The Labour government could impose many more measures, if it wanted, to truly hold Israel accountable, write Phil Miller and John McEvoy.
By Phil Miller and John McEvoy
Declassified UK
Andy Burnham’s decision to impose trade sanctions with Israel’s illegal settlements stands in sharp contrast to this week last year when Keir Starmer welcomed Israel’s president to Downing Street.
Speaking in Parliament Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband also announced a ban on arms exports that would “materially contribute” to the occupation of Palestine and the advertising of illegal settlement properties in Britain.
Burnham may hope he has now done enough to see off the threat to his left flank from Green party leader Zack Polanski, especially with a tight inner London by-election coming up.
The measures have received a furious reaction from Tel Aviv, with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announcing the closure of the U.K. consulate in Jerusalem.
Washington’s ambassador in Jerusalem Mike Huckabee, meanwhile, suggested British firms could now be “banned” from doing business in a number of U.S. states.
But do Burnham’s new sanctions go far enough?
Bloomberg has already reported that British diplomats briefed U.S. counterparts that the move is “largely symbolic” and will have “no material impact on the UK’s wider relationship with Israel on trade or security.”
In practice, there are many more measures Labour could take to hold Israel accountable if it wanted, as Declassified highlighted when other allies like Saudi Arabia were engaged in serious war crimes.
A Full Arms Embargo?
In September 2024, Keir Starmer’s government suspended around 30 licences for arms which could be used by Israel for offensive operations in Gaza.
Miliband told Parliament this week that those sanctions would remain in force, with further arms export restrictions on items that “materially contribute” to the occupation of Palestine.
However, the F-35 “carve-out” that allows U.K. firms to continue supplying fighter jet parts to a global pool used by Israel will stay firmly in place.
The government claimed at the time that this was in the interest of “international peace and security,” though the U.S. and Israel would go on to use F-35s to launch an illegal war of aggression on Iran which has provoked a global economic crisis.
F-35 fighter jets were also used during U.S. President Donald Trump’s illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026.
Miliband said Tuesday that stopping the supply of parts to the global pool would see “the downing of the whole programme which is crucial to our NATO and other allies.”
Legal experts, however, have said the “carve-out” falls foul of Britain’s obligations under the Genocide Convention.
War Crimes
It appears that U.K.-supplied trainer aircraft components — which were also excluded from Starmer’s arms restrictions on Israel — will continue to flow to Israel.
This would mean U.K. firms can still export parts for Israel’s M-346 aircraft, which are used to train pilots to fly fighter jets such as the F-35, F-16, and F-15.
The Foreign Office has acknowledged in internal briefings obtained by Declassified that the M-346 is “used to train IAF [Israeli Air Force] fast-jet pilots” and “facilitates the development of an offensive capability.”
These limitations on the government’s arms suspensions on Israel have amplified calls for a two-way arms embargo, yet Burnham has shown no signs of implementing one.
Like his predecessor David Lammy, Miliband was also cautious about acknowledging Israel’s commission of war crimes in Gaza.
Instead, Miliband would only go so far to say “there is increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed” in the besieged strip.
A key protest group which has sought to disrupt the arms trade between the U.K. and Israel, Palestine Action, was proscribed by the Labour government in June 2025.
Burnham has signalled no intention of reversing that decision, despite thousands of people being arrested for allegedly showing support for the group and U.N. experts accusing the government of state overreach.
Miliband also took aim at the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement, saying he “wholeheartedly” opposes it and wants to maintain “valued trade with green line Israel.”
Scrap the Military Deal With Israel?
Britain’s Conservative government signed a military cooperation agreement with Israel in 2020, which was still in place under Keir Starmer. The full details of the agreement have never been made public.
However, there could be pressure on the Ministry of Defence to review it, especially as Burnham’s defence secretary, Wes Streeting, previously told the then U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson that “Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes.”
Streeting told Mandelson: “Their government talks the languages of ethnic cleansing” and was exhibiting “rogue state behaviour” in the West Bank. “Let them pay the price as pariahs with sanctions applied to the state, not just a few ministers,” he said.
Will he act on these words now he’s responsible for a military agreement with that country? He did not respond when Declassified asked him in July.
Miliband said during his Commons statement that the U.K. government would support the international courts to investigate Israel.
But he also suggested that Britain’s intelligence relationship with Israel will not be impacted by the new sanctions, saying: “I am confident about our intelligence and security partnerships.”
Ban Britons From Fighting in the IDF?
Declassified revealed earlier this year that over 2,000 Britons — including dual nationals — had served for the IDF amid the Gaza genocide.
Among them was Levi Simon, who was seen “rummaging through the underwear drawers of Palestinian women forced to flee their homes” in Gaza.
The U.K. government’s failure to collect information on those leaving to fight in an army accused of genocide or investigate them upon return raises serious concerns.
Over 26,000 people signed a recent letter calling on the government to track the movements of Britons who served in the IDF and conduct independent war crimes investigations.
The letter was also signed by over 70 prominent figures including Polanski, genocide scholar Martin Shaw, and anti-apartheid politician Andrew Feinstein.
Despite this, the Burnham government has failed to issue a meaningful response to these demands or take any further action.
This raises further concerns about the U.K. government’s compliance with the ICJ ruling on Israel’s occupation in 2024 as well as its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
If the U.K. government makes no effort to stop its citizens travelling to maintain the occupation or genocide, this could be seen as tacit support for Israel’s military operations.
Transparency Over Cyprus Flights?
The Sunak and Starmer governments sent hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza during the genocide from Britain’s airbase on Cyprus, saying they were looking for hostages held by Hamas.
But no evidence has been provided that they assisted with this purpose. Instead, they may have captured evidence of Israeli war crimes or even provided intelligence for them.
Parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests for the footage were repeatedly rebuffed by Conservative and Labour ministers.
Even the family of James Henderson, a British veteran and aid worker who was killed in Gaza by Israel, has been unable to access RAF surveillance footage from that day.
In response to a question from Conservative MP Kit Malthouse asking if there would be an independent inquiry, Miliband called the killing of the aid workers “cold blooded.”
Will Burnham’s government now take a more transparent approach to these issues? Will footage be disclosed to the Henderson family, media and the International Criminal Court?
Will MPs be given more thorough answers to questions about why so many RAF cargo flights have flown from Cyprus to Tel Aviv?
Stop British Troops Relying on Israeli Arms Firms?
Israeli officials have said they will retaliate against British sanctions, which could leave Burnham vulnerable given how many contracts the U.K. military has signed with Israeli arms firms.
These include Rafael, an Israeli state-owned firm which supplies the “brains” for Britain’s Sky Sabre air defence system, which is deployed at sensitive sites such as the Falklands.
Is it concerning then that Israeli ministers and their children have begun to endorse Argentina’s claim to those islands?
When Rafael won the Sky Sabre contract in 2017, a defence executive said:
“Everybody was extremely surprised the MoD opted for Rafael. Politically, industry thought that was a route the UK government wouldn’t go down…It makes you wonder just what parts of the local defense industry the government is willing to defend.”
Rafael also owns Pearson Engineering, a vast arms factory on the banks of the River Tyne in Newcastle, which produces equipment for the British army.
It would clearly take time and money to disentangle the U.K. military from any reliance on technology made by a country whose prime minister has called Britain an “Islamic republic.”
As with trying to reverse the impact of privatising natural monopolies, Burnham would have to undo decades of decisions made by previous governments.
However, if Burnham does not go far enough to confront these issues, then Polanski may well capitalise on his hesitancy.
Phil Miller is the editor of Declassified UK. He is the author of Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away With War Crimes.
John McEvoy is chief reporter for Declassified UK. John is an historian and filmmaker whose work focuses on British foreign policy and Latin America. His PhD was on Britain’s Secret Wars in Colombia between 1948 and 2009, and he is currently working on a documentary about Britain’s role in the rise of Augusto Pinochet.
This article is from Declassified UK.
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