A weapons sale ban would be the worst kind of virtue signalling
THE noise of those clamouring for an arms embargo against Israel has increased following the tragic killing of aid workers in Gaza.
But while Israel has to avoid such incidents, the world’s only Jewish state is undeniably held to stratospherically high standards, which are routinely exploited by its terrorist enemies.
Israel is a fellow democracy and, reassuringly, has responded with an immediate admission of responsibility, sincere expressions of remorse, and the summary dismissal of those found to have acted wrongly following a thorough investigation.
It is sadly a regrettable reality of war that tragedies such as these occur. Much commentary has ignored the fact other allies have been involved in incidents in which civilians were killed in recent years. Strangely enough, these were not followed by concerted calls for arms embargoes. We should be suspicious of motivation when different rules are applied to Israel.
A UK arms embargo would have far-reaching unintended consequences. Not for Israel, but for us. Our arms sales to Israel are, in trade terms, a pittance. However, a ban would bring our projection of values on the world stage into disrepute. The UK supplies far more arms to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and many other non-democracies. How could we justify sales to Qatar, which harbours Hamas’ leaders, while refusing to supply Israel as it fights terrorists?
The move would allow Hamas to remain in Gaza and condemn Palestinians and Israelis to future violence. All the while, Iran and its terror proxies are watching closely – a fact we can ill afford to forget.
A decision to target Israel would also risk international confidence in our reliability as an arms export partner. The defence industry makes a huge contribution to the livelihoods of thousands of workers across the UK.
The UK benefits tremendously from Israel’s military technology. The Sky Sabre missile defence system, for example, based on Israel’s Iron Dome, is helping to protect the Falklands.
An arms embargo would be the wrong step – strategically, economically and morally.