LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- More than 600 British jurists, including three retired judges from the U.K. Supreme Court, are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel, piling pressure on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three U.K. aid workers in an Israeli strike.
Britain is just one of a number of Israel's longstanding allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the six-month-old war in Gaza.
In an open letter to Sunak published late Wednesday, the lawyers and judges said the U.K. could be complicit in 鈥済rave breaches of international law鈥� if it continues to ship weapons.
Signatories, including former U.K. Supreme Court President Brenda Hale, said Britain is legally obliged to heed the International Court of Justice鈥檚 conclusion, which the jurists characterized as finding a 鈥減lausible risk of genocide鈥� in Gaza.
The letter said the 鈥渟ale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel 鈥� falls significantly short of your government鈥檚 obligations under international law.鈥�
Britain is a staunch ally of Israel, but relations have been tested by the mounting death toll, largely civilian, from the war. Calls for an end to arms exports have escalated since an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the aid charity World Central Kitchen, three of them British.
Israel says the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by 鈥渕isidentification.鈥�
The U.K.鈥檚 main opposition parties have all said the Conservative government should halt weapons sales to Israel if the country has broken international law in Gaza.
Several senior Conservatives have urged the same, including Alicia Kearns, who heads the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.
Sunak has not committed to an arms export ban, but said Wednesday that 鈥渨hile of course we defend Israel鈥檚 right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law.鈥�
British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said that military exports to Israel amounted to 42 million pounds (US$53 million) in 2022.
Other allies of Israel are also facing calls to cut off the supply of weapons and to push for a cease-fire in the conflict, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday that his country had stopped selling weapons to Israel, and urged other nations to do the same. Sanchez said Wednesday that his government has left 鈥渢he door open鈥� to diplomatic actions against Israel over its 鈥渋nsufficient鈥� explanation of the aid workers鈥� deaths.
In February, Canada announced it would stop future shipments, and the same month a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to stop the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. The Dutch government said it would appeal.
Other countries, including Israel鈥檚 two biggest arms suppliers, the United States and Germany, continue to allow weapons sales.
Germany is one of Israel鈥檚 closest allies in Europe and, given memories of the Holocaust, treads carefully when criticizing Israel. But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has increasingly voiced unease, asking Netanyahu at a meeting last month how any goal can 鈥渏ustify such terribly high costs.鈥�
Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security advisor, said suspension of U.K. arms sales would not change the course of the war, but 鈥渨ould be a powerful political message.鈥�
鈥淎nd it might just stimulate debate in the U.S. as well, which would be the real game-changer,鈥� he told the BBC.
Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed to this story.
This story was first published on April 4, 2024. It was updated on July 12, 2024, to make clear that the quote about a 鈥減lausible risk of genocide鈥� was in a letter from British jurists interpreting a ruling by the International Court of Justice. This exact phrase does not appear in the ICJ ruling on Gaza issued Jan. 26, 2024.
