- David Lammy suspended around 30 out of a total of 350 licences after a review
Boris Johnson joined Benjamin Netanyahu and Jewish groups in condemning David Lammy’s ‘shameful’ decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel.
A major diplomatic row unfolded over the Foreign Secretary’s move – with the Israeli prime minister claiming Britain’s ‘misguided’ decision would only ‘embolden Hamas’.
But Mr Netanyahu vowed it would ‘not change’ his country’s ‘determination’ to defeat them.
Mr Johnson questioned whether Labour were ‘abandoning Israel’.
The former prime minister tweeted: ‘Hamas is still holding many innocent Jewish hostages while Israel tries to prevent a repeat of the October massacre.
Mr Lammy (Pictured outside No 10 Downing Street on September 3) announced that he had suspended around 30 out of a total of 350 licences after a review found they could violate international law
Boris Johnson (Pictured at Nadhim Zahawi’s book launch) has since condemned the Foreign Secretary, whose decision saw the suspension of some arms exports to Israel
‘Why are Lammy and Starmer abandoning Israel? Do they want Hamas to win?’
Mr Lammy announced on Monday that he had suspended around 30 out of a total of 350 licences after a review found there was a risk they could be used in violation of international humanitarian law.
But Mr Netanyahu replied: ‘Days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, the UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel.
‘This shameful decision will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens. Hamas is still holding over 100 hostages, including five British citizens.
‘Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas.’
The decision has severely strained the UK’s relationship with Israel.
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, claimed the decision issued a ‘terrible message’ in Israel’s ‘hour of need’.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) he bashed Lammy’s recent move branding it ‘shameful’ and accused Labour of ‘abandoning Israel’
Mr Netanyahu vowed the recent decision would ‘not change’ his country’s ‘determination’ to defeat Hamas
Pro Israel supporters demonstrating outside the entrance of Britain’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in London on September 3
He added: ‘On the day those beautiful people were being buried, kidnapped from a music festival like Reading or Glastonbury, the UK decides to send a signal that it’s Israel it wants to penalise. It is the wrong decision taken very much at the wrong time.’
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz stated the move ‘sends a very problematic message to the Hamas terrorist organisation and its backers in Iran’.
But Defence Secretary John Healey said the decision would not weaken Israel’s security.
He claimed it would have no ‘material impact’ but said his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant had found his call to inform him of the plans ‘unwelcome’.
Mr Healey added: ‘That’s not surprising, but sometimes your closest friends are the ones that need to tell the hardest truths.’
Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell suggested the Labour Government was trying to ‘satisfy its backbenchers’ without causing a breach with Israel.
Hamas gunmen went across the Israeli border and killed 1,200 on October 7, among the victims were children, the elderly as well as 364 attendees at Nova music festival (pictured: items left scattered around the Supernova Music Festival site)
A defence trade source called Mr Lammy’s decision ‘effectively a partial arms embargo which is the same as we have with China’.
The source also said the move is seen by industry insiders as ‘a nod and a wink that they believe the Israeli air force is involved in international human rights breaches’. Factors key to the Government’s decision include ‘insufficient’ humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and reports of the mistreatment of detainees, a summary of the process undertaken by ministers revealed.
The US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said: ‘It’s not that we disagree with the UK position, it’s that the UK makes an assessment based on their legal framework.
‘We make an assessment based on our own legal frameworks.’
