UK to suspend sale of military equipment to Israel
Israeli soldiers on top of their tanks as other Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), pull back from the Gaza Strip at an unspecified location next to the Israeli Gaza Strip border on 04 August 2014, during a temporary - 7 hour - humanitarian ceasefire announced by Israeli Defence Force.( EPA Photo)
Britain has finally decided to suspend sale of all military equipment to Israel and also revoke the licenses for arms if the cease fire is broken.
The government has identified 12 licences for components which could be part of equipment used by Israel in its attacks on Gaza.
Vince Cable, UK's business secretary, said "We welcome the current ceasefire in Gaza and hope that it will lead to a peaceful resolution. However, the UK government has not been able to clarify if the export licence criteria are being met. We have however taken the decision to suspend these existing export licences in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities. No new licences for military equipment have been issued for use by the Israel Defence Force during the review period and as a precautionary measure this approach will continue until hostilities cease."
The suspensions, however, will not include the single licence granted in February 2013 for the export of up to £7.7 billion of cryptographic equipment. Cable said this licence covers equipment that could be used to build mobile phone networks in residential areas and for small businesses.
"None of this equipment meets military specifications and would not suitable for building military communications equipment," he said.
The licences covered by the latest announcement relate to export licences for military equipment that could be used by the Israel Defence Force in Gaza.
They include components for military radar systems, combat aircraft and tanks.
Suspensions, however, would not include components of Israel's Iron Dome missile shield which helps to protect Israelis from Hamas rocket attacks, commercial exports or components for manufacture of equipment to be supplied to countries outside Israel.
Cable said "Currently there is a ceasefire in place and UK continues to urge both sides to respect this and to secure a lasting end to hostilities through the negotiations taking place in Cairo. However, in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities, the government is concerned that it would not be able to clarify if the export licence criteria are being met. It would therefore suspend these licences as a precautionary step".
UK said it continues to monitor closely the situation in Israel and Gaza, and if existing licences are found to be no longer consistent with the criteria, those licences will be revoked.
Britain's deputy prime minister Nick Clegg strongly supported an arms embargo with Israel last week.
Clegg said "We must respect the strict criteria laid down in law. We must look at what's happened in Gaza to see if those criteria were breached. If it's shown those criteria were breached, then never mind suspending those licences, they would have to be revoked".
Documents obtained by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that since 2010 there have been £42 million worth of licences to export military-only equipment to Israel. Licences granted include for naval guns and drones to ammunition, submarines and combat aircraft parts. CAAT says Israeli equipment used in Gaza in the 2008-9 conflict "almost certainly" contained UK-supplied components.
CAAT had called on the UK government to stop promoting arms sales to oppressive regimes and end its policy of "arms control by embarrassment".
It said "the government's arms export policy is essentially one of reacting to events and not taking sufficient account of the nature of the regimes concerned at the point when the decision is made to approve the export licence or not".Obama Reportedly Blocks Israel Missile Shipment
Hellfire missile (Wikimedia)
US administration officials stop missile transfer, order all future transfers to be scrutinized in sign of further cooling ties.
A new report reveals that US President Barack Obama's administration stopped a shipment of missiles to Israel late last month and tightened weapons shipment procedures to Israel, as tensions between the two nations grow amid Operation Protective Edge.
The report in the Wall Street Journal, released Wednesday night, cites US officials in Obama's administration, who say they discovered Israel had requested a large number of Hellfire missiles directly through military-to-military channels. An initial batch of the missiles was about to be shipped, according to sources in Israel and the US Congress.
At that point, the Pentagon stepped in and put the transfer on hold. Further, top White House officials instructed various US military agencies to consult with the US State Department before approving any additional requests from Israel.
A senior Obama administration official was quoted in the report as saying the transfer shouldn't have been a routine "check-the-box approval," given Israel's defensive operation in Gaza against Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the US.
The decision to clamp down on future transfers was the equivalent of "the United States saying 'the buck stops here. Wait a second…It's not OK anymore,'" said the official.
A Israeli defense official confirmed the reports to Walla! on Thursday, saying "the US delayed a shipment of Hellfire missiles to the Israeli airforce." He added "apparently it was (done) on the background of national tension" with Israel.
Obama has been at odds with Israel over the defensive operation in Gaza, making various attempts to press Israel into accepting a truce with the adamant terrorist organization of Hamas. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly responded to the pressure by telling the administration "not to ever second guess me again," after Hamas committed one of its many ceasefire violations.
Currently a new five-day ceasefire has come into effect as of Wednesday at midnight, with Obama calling Netanyahu shortly ahead of when it came into effect to push for a "sustainable" ceasefire.
According to US officials cited in the Wall Street Journal report, the Wednesday night phone call between Obama and Netanyahu was "particularly combative."
"Discovering" military-to-military arms transfers
The report noted that on July 20, ahead of the Hellfire missile cancellation, the IDF asked the US military for various munitions such as 120-mm mortar shells and 40-mm illuminating rounds, without the knowledge of Obama's administration.
Three days later the request was approved by the military, without Obama or US Secretary of State John Kerry being approached for approval, given that their approval was not required for such a transfer.
A US defense official added that the standard review process in such requests was properly followed.
The transfer without Obama's unnecessary approval was followed by a similar incident ahead of the Hellfire cancellation, which occurred the same day as the July 30 IDF strike on terrorists adjacent to a UN school, which the US slammed as "disgraceful."
In response, the IDF confirmed it targeted Islamic Jihad terrorists in the vicinity of the school. Previously the IDF provided video evidence that Hamas fires rockets from inside schools; further, UNRWA schools have been used in at least three cases to store Hamas rockets, after which UNRWA repeatedly returned the rockets to Hamas.
On the same day as the UN school strike, US reports said the 120-mm and 40-mm rounds had been released by the US army to the IDF, with one Obama administration official saying "we were blindsided."
A US defense official responded, saying "there was no intent to blindside anyone. The process for this transfer was followed precisely along the lines that it should have."
Demonstrating the tense ties between Obama's administration and Israel, a senior official of the administration told the Wall Street Journal "we have many, many friends around the world. The United States is their (Israel's) strongest friend."
"The notion that they are playing the United States, or that they're manipulating us publicly, completely miscalculates their place in the world," added the official.
The US decision to tighten down on arms transfers to Israel comes as the UK is threatening similar actions. On Tuesday, the British government threatened to suspend 12 arms export licenses to Israel if fighting resumed in Gaza.
Israeli soldiers on top of their tanks as other Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), pull back from the Gaza Strip at an unspecified location next to the Israeli Gaza Strip border on 04 August 2014, during a temporary - 7 hour - humanitarian ceasefire announced by Israeli Defence Force.( EPA Photo)Britain has finally decided to suspend sale of all military equipment to Israel and also revoke the licenses for arms if the cease fire is broken.
The government has identified 12 licences for components which could be part of equipment used by Israel in its attacks on Gaza.
Vince Cable, UK's business secretary, said "We welcome the current ceasefire in Gaza and hope that it will lead to a peaceful resolution. However, the UK government has not been able to clarify if the export licence criteria are being met. We have however taken the decision to suspend these existing export licences in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities. No new licences for military equipment have been issued for use by the Israel Defence Force during the review period and as a precautionary measure this approach will continue until hostilities cease."
The suspensions, however, will not include the single licence granted in February 2013 for the export of up to £7.7 billion of cryptographic equipment. Cable said this licence covers equipment that could be used to build mobile phone networks in residential areas and for small businesses.
"None of this equipment meets military specifications and would not suitable for building military communications equipment," he said.
The licences covered by the latest announcement relate to export licences for military equipment that could be used by the Israel Defence Force in Gaza.
They include components for military radar systems, combat aircraft and tanks.
Suspensions, however, would not include components of Israel's Iron Dome missile shield which helps to protect Israelis from Hamas rocket attacks, commercial exports or components for manufacture of equipment to be supplied to countries outside Israel.
Cable said "Currently there is a ceasefire in place and UK continues to urge both sides to respect this and to secure a lasting end to hostilities through the negotiations taking place in Cairo. However, in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities, the government is concerned that it would not be able to clarify if the export licence criteria are being met. It would therefore suspend these licences as a precautionary step".
UK said it continues to monitor closely the situation in Israel and Gaza, and if existing licences are found to be no longer consistent with the criteria, those licences will be revoked.
Britain's deputy prime minister Nick Clegg strongly supported an arms embargo with Israel last week.
Clegg said "We must respect the strict criteria laid down in law. We must look at what's happened in Gaza to see if those criteria were breached. If it's shown those criteria were breached, then never mind suspending those licences, they would have to be revoked".
Documents obtained by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that since 2010 there have been £42 million worth of licences to export military-only equipment to Israel. Licences granted include for naval guns and drones to ammunition, submarines and combat aircraft parts. CAAT says Israeli equipment used in Gaza in the 2008-9 conflict "almost certainly" contained UK-supplied components.
CAAT had called on the UK government to stop promoting arms sales to oppressive regimes and end its policy of "arms control by embarrassment".
It said "the government's arms export policy is essentially one of reacting to events and not taking sufficient account of the nature of the regimes concerned at the point when the decision is made to approve the export licence or not".Obama Reportedly Blocks Israel Missile Shipment
Hellfire missile (Wikimedia)US administration officials stop missile transfer, order all future transfers to be scrutinized in sign of further cooling ties.
A new report reveals that US President Barack Obama's administration stopped a shipment of missiles to Israel late last month and tightened weapons shipment procedures to Israel, as tensions between the two nations grow amid Operation Protective Edge.
The report in the Wall Street Journal, released Wednesday night, cites US officials in Obama's administration, who say they discovered Israel had requested a large number of Hellfire missiles directly through military-to-military channels. An initial batch of the missiles was about to be shipped, according to sources in Israel and the US Congress.
At that point, the Pentagon stepped in and put the transfer on hold. Further, top White House officials instructed various US military agencies to consult with the US State Department before approving any additional requests from Israel.
A senior Obama administration official was quoted in the report as saying the transfer shouldn't have been a routine "check-the-box approval," given Israel's defensive operation in Gaza against Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the US.
The decision to clamp down on future transfers was the equivalent of "the United States saying 'the buck stops here. Wait a second…It's not OK anymore,'" said the official.
A Israeli defense official confirmed the reports to Walla! on Thursday, saying "the US delayed a shipment of Hellfire missiles to the Israeli airforce." He added "apparently it was (done) on the background of national tension" with Israel.
Obama has been at odds with Israel over the defensive operation in Gaza, making various attempts to press Israel into accepting a truce with the adamant terrorist organization of Hamas. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly responded to the pressure by telling the administration "not to ever second guess me again," after Hamas committed one of its many ceasefire violations.
Currently a new five-day ceasefire has come into effect as of Wednesday at midnight, with Obama calling Netanyahu shortly ahead of when it came into effect to push for a "sustainable" ceasefire.
According to US officials cited in the Wall Street Journal report, the Wednesday night phone call between Obama and Netanyahu was "particularly combative."
"Discovering" military-to-military arms transfers
The report noted that on July 20, ahead of the Hellfire missile cancellation, the IDF asked the US military for various munitions such as 120-mm mortar shells and 40-mm illuminating rounds, without the knowledge of Obama's administration.
Three days later the request was approved by the military, without Obama or US Secretary of State John Kerry being approached for approval, given that their approval was not required for such a transfer.
A US defense official added that the standard review process in such requests was properly followed.
The transfer without Obama's unnecessary approval was followed by a similar incident ahead of the Hellfire cancellation, which occurred the same day as the July 30 IDF strike on terrorists adjacent to a UN school, which the US slammed as "disgraceful."
In response, the IDF confirmed it targeted Islamic Jihad terrorists in the vicinity of the school. Previously the IDF provided video evidence that Hamas fires rockets from inside schools; further, UNRWA schools have been used in at least three cases to store Hamas rockets, after which UNRWA repeatedly returned the rockets to Hamas.
On the same day as the UN school strike, US reports said the 120-mm and 40-mm rounds had been released by the US army to the IDF, with one Obama administration official saying "we were blindsided."
A US defense official responded, saying "there was no intent to blindside anyone. The process for this transfer was followed precisely along the lines that it should have."
Demonstrating the tense ties between Obama's administration and Israel, a senior official of the administration told the Wall Street Journal "we have many, many friends around the world. The United States is their (Israel's) strongest friend."
"The notion that they are playing the United States, or that they're manipulating us publicly, completely miscalculates their place in the world," added the official.
The US decision to tighten down on arms transfers to Israel comes as the UK is threatening similar actions. On Tuesday, the British government threatened to suspend 12 arms export licenses to Israel if fighting resumed in Gaza.
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