MPs call for review of arms sales to Israel
A CROSS-PARTY group of MPs this week called for a review of the way arm sales are sanctioned after the government admitted British equipment was likely to have been used in Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip 14 months ago.
In a report published on Tuesday, the 50-strong Arms Export Controls
committee, which includes Labour politicians Mike Gapes and Fabian
Hamilton, states: "We recommend that the government sets out clearly the
long-term lessons learned post-Operation Cast Lead and how it will impact
on the issuing of future licences for arms exports to Israel."
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used in Operation Cast Lead. This is in direct contravention to the
government's policy that UK arms to Israel should not be used in the
occupied territories."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband previously told the Commons that weapons
used in Gaza "almost certainly" included British-supplied equipment for
combat aircraft which had been purchased by Israel.
The government rescinded five export licenses to the country last July for
equipment already approved for Israeli gunships, as they discovered these
ships had participated in Operation Cast Lead.
The British government stated that they violated security agreements between Britain and Israel which detailed how the arms components could be used. Miliband has said the government will continue to scrutinise all existing licenses.
The Foreign Office officially responded to the cross-party report on
Wednesday night, saying: "We will consider its detailed conclusions and
recommendations carefully and submit our response to Parliament in due
course."
However, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We do not believe that the
current situation in the Middle East will be improved by imposing an arms
embargo on Israel. Israel has the right to defend itself and faces real
security threats."
The Foreign Office also said it shared the concerns of the committee,
reflected in the fact that it had already retracted five export licenses to
Israel. It added: "We revoked licenses in a small number of cases when we
judged that Israeli action in the conflict would result in the export of
those goods now contravening the consolidated criteria. This is standard
practice when conflict breaks out. A number of licences to Russia and
Georgia were revoked following the Georgia conflict."
Arms Export Controls committee member Richard Burden urged the government to conduct a full review. He said: "We cannot continue with this circulatory approach to arms exports. When British arms are supplied to any country, it is on the clear understanding that they will not be used for internal oppression or external aggression. This needs to be adhered to."
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