RUTHFULLY YOURS

On September 2, the day that Hersh Goldberg-Polin — one of the six hostages recently murdered by Hamas — was buried, the UK government announced that it is imposing an “immediate” weapons embargo against Israel. The statement followed almost a year of relentless attacks on Israel, not only by Iran’s proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis — but by Iran itself, and probably several tons of unverified propaganda by Hamas that Israel is supposedly committing “war crimes.”

Even South Africa is seeking to extend the deadline for presenting evidence against Israel at the International Court of Justice, for lack of evidence of its allegations of genocide. So far, all evidence points to Israel being “the world’s most moral army” (here, here, here and here). Meanwhile, the same cannot be said for the entities attacking it.

The UK suspended “around 30 licences for items used in the current conflict in Gaza which go to the IDF, from a total of approximately 350 licences to Israel” allegedly because of Hamas-induced fear that they “might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” [emphasis added]

Hamas, on the other hand, continues to receive Britain’s support: Although UNRWA has proven itself to be identical with Hamas, with roughly 10% of its members proven to have been terrorists or with ties to terror groups, and having used its entire Gaza infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, for the purpose of facilitating terror and missile attacks against Israel and its civilians, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government announced in July that it was going to “restart funding to UNRWA in order to get aid as quickly as possible to those who need it in Gaza” as a “moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe.”

Starmer seems unperturbed that all funding goes straight to the terrorist group, Hamas, and not to the needy civilians of Gaza, who are shot if they try to approach the trucks. The UK, which is taking away the annual winter fuel allowance for British pensioners, already sent the first £21 million (approximately $28 million) to the terrorists in Gaza.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in his announcement of the weapons embargo to the House of Commons, said, “in July, I told this House that this government’s priority in the region would be to advance the cause of peace” — apparently because nothing spells peace more than emboldening terrorists. He then went on to explain:

“These [suspended licenses] include equipment that we assess is for use in the current conflict in Gaza, such as important components which go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items which facilitate ground targeting.”

Lammy went on to admit that the UK government hasn’t the faintest idea whether Israel is, in fact, committing any war crimes, but just in case, better to boycott:

“In many cases, it has not been possible to reach a determinative conclusion on allegations regarding Israel’s conduct of hostilities, in part, because there is insufficient information either from Israel, or other reliable sources to verify such claims. Nevertheless, it is the assessment of His Majesty’s Government, that Israel could reasonably do much more to ensure lifesaving food and medical supplies reach civilians in Gaza in light of the appalling humanitarian situation.”

Aid in trucks is received at the border, then distributed by Hamas. Lammy might have pointed out that so far, Gaza has received more than 1 million tons in humanitarian aid. It is not known how much, if any, aid ever reaches Gazan civilians, or at what prices it is sold on the black-market.

The ghastly humanitarian situation of the Jewish hostages in Hamas’ terror tunnels, on the other hand, evidently concerns no one. They have received exactly zero grams of humanitarian aid.

Lammy concluded that the Labour government “is also deeply concerned by credible claims of mistreatment of detainees” (by which he meant terrorists) “which the International Committee of the Red Cross cannot investigate after being denied access to places of detention.”

In March, the former UK government, led by Rishi Sunak, reportedly conditioned continued arms supplies to Israel on Israel allowing the Red Cross or international diplomats to visit the detained terrorists of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force, which led the October 7 massacre. Then Foreign Secretary David Cameron had even warned Israeli officials at the time that Europe as a whole would impose a weapons embargo on Israel.

The UK government worries about Red Cross access to terrorists who participated in the most gruesome crimes, while the ICRC’s blatant lack of interest in the Israeli hostages held by Hamas did not even merit a mention by Lammy.

The UK’s arms embargo appears to represent nothing so much as pure racist perfidy. Lammy completely ignores the extreme lengths to which Israel has gone to avoid civilian casualties, as well as the huge amounts of humanitarian aid it has facilitated into the Gaza Strip.

According to Major (ret.) John Spencer, head of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, who also served for 25 years in the US Army as an infantry soldier and served two tours of duty in Iraq:

“In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the U.S. military, I’ve never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy’s civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings. In fact, by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history—above and beyond what international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The embargo accomplishes one thing only: Emboldening and strengthening Hamas — not only by withholding necessary military equipment from Israel, but by showing Hamas that its propaganda and lies are working exactly according to plan: to isolate Israel, while emboldening and encouraging Iran.

The UK, unfortunately, is not an isolated case. In March, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that Canada would cease arms exports to Israel, telling the Toronto Star, “It is a real thing.”

On September 10, Joly announced that Canada had suspended 30 export permits of Canadian companies exporting military matériel to Israel, adding that Canada will also block the sale of any Canadian arms or parts to a third country that could end up being used by Israel’s military in Gaza. This means that US plans to sell 50,000 120mm mortar rounds to Israel are no longer viable, because “[the] principal contractor will be General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., located in Quebec, Canada”; such a sale is presumably now prohibited by Canada.

“As for the question regarding General Dynamics, our policy is clear.” Joly said. “We will not have any form of arms or parts of arms be sent to Gaza, period.”

Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, said that the move would “actually weaken our possibility to defend ourselves against terrorism of Hamas. That is exactly what it would entail.”

Perhaps that is exactly what the UK and Canada want?

Not everyone has made an official announcement of their arms boycotts of Israel. In January, Italy’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, said, “Since October 7, [2023] we decided not to send any more arms to Israel, so there is no need to discuss this point.”

Spain has also suspended arms export licenses to Israel since October 7. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the Gaza war “made us realize the importance of a fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian conflict with Israel. Fair and lasting, evidently, means siding with terrorists. It is particularly unbecoming of Spain, after 60 years of having combated the terrorist group ETA, to throw the first stone. Albares continued:

“Starting on 7 October, we have stopped giving any licences for exporting weapons to Israel.

“The Middle East, the last thing they need right now is weapons. What we need is to try and stop this violence that is spreading all over, bringing weapons into the region is the opposite.

“What we need is medicines, foodstuff, fuel, energy, water and, above all, we need peace.”

Belgium, in May, called for an EU-wide arms embargo on Israel. “Stop arms deliveries to Israel,” Belgian Development Minister Caroline Gennez urged European ministers.

Most recently, according to a September 15 report by the German magazine Bild, Germany has not granted approvals for arms exports to Israel since March, while Scholz has continued to declare his support for Israel publicly, and promised continued military aid. According to Bild:

“Last year, the Israeli government had already requested the purchase of several thousand pieces of ammunition for its main battle tanks, and there were further requests for other types of armament. For the Jewish state, which is currently fighting on several fronts against the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, the purchase of certain military equipment from abroad is particularly important.”

By contrast, Germany is massively arming Qatar, which, alongside Iran, is the most significant backer of Hamas, and effectively every other Islamic terrorist group. Bild journalist Björn Stritzel noted:

“In the first half of 2024, the federal government approved arms sales worth just over 100 million euros to the rulers in Doha, who are probably the most important supporters of the terrorist organization Hamas.”

What will be the result of the embargoes? Western leaders claim to want de-escalation, but placing Israel under arms embargo only serves to strengthen and empower Qatar, Iran and Iran’s terrorist proxies — which in turn can lead only to further destabilizing the Middle East, particularly after Iran regime succeeds in acquiring nuclear weapons. Arming Israel’s enemies, whether through Iran or Qatar, while limiting Israel’s ability to defend itself, is setting up a disaster that is likely to end up in Europe, on the heads of Starmer, Trudeau, and Scholz.

Robert Williams is based in the United States.