On Tuesday Washington officials said they would not oppose the decision taken by the UK but that it would not impact its own review into whether Israel had breached humanitarian law.
Matt Miller, a spokesman for the US Department of State, said: “The US is not going to make an assessment under the UK standard. We will make our determination based on US law.”
He said: “This is a decision the United Kingdom made based on its assessment. They notified us of the decision and that was basically the extent of the conversation. I take the foreign minister [David Lammy], someone with whom the secretary [Antony Blinken] has a long relationship, at his word when he said this was a legal decision.
“They had a legal framework that they needed to apply, they applied that legal framework and it led to this decision. It’s of course appropriate for them to make their own legal judgments based on their system and their laws.”
The UK government suspended 30 of Britain’s 350 arms export licences after ruling that certain weapons could be used in a way that breaches international humanitarian law.
The decision by the UK separates it from the US and has resulted in strong criticism from within Israel and the Jewish community in the UK.
Binyamin Netanyahu said the decision taken by Labour was “shameful” and warned it would “only embolden Hamas”.
According to The Times some UK ministers were not happy about the decision.
One described it as an attempt to “please all sides” that had ended up “pissing everyone off”.
Despite the decision, the UK government has insisted its support for Israel is “unshakeable.”
John Healey, the defence secretary, has argued the decision to suspend some licences was a legal one and the government had a “duty to follow the law.”
He said: “Sometimes your closest friends are the ones that need to tell the hardest truths.”
Meanwhile John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said there has been “no determination by the United States Israel has violated international humanitarian law … we’re going to continue to do what we have to do to support Israel’s defensive capabilities”.
It is understood the UK let American officials know in advance of its decision.
Kirby told The Times: “We’ll let other nations decide for themselves if they’re going to support Israel and to what degree. That’s what sovereignty is all about.”
The decision elicited a strong reaction from Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi.
He criticised the timing of the announcement and said the decision “beggars belief” and would “encourage our shared enemies”.
In a statement he said: “As Israel faces down the threat of Iran and its proxies; this announcement feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law, when in fact it is going to extraordinary lengths to uphold it.”
