UK to not emulate US in ceasing arms supply to Israel if it invades Rafah

The U.K. is not copying a White House pledge to stop some arms exports to Israel if a full invasion of Rafah goes ahead, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Thursday.

President Joe Biden warned Wednesday night that the U.S. will not supply “weapons that have been used historically” if the country presses on with a full assault on the densely-populated town in the Southern Gaza Strip.

Speaking after an address in London Thursday, Cameron said Britain “would not support some major operation in Rafah unless there was a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives ... We have not seen that plan, so in these circumstances we would not support a major operation in Rafah.”

But he said there is a “very fundamental difference” between arms shipments from the U.S. and the U.K., where the government grants individual licenses to companies wanting to export arms overseas.

“The U.S. is a massive state supplier for weapons to Israel," he said. "We do not have a U.K. government supply of weapons to Israel. We have a number of licenses, and I think our defense exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than one percent of their total. That is a big difference.”

The foreign secretary said he would stick “very closely” to the U.K.’s “rigorous” arms exports procedure.

It takes around six weeks to update the U.K.’s evidence on whether Israel is violating international humanitarian law, two U.K. officials — granted anonymity to discuss the process — confirmed to POLITICO. This is the basis on which arms exports would be suspended. But that means the U.K. could still be making a decision by the time any Rafah invasion has been completed.

Cameron has faced pressure from some MPs, including in his own party, to suspend arms exports to Israel. Israeli forces looked poised to conduct more operations in Rafah, home to some 1.7 million people — despite warnings from allies not to do so.

Asked if Biden was wrong to set conditions, the U.K.’s top diplomat replied: “They are involved deeply in strategic and tactical conversations that the Israelis are having about how they prosecute this conflict. We have influence, we have agency, we have very frank conversations with the Israelis, but we’re not in that same position.”

Cameron insisted the U.K. and its allies are "making some progress” on promises by Israel to increase aid to Gaza, including being “quite close to getting a temporary harbor up and running." He also said Hamas must release more than 100 Israeli hostages it has held since its October 7 attacks on Israel.

Europe defense call

Cameron, a former British prime minister, spoke at the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Center after what had been billed as his first major speech since returning to government in November.

He used the address to chide European allies who “seem unwilling to invest [in defense] even as war rages on our continent,” and urged NATO allies to set a “new benchmark” of spending 2.5 percent of GDP on defense ahead of a summit to mark the 75th anniversary of NATO on July 9-11. 

The U.K. has pledged to hit 2.5 percent by 2030. The opposition Labour Party has refused to copy the pledge, saying the government has not spelt out how it will be funded.

Cameron said “security is definitely on the ballot paper” at the U.K. general election, expected this autumn.

“From Talinn to Warsaw, from Prague to Bucharest, a chill has once more descended across the European continent, with those nations closest to Russia seeing what is happening in Ukraine and wondering if they will be next," he said. “This is a world more dangerous, more volatile, more confrontational than most of us have ever known. We need to face up to that fact and act accordingly — not in a year or two, not in a few months, but now.”

Cameron, who quit as PM in 2016 after losing a referendum bid to keep the U.K. in the European Union, said: “Yes, I supported remaining in the EU, but I am now laser-like focused on ensuring Britain and the EU have the best possible relationship — not as members, but as friends, neighbors and partners.”

On Britain’s wider push to seal post-Brexit trade talks, he added: “We’re not going to sign a free trade deal just for the sugar rush of the press release. You only get one chance to do these things properly.”