Israel protested Tuesday against the most serious sanction imposed by a Western country, considered a friend, since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7. Great Britain announced the freezing of 30 arms export licenses to the Hebrew state, out of a total of 350, which provoked a fit of anger among Israeli officials and especially the fear that its example would be followed by other states.
“Britain has sent a very problematic message to the Hamas terrorist organization and its sponsors in Iran,” regretted Israel Katz, the head of diplomacy. More direct, Eli Cohen, the Minister of Energy, was indignant at “this sanction which encourages those who kill babies, kidnap the elderly and rape women. Those who do this should not be surprised when the terrorists come knocking at their door.”
In an attempt to appease this anger, British officials have downplayed the impact of their sanctions. These measures will not endanger Israel’s security, assured John Healey, the British defense minister.
Limited exports
In addition, the delivery of spare parts for the F-35, the latest generation of US stealth aircraft, which could be used for long-range missions targeting, for example, Iran or the Houthis in Yemen, are not affected. British arms exports are also limited. According to Israeli statistics, they reached only $53 million in 2022, while the United States has so far supplied more than three-quarters of the equipment imported by Israel since the outbreak of the war.
Important detail: these purchases are financed almost entirely by annual American military aid of 3.8 billion dollars, to which is added an exceptional extension of 14 billion voted in the spring by Congress, not to mention an envelope of 500 million for the various air defense systems developed by Israel.
50,000 bombs
The United States has thus supplied 50,000 bombs, rockets and missiles since October 7. Of this total, one-ton bombs represent two-thirds of the supplies. In addition, the Hebrew state has turned in recent months to new suppliers such as India or Serbia, for explosives in particular and weapons used in the infantry.
“Our knee-jerk reaction is mainly due to the fear that other countries will impose sanctions in turn and thus deepen our isolation in the world,” said an Israeli diplomat, who requested anonymity. Arms sales could also become a means of diplomatic pressure to extract concessions from the Israeli government.
First alarm
The first warning was raised in May, when the United States froze the delivery of 3,500 high-yield bombs, fearing they would be used in the IDF offensive against Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. This measure, publicly criticized by Benjamin Netanyahu, was later partially lifted.
But there is nothing to say that the United States will not resort to this kind of procedure again, especially since the Prime Minister’s relations with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are increasingly tense, due to the demands presented by Netanyahu, which risk causing the failure of the negotiations currently underway on an American plan for a ceasefire.
The boycott, even partial, of Great Britain also brought back very bad memories for the Israelis. In 1967, three days before the start of the Six-Day War, General de Gaulle had decreed an arms embargo. This measure had been taken very badly: France had in fact been the main supplier of military equipment to Israel in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The sanction taken by the French president had caused a real trauma that the Israelis overcame by turning to the United States, and by developing a flourishing arms industry.
