UK arms and Israeli aggression

New Campaign Postcard & Factsheet

A Stop Arming Israel postcard to send to MPs is available to order free from enquiries@caat.org.uk, along with a 2-page factsheet.

You can also download a pdf of the factsheet here.

For more on Stop Arming Israel, see www.stoparmingisrael.org

The UK has consistently sold arms to Israel. In 2005, the UK government licensed the export of arms worth £22.5 million to Israel, more than twice the amount in 2004. Export licences approved between 2003 and 2005 include: small arms ammunition; weapon day and night sights; weapon control systems; anti-aircraft guns; unmanned air vehicles; military aero-engines; armoured all-wheel drive vehicles; and components for tanks, combat aircraft, aircraft radars, naval light guns, anti-armour missiles, surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles and large calibre artillery ammunition.

UK arms sales to Israel

Israel has used F-16 fighter aircraft and Apache combat helicopters to bomb Lebanese and Palestinian towns and villages. These contain significant UK components including missile triggering systems for Apaches and Head-Up Displays for F-16s.

In July 2002, the government approved the export of components for F-16 fighters being made by the US company Lockheed Martin and sold to Israel. Then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw justified the sales saying: "The Government has judged that the UK's security and defence relationship with the US is fundamental to the UK's national security ... Defence collaboration with the US is also key to maintaining a strong defence industrial capacity." He went on "Any interruption to the supply of these components would have serious implications for the UK's defence relations with the United States." In other words, the commercial relationship between BAE Systems and US companies such as Lockheed Martin was judged more important than the lives of Palestinians.

The UK continues to sell arms to Israel despite the UN stating that Israel “violates humanitarian law” and even though the UK's own “Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria” are supposed to assess the impact on regional peace, security and stability and the human rights record of the recipient.

More information on UK companies known to have supplied military equipment to Israel

Israel's own arms industry

A Caterpillar military bulldozer destroys Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories. Picture taken by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Israel's military sector is made up of over 200 public and private companies, dominated by three state-owned ones: Israel Aircraft Industries (Israel's biggest employer outside government), Israel Military Industries and Rafael. Private company Elbit Systems is also significant.

The UK spends millions of pounds each year on 'battle-tested' arms from Israeli companies, including 2,000 cluster shells that were used in the battle for Basra in 2003. Major Israeli arms companies Elbit Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries were exhibiting their wares at the UK’s Farnborough arms fair in July 2006, even while Lebanon was being bombed.

Stop Arms Sales to and from Israel

Because Israel is now such a major exporter as well as importer of arms, CAAT is calling for an embargo on the sale of all UK equipment to and purchases from Israel as well as the breaking off of all military contacts. This would send a strong message to the Israeli government that its actions are totally unacceptable.

Construction company Caterpillar sells its D9 military bulldozer to Israel, which then uses it for Palestinian house demolition, and infrastructure and olive grove destruction. Palestinians are often killed in these operations. CAAT therefore also supports the consumer boycott of Caterpillar until it stops selling bulldozers to Israel.

Stop Arming Israel

Stop Arming Israel was set up in 2006 by CAAT, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and War on Want to campaign for an embargo on sales of military equipment to and from Israel.

Further Reading

Arming the Occupation CAAT Report, October 2002 2005 Update: Arms Exports and Collaborations: the UK and Israel (pdf)

US arms sales to Israel, Foreign Policy in Focus briefing, 2006. See FPIF website

Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction, CND/PSC briefing, 2005. See CND website

Caterpillar: the Alternative Report, 2005. See the War on Want website

last updated: 10th January 2007