The UK is likely to introduce restrictions on arms sales to Israel, Middle East Eye can reveal. It is also expected to drop its objection to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for senior Israeli leaders.

Well-informed sources within the Labour Party told Middle East Eye that in the coming days the government is likely to introduce some restrictions on arms sales but not suspend sales entirely.

The development comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy said last week that he requested a comprehensive review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law on his first day in office.

  • wewbull@feddit.uk
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    3 months ago

    Why did this have to wait to being in office to take a position on? Surely the shadow cabinet was privy to the same information.

    • HumanPenguin@feddit.uk
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      3 months ago

      Honestly. I assume if they vocally announced an policy. They worried the tories and media would successfully paint it as anti semitic.

      No matter how rubbish that may be. It would be hard to garrentee the media could not manage it. More so after corbyn.

      They likely considered no opinion to be less controversial and risky to the election then taking a side openly.

      Not sure id have agreed if asked at the time. But hard to argue now.

      • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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        3 months ago

        Look at how much Israel is trying to influence the US election and it is likely that Labour didn’t want to risk it.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        The current Labour leadership has an eternal debt of gratitude to the Israel-linked Jewish Groups that participated in the Anti-Semitism Slander Campaign to overthrow Corbyn which was so extreme that at one point a Jewish Holocaust Survivor was accused of anti-semitism when he compared some of the actions of Israel to those of the NAZIs, in order to slander Corbyn by association (he was in the same panel in the conference were that Holocaust Survivor said that).

        I’m actually surprised they’re doing this and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it’s structured to look good to the Press whilst not in fact doing anything meaningful (“some restrictions” that do “not suspend sales entirelly” has quite the stink of a certain very traditional structure in British Politics for a measure that produces certain headlines on the Press whilst not really doing what the headlines imply).

    • randon31415@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Polls probably showed it would hurt them, and they waited until they have 5 years of uninterrupted power to take action that could hurt them elecorally.

      Do you remember what the British PM did in 2019?