Stamford Hill Rabbi Herschel Gluck has launched an outspoken attack on the arms trade, ahead of an international fair in London next week which has long been the focus of anti-Israel campaigners.
Rabbi Gluck joined Christian faith leaders including former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams in calling the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) event a “blot on the moral landscape”.
One of the world’s largest arms fairs, the DSEI, which takes place at ExCel London, has long featured exhibits from Israeli firms alongside military delegations from countries with poor human rights records including Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates.
In a statement ahead of the Government-supported event, which takes place every two years, the Orthodox Rabbi said: “As a Jew, I find war, those that cause war, and the weapons of war, despicable and horrific.
“Our Talmudic sages teach us that peace is the key and source of all blessings from God.”
He added: “As a people who pray for the coming of Moshiach (Jewish Messiah), we see the eradication of conflict as an essential part of the ultimate good that humanity should strive for.
“We are enjoined not just ‘to give peace a chance’ but to ‘desire peace and pursue it.’ May we all work towards this and realise our goal.”
Lord Williams said: “The way much of the arms trade works continues to be a blot on the global moral landscape. Governments have been negligent or collusive about the role played by arms exports in sustaining brutal and even genocidal conflicts.”
MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister for Defence Procurement, said the DSEI showcased the “best of British defence technology and innovation on the world stage.”
Exhibitors at this year’s event include SIBAT, the International Defence Cooperation Directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defence and Israeli Aerospace Industries.
Organisations planning protests include the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Campaign Against Arms Trade and War on Want.
