F-35 briefing lays bare Labour’s complicity in Israeli war crimes despite partial arms suspension
A new briefing from Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) reveals that, despite imposing a partial arms suspension, the Labour government is still complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
On 2 September, the government suspended just 30 out of about 350 export licences to Israel. The briefing provides detailed analysis of UK arms export licences, what is included in the partial embargo, and more importantly, what has been omitted and what remains unknown, with a focus on the exports of components for the F-35 combat aircraft.
F-35 components, so long as they are not sent directly to Israel, are exempted from the suspension, despite evidence Israel is using F-35s to commit violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). On the very day the suspension was announced, Danish NGO Danwatch revealed that an F-35 was used in July to drop three 2000lb bombs in an attack on a so-called “safe zone” on Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, killing 90 people. The attack almost certainly violated IHL.
The UK makes 15% of every F-35. CAAT estimates the value of UK parts in the 39 planes delivered to Israel so far since 2016 is roughly £360 million. This is almost three times as much as the value of all the other aircraft-related licences to Israel over the same period. The F-35 is almost certainly the single largest and most important part of the UK arms trade with Israel. Since F-35 exports are made using an open licence that allows unlimited exports, these figures are often omitted in media reporting of UK arms sales to Israel which tend to focus on single licences as these are the only licences with a financial value attached.
This figure does not include spare parts. Freedom of Information requests by CAAT reveal that the number of uses of the Open General Export Licence (OGEL) for the F-35 to deliver parts directly to Israel nearly tripled in 2023. We do not know when in any year deliveries occurred, or how much was delivered each time, but this jump very likely indicates an increased demand by Israel for spare parts since 7 October. We also don’t know how often the OGEL was used to export spare parts to the US or to the global F-35 stockpile that were subsequently exported to Israel.
Despite the government accepting that F-35 components could be used by Israel in its genocide in Gaza, and suspending direct exports, it made an exception for components going into the global stockpile that could still be exported to Israel. MP Hamish Falconer stated this was “to ensure international peace and security it was necessary to take the specific measure of excluding exports to the F-35 program from the scope of the suspension, but this exclusion should not in principle apply to licences for F-35 components which could be identified as going to Israel.” CAAT argues in the briefing that the government is making up the rules as it goes, and that it is making this exception to appease both the US and the arms industry.
The briefing also highlights other problematic exports and exposes the lack of transparency in the UK arms licensing system.
Another key issue identified in the briefing is the failure to ban arms exports to the Israeli arms industry for use in systems intended for export to a third country. However, there are no guarantees that some of the exported components do not also go into equipment for use by the Israeli military. Moreover, by supporting Israel’s domestic arms industry, the UK government is facilitating Israel’s ability to commit war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon.
Emily Apple, CAAT’s Media Coordinator stated:
“This damning briefing reveals that the Labour government is still complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It lays bare the lack of transparency in UK arms exports, and shows that Labour is making up the rules as it goes along. Despite the partial suspension, it is still business as usual for arms dealers to profit from the genocide of Palestinian people, and the Labour government has shown clearly that it will continue to prioritise the profits of arms dealers over Palestinian and Lebanese lives. A full two way arms embargo is needed immediately. There can be no excuses, no exceptions and no loopholes.”
More info:
- The full briefing can be read here – CAAT – The UK government’s partial suspension of arms export licences to Israel, and the F-35 exemption
- Falconer’s response can be seen in full here Written questions and answers – Written questions, answers and statements – UK Parliament
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