Four former senior British Army officers have called on the government to impose a full arms embargo on Israel and a ban on involvement with any Israeli-owned or Israeli-supported defence companies.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, they said that despite the fragile “ceasefire” in place in Gaza “now is not the time to return to business as usual with the Israeli government”.
Sanctions placed on the Israeli government needed to go further, they said.
They strongly rebutted an assertion that the Israel Defence Forces followed similar procedures to the British military and said there should be no IDF officers on UK military courses or visits by British defence officials to Israel.
Next year the British Army will decide whether to award Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of the Israeli defence company Elbit Systems, a £2 billion army training contract to prepare soldiers for a future war.
Elbit Systems UK is part of a consortium of defence firms bidding for the 15-year contract. The other consortium is led by Raytheon UK.
Raytheon had to pay a massive settlement in 2024 for bribing Qatari officials. Activists and universities have targeted Raytheon for its role in human rights atrocities, particularly concerning its weapons sales to Israel and mass murder of Palestinian civilians, half of whom are children.
More than a hundred humanitarian organisations have expressed grave concerns regarding famine created by Israeli actions in Gaza, they said, and the IDF had frequently targeted hospitals, schools and other sites essential for civilian survival.
They also said there were widespread reports of detainees being tortured while in IDF custody.
Israel has continually violated a supposed “ceasefire” that has been in place since October. In an attack on Friday six Palestinians were killed, including a baby, in a school that sheltered displaced people in Gaza City, according to hospital officials.
More than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire came into effect, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The former officers said the evidence of war crimes was “so well documented and compelling that the British government should cut all military collaboration with Israel forthwith, to avoid the charge of complicity”.
They said RAF aircraft or British contracted aircraft should not be used for any purpose connected with support to the IDF and there should be a suspension of all military technology transfer.
In September it was announced that Israelis were banned from enrolling at the Royal College of Defence Studies, a military academy, starting next year, amid criticism that Israeli troops were being trained in Britain throughout the war in Gaza.*
RAF aircraft and other planes, paid for by the British taxpayer, were flying over Gaza to supposedly help find the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. The RAF were flying over the area where three former British veterans, were murdered by Israel while delivering aid to Palestinians. Despite requests from their families, the British government has refused to provide the footage from the flights to the victims families.
