Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Sir Keir Starmer’s government’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel and described the British government’s approach to Israel as one of “mixed messages.”
In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Mail, Israel’s Prime Minister said: “They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britain’s position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC [International Criminal Court] prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organisation that carried out the October 7 massacre.”
He went on: “These misguided decisions will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas [which] savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people including five British hostages.”
The government’s decision earlier this month to suspend 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel was widely criticised by figures in the British Jewish community, including the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who said the decision “beggars belief”.
Communal concern was also echoed earlier this month at Prime Minister’s Questions by Opposition Leader Rishi Sunak, who attacked the “emotional consequences” of the decision to announce the suspension on the very day several Israeli hostages killed by Hamas were being buried.
At the time, Starmer said the government “absolutely recognise and support Israel’s right to self-defence” but that on arms exports insisted that “this isn’t an Israel issue” but a legal one, adding, “this is the framework for all licences that have to be kept under review.”
However, Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch then accused the PM of hiding behind the law to make political decisions, saying in a lengthy post on X/Twitter: “It is not true that the removal of Israel arms licences was a legal decision. Keir Starmer should not hide behind this fig leaf. It was *very* much a political decision… I know this, because as trade secretary, responsible for arms licences, I saw the legal advice.”
