Mick Hartley

Michael Rubin, director of Labour Friends of Israel, in the Times – Labour’s decision will embolden Tehran to pursue its terrorist goals:

Since the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, Labour has steadfastly repeated its belief in Israel’s right to defend itself.

It has been right to do so — but the government’s decision this week to suspend some arms sales to the Jewish state will do little to further that aim.

Nor will it help bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to a close, advance a wider regional peace and a two-state solution, or aid the Israeli opposition in its political struggle to end the era of Binyamin Netanyahu.

Israel is the UK’s closest ally in the Middle East and the only one to share our liberal democratic values.

Over the past 11 months, Iran’s decades-long campaign against Israel has reached a new level of intensity.

To the north, Hezbollah has made daily attacks. To the south, the Houthis have launched more than 200 projectiles at Israel and menaced international shipping. And from the east, Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack in April, firing more than 300 rockets, drones and missiles into the country.

But Israel’s ability to resist the threat posed by the Iranian regime is also a vital UK national interest. Israel is the third-largest supplier of arms to Britain, including weaponry that has been used to defend the lives of our troops serving overseas.

Israel helps keep our streets safe from terror at home and protects us from cyberattacks.

While Israel bears the heaviest cost of Tehran’s aggressive ambitions beyond its own borders, those ambitions threaten us too. Iran is the leading sponsor of state terrorism globally and is now a nuclear threshold state.

It has the region’s biggest stockpile of ballistic missiles. And Iran is Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Ukraine: having supplied Russia with deadly suicide drones, the regime is now believed to be on the brink of delivering ballistic missiles.

The decision to restrict arms sales to Israel will have been heard in Tehran. With its suggestion of a further weakening of western support for Israel, the move risks emboldening the Iranian regime, leading not to the de-escalation we all seek but to further escalation and bloodshed. The message has also been heard in Israel.

There is enormous hurt that Britain would treat an ally in this fashion at the very moment the country is mourning and burying the six hostages Hamas brutally murdered at the weekend. For the past 11 months, the hostages, their families and all those who lost loved ones in the October 7 attacks have endured unimaginable suffering.

It's a cheap and nasty move by Labour, whether motivated by a desire to appease the party's significant Palestinian-friendly members, or a cynical attempt to keep the Muslim vote onside. And, as this Times editorial states, it's diplomatically inept.

The decision on Monday to suspend the export of military components destined for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is an object lesson in how not to conduct diplomacy. Citing fears that the parts in question might be used in IDF operations violating international humanitarian law, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, in effect consigned Israel to the category of rogue state. With decidedly imperfect timing, this insult to a friend was issued just as Israelis digested the execution by Hamas of six hostages seized on October 7.

The announcement of the killings brought Israelis flooding on to the streets in protest at what they regard as the callous and intransigent position of Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, in regard to securing a ceasefire and the release of those held in subterranean captivity. Israelis have a perfect right to demonstrate against their government, a right that differentiates them from Arab neighbours. But Labour’s half-hearted jab at Mr Netanyahu — the UK is a minor supplier of arms parts to Israel and only a tenth are affected by the embargo — was as pointless and offensive as it was diplomatically inept.

This unforced error, which will not help the tormented people of Gaza and appears to have caught the Americans unawares, has served only to dismay moderate Israelis and advocates for Israel in Britain. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, spoke of being “deeply disheartened” by the move at a time when his country was engaged on several fronts. At home, Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the Commonwealth, said the timing beggared belief. Labour Friends of Israel, meanwhile, spoke of Tehran being emboldened by the move.

Mr Lammy, whose judgment has in the past been found wanting (he nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership, was an opponent of the nuclear deterrent and compared Conservative Brexiteer MPs with Nazis) has fallen back on the advice of government lawyers as an excuse. But such advice is routinely overruled in the cause of national policy. Of course, the prime minister must share the blame for this hamfisted attempt to placate the anti-Israel element in his party. For no measurable benefit, the UK has alienated a friend and important intelligence ally. Britain’s disloyalty to Israel at a critical hour will not be forgotten.

If this debacle helps Lammy's speedy departure from high office, so much the better.