UK Court Rules Export of F-35 Fighter Jet Components to Israel Was Lawful

Strategic Insights -

A High Court decision in the UK has ruled that the export of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel was lawful, despite concerns about the potential use of these components in breach of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict. The case, brought by Global Legal Action Network and the human rights group Al-Haq, in conjunction with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Oxfam, aimed to block the UK's sale of F-35 parts to Israel. However, the court ruled that the decision to allow the export was a matter for the executive, rather than the courts.

The court accepted the government's argument that a "positive contribution to wider peace and security had to be balanced against a clear risk of the arms being used to commit serious violations of IHL/IHRL". The ruling brings to a close a 20-month battle to ban all UK arms sales to Israel, and has raised serious questions about the overall value of the UK arms export regime. In parliament, ministers have long held that it is for a competent court to assess the existence of a genocide, but in pleadings in court, government lawyers revealed that they had assessed there was no serious risk of a genocide occurring in Gaza and claimed not to have seen women and children deliberately targeted.

Key Takeaways:

  • The High Court ruled that the export of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel was lawful, despite concerns about potential breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
  • The court accepted the government's argument that a "positive contribution to wider peace and security had to be balanced against a clear risk of the arms being used to commit serious violations of IHL/IHRL".
  • The ruling brings to a close a 20-month battle to ban all UK arms sales to Israel, including the sale of F-35 parts to a global spares pool that Israel could access.
  • The court rejected the request for a judicial review, stating that the courts should not intervene in sensitive political issues that are best left to ministers and parliament.
  • The UK government had assessed that there was no serious risk of a genocide occurring in Gaza, and had not found any possible breach of international law in respect of incidents that killed exclusively Palestinians.
  • The government had subcontracted some of the evidential work to an outside company, the Centre for Information Resilience, to assess whether the Israel Defense Forces had acted disproportionately.

Statistics:

  • 20-month battle to ban all UK arms sales to Israel, including the sale of F-35 parts to a global spares pool that Israel could access.
  • 16.2% of all subawards in the F-35 programme have gone to UK-based manufacturers, second only to the US.
  • £5.7bn in contracts related to the fighter jet's production secured by BAE Systems, a primary beneficiary of the F-35 programme.
  • 413 individual incidents examined by the government in assessing whether the Israel Defense Forces had acted disproportionately, with one possible violation of international law found.

Sources:

  • The Guardian
  • The Independent
  • Human Rights Watch
  • Amnesty International
  • Oxfam
  • Al-Haq
  • Global Legal Action Network
  • Reuters