"UK’s sale of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel is lawful, high court rules"

Rights group loses challenge despite government accepting they could be used in breach of humanitarian law in Gaza

Britain’s decision to allow the export of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel, despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza, was lawful, London’s high court has ruled.

The ruling on Monday, a huge relief for government ministers, brings to a close a 20-month battle to ban all UK arms sales to Israel, including the UK sale of F-35 parts to a global spares pool that Israel could access. The case was brought by Global Legal Action Network and the human rights group Al-Haq, in conjunction with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam.

In a 72-page ruling on Monday, Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn said the courts should not intervene in a sensitive political issue that was best left to ministers and parliament. The two judges said the case was about a “much more focused issue” than the carve-out of F-35 parts from a UK arms export ban imposed last September.

They added: “That issue is whether it is open to the court to rule that the UK must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration which is reasonably regarded by the responsible ministers as vital to the defence of the UK and to international peace and security, because of the prospect that some UK-manufactured components will or may ultimately be supplied to Israel, and may be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law in the conflict in Gaza.

“Under our constitution that acutely sensitive and political issue is a matter for the executive which is democratically accountable to parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts.” [...]

Reacting to the judgment, Shawan Jabarin, the director of Al-Haq, said the case had had an impact on public opinion. He said: “By exposing serious government failings in facilitating international crimes against Palestinians through its arms exports, civil society and human rights organisations have achieved a crucial breakthrough, and we will continue to persevere until governments are held accountable, Israel’s impunity is challenged, and justice for the Palestinian people is realised.”

Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director of Human Rights Watch, said: “We are incredibly disappointed with this decision. The UK courts have given a green light for the government to continue to supply lethal F-35 fighter jet components used by the Israeli military in Gaza, even in the face of acts of genocide and other atrocities.

“Judicial deference to the executive in this case has left the Palestinians in Gaza without access to the protections of international law, despite the government and the court acknowledging that there is a serious risk that UK equipment might be used to facilitate or carry out atrocities against them.”

The request for a judicial review of UK arms sales to Israel was first launched in December 2023, and the case then narrowed when the incoming Labour government withdrew 30 arms export licences to Israel in September. The four-day hearing ending on 16 May focused solely on the F-35 carve-out, and not on anything that happened under the Conservative government.

Despite the outcome the case has raised serious questions about the overall value of the UK arms export regime and the parliamentary case ministers have mounted to justify F-35 sales.