the move is a step in the right direction but is does not go far enough. The group warned that it will be observing to make sure these bans stay in place. "We will…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."
Even if the British government revoked all its export licenses for military hardware to Israel, it would have made little difference to the overall capabilities of the Israeli armed forces. UK military exports to Israel are worth approximately $48 million per year, or less than 1% of Israel’s military spending. Yet Britain has publicly tied these bans to the war on Gaza and this may encourage other countries to follow suit. Such public, direct criticism of specific Israeli policy is rare, particularly from a close ally, but with 95% of Israel’s military aid coming from the United States, Lieberman may well be right. This shouldn’t bother the Israeli army much.
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