CAAT welcomes Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s statement on Israel. This is the furthest our complicit government has gone to condemn and take action on the genocidal Israeli state, and it is the first time the UK government has admitted its Occupation is illegal in its entirety. It is good to see new restrictions on arms exports as well as welcoming the sanctions on settlements.
It’s also important that we take a moment to recognise this as a victory for activists and campaigners across the country. This would not have happened without cross-movement campaigning and a diversity of tactics that has forced this government to take action in support of Palestinian people.
The genocide jet exemption
However, while welcome, it does not go far enough. The details of the new “double lock” on arms exports aren’t entirely clear at the time of writing, but we know for sure that they won’t include components for the F-35 combat aircraft.
These genocide jets are the most substantive part of the UK’s arms trade with Israel. CAAT estimates that the total value of components for the F-35 combat aircraft, whether through single or open licenses, has been £634m since 2015. They have been crucial in Israel’s ability to wage its genocide in Gaza, and any measures to suspend arms exports are tokenistic when the supply of parts to keep these jets in the air keeps flowing.
Stop supporting the booming Israeli arms trade
It is also unlikely that these new measures will include incorporation licenses – which cover the majority of single export licenses to Israel. These are military components that are exported to Israel and then, in theory, re-exported to a third country as part of a larger system. However, due to the lack of transparency and accountability in the UK arms licensing system, these components are not tracked, and it is not known whether these components are in fact re-exported or used in Israeli military equipment.
In 2025, the UK licensed £30m of military equipment to Israel in 20 single licenses. Recently released figures for the first three months of 2026 show that £5.3m of single licenses were approved in this time period. These were for components for military aircraft head-up/down displays, components for military electronic equipment, components for military radars, and components for surface-to-air missiles, munitions/ordnance detection/disposal equipment.
The majority of these licenses – £4.9m in the first three months of 2026 and £19.5m in 2025 – were for incorporation licenses. However, even if Israel is using these components in accordance with the incorporation license, these exports are directly benefiting the Israeli government and its arms companies, facilitating and paying for its genocide in Gaza, and its violent occupation and war crimes in the West Bank. The government must urgently clarify that these, and other licenses that ultimately contribute to the occupation, are covered under its new “double lock”.
Israel’s arms industry is booming. In 2025, Israeli arms sales totalled $19.2bn, breaking records for the fifth consecutive year. Given several of Israel’s largest arms companies are state owned, this is revenue that is going directly to the Israeli government. For example, in 2025, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) paid the state nearly $700 million in cumulative dividends, including payments owed from previous years.
It is essential that we keep up the pressure in calling for a full two-way arms embargo and ensure that the new measures include all incorporation licenses and ends the F-35 genocide jet loophole so that the UK stops fuelling the Israeli arms industry and its genocide in Gaza.
During the DSEI arms fair in London in 2025, IAI advertised equipment used to kill, injure and displace Palestinians in Gaza to a global audience. If this government is serious about this announcement, it should also confirm that Israeli companies and delegations will not be invited to any UK arms fairs, including DSEI 2027.
Keep up the pressure!
We are also concerned that the package of sanctions does not go far enough. CAAT supports the proposals from the Global Sanctions Coalition to strengthen these measures. In particular we call on the government to take urgent action to stop UK companies bidding for tenders on the E1 settlement. This is a major new illegal settlement, recently approved by the Israeli government, that would cut the West Bank in pieces. The deadline for tenders is 19th October but the current government proposals could take 6-9 months to implement. It is essential this is stopped.
Miliband’s statement is definitely welcome progress. But now is the time to keep up the pressure.
Now is the time to make sure that his strong words are matched with strong and meaningful action on the UK’s military support for Israel that will actually support Palestinian people.
Now is the time to make sure that the UK finally fully ends its complicity with Israel’s genocide and war crimes.
