The UK government is justifying the continued sale of F-35 fighter jet parts, which could end up in Israel through a legal provision that “has never been formally relied on” and one which likely requires parliamentary oversight, 37 MPs said on Friday.
In a letter sent to the foreign, business and defence secretaries, the MPs also said the UK has the autonomy to remove Israel from the list of approved recipients for the F-35.
“The government has admitted it cannot licence the direct transfer of F-35 components to Israel because of the clear risk of serious international humanitarian law violations,” they write.
“But it has not suspended licences to export UK-made F-35 components to Israel as an end user via third-party countries including the United States.
“There are serious questions that we demand answers to about the legality and practical necessity of such an exemption.”
Last week, the UK announced the suspension of 30 licences for the export of arms to Israel.
This is due to concerns that the weapons could be used in violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Among the licences for arms suspended were components for F-16s, the type of fighter jet which Israel used to bomb a compound housing British doctors working for UK and US organisations in southern Gaza in January.
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But UK-made F-35 parts, which make up 15 per cent of every fighter jet, were not on the list.
This is raising major concerns from arms campaigners and human rights groups.
It includes one, which it described as “a workhorse of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign”.
Making the announcement about the partial ban last week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament that suspending the components “would undermine the global F-35 supply chain that is vital for security of the UK, our allies and NATO”.
An international consortium of 20 countries, including the UK, the US and Israel, work together to manufacture and deliver F-35 fighter jets to one another.
Lammy suggested in his comments that it would be difficult to “distinguish, across those multiple supply chains that involve many nations, the particular bits of armory” supplied by partners.
But the MPs underlined that the global F-35 programme’s “electronic stockpile management system allows for the tracking and monitoring of parts”.
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