THE "absurdity" of the UK's position on Israel after it imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers has been called out by an SNP MP.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Brendan O'Hara MP pointed out that ministers have accepted Israel is in "flagrant breach of international law" but is still supplying them with components for F35 fighter jets.
It comes after the UK Government imposed sanctions against extremist Israeli politicians Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, alongside four other countries.
Ben-Gvir, Israel’s security minister, and Smotrich, finance minister, will have their assets frozen and travel bans imposed by the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway.
Following the announcement, Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer gave a statement in the House of Commons where he said: “The gravity of this situation demands further action. The reality is that these human rights abuses, incitement to violence, extremist rhetoric comes … from individuals who are ministers in this Israeli government.”
O’Hara, MP for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, told MPs that the UK Government needed to go “much, much further”.
He continued: “Today's announcement highlights the absurdity of the Government's position, because the Foreign Secretary recently described those views as being ‘repellent and monstrous’, and today's statement accepts that Israel is guilty of human rights abuses and is in flagrant breach of international law.
“So on what basis, legal or moral, can the Government continue to supply F 35 components, knowing that the end user will be a regime that they themselves have condemned for espousing ‘repellent and monstrous’ views, and who they now accept are guilty of human rights violations and are in flagrant breach of international law.”
Falconer responded that he would “for the purposes of time” wouldn’t address the legal question as it was being considered by a judicial review.
“We are confident that the limited carve out that we have done in order to maintain the functioning of the F 35 program, vital to our national security and that of so many of our allies, is both legal and proportionate and moral, and we will continue to fight that case in the court,” he said.
It comes after human rights groups called on the UK Government to suspend all arms sales to Israel following the sanctions announcement.
Earlier, Falconer told MPs that imposing sanctions did not “diminish our support for the security of Israel and the Israeli people”.
“The agendas of these two men are not even supported by a majority of Israelis.”
Ben-Gvir, Israel’s security minister, and Smotrich, finance minister, are two hard-line ministers who are key allies of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his current government.
Smotrich approved the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and campaigned against allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Ben-Gvir resigned from Netanyahu’s cabinet during the ceasefire in January, rejoining in March when fighting resumed. He said allowing aid deliveries into Gaza was a “serious and grave mistake” and has advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
Falconer told MPs that settler expansion had increased hugely in recent years and last year had seen the worst settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank on record. He added this year is on track to be just as violent and that “this an attempt to entrench a one-state reality”.
“The gravity of this situation demands further action,” he said.
“The reality is that these human rights abuses, incitement to violence, extremist rhetoric comes … from individuals who are ministers in this Israeli government.”
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said the situation in the Middle East is “serious and completely intolerable”. She said that the previous Conservative government also considered sanctioning these Israeli ministers, but did not.
“We all want to see a better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people, and the UK must continue to play a leading role in achieving this,” she said.
“To do this, the UK needs to have a constructive set of channels of communication open with all our partners in the region and working towards peace and ending this conflict, including dialogue with Israel.”
