High Court sees protests as Tories try to DERAIL legal case to stop UK arms sales to Israel – but FAIL
CanaryApr 19
Report: UK Continued Arms Sales to Israel Despite Legal Concerns
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The Facts
David Cameron, Britain's foreign minister, opted to continue UK arms sales to Israel despite lawyers from Britain's Foreign Office reportedly warning that Israel's attacks on Gaza "raise serious concerns" about possible breaches of international humanitarian law.
The revelation came from a legal document submitted by the UK government in response to a challenge from legal and human rights groups seeking to put a stop to Britain's sales of weapons to Israel for use in Gaza.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The UK has robust mechanisms to ensure that its arms exports, including to Israel, comply with international humanitarian law obligations. While some concerns will remain to be monitored, Israel has provided sufficient evidence to show its intent on complying with its obligations under international law. That's why David Cameron made the decision to continue existing deliveries, on the provision that further monitoring continues to happen.
Establishment-critical narrative
This is a deeply damaging story showing that the UK okayed further arms sales to Israel despite "serious concerns" from the UK Foreign Office that Israel was complying with international law. After the UK raised concerns with Israel, the Israeli response's failure to give more information about specific strikes led the Foreign Office to conclude that it didn't have enough information to make a judgement. It was then approved by David Cameron, who later misled lawmakers about the amount of legal advice available, despite these outstanding concerns.
