Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has dramatically changed Britain’s relationship with Israel since taking office, but senior Labour figures insist his key decisions have not been driven by politics.
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, restored funding to UN agencies that help Palestinian refugees, reversed Britain’s position on arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and even suspended some arms export licences to Israel.
The decision marked one of the most significant differences in British foreign policy with the United States and with the previous Conservative government, which Starmer defeated in July.
Starmer has faced fierce criticism from Israel, particularly over arms sales decisions, but his allies are keen to emphasise black-and-white legal dynamics rather than murky political and diplomatic considerations.
One senior Labour leader said Starmer had approached key policy issues about Israel only “as an expert in international humanitarian law”.
Starmer’s biographer and former Labour leader Tom Baldwin added that Mr Starmer’s approach to Israel was another example of how he was “committed to the rule of law”.
Starmer is a barrister with a history of defending human rights in British courts and arguing for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
“Human rights provide a framework for these decisions, but when you rely on political judgement it makes them much harder to justify,” Baldwin said.
“Having this decided legally is a good way to get past these political issues,” he added.
UK on Monday Announced Britain has suspended around 30 of 350 arms export licences to Israel for use in its military operations in Gaza, including military aircraft parts, after a British government investigation found possible Israeli violations of international humanitarian law.
While Britain is not a major arms supplier to Israel, the decision by Britain, traditionally a close ally of Israel, dealt a symbolic blow to the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
But despite the UK’s emphasis on the legal process behind the decision, Starmer has been accused of going too far – or not far enough.
The Israeli prime minister derided the decision as “shameful” and highlighted that it came two days after six Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were killed.
Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Milvis, said: Social Media Platform X He called the move “incredible at a time when Israel is fighting for its survival on seven fronts.”
Some groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have complained that the decision took too long and should have blocked more arms sales, and they also criticized the exclusion of some parts for F-35 fighter jets.
British Defense Secretary John Healey insisted on Tuesday that the move was a result of Britain’s “obligation to the rule of law” and “not a decision to please any side” in the conflict.
Domestic tensions are also rising within the Labour Party.
Labour’s Palestine and Middle East Friendship group said on Tuesday it “wants to see a further halt” to licences for exports to Israel, including equipment used in the occupied West Bank.
The licences suspended this week relate to items used in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 40,000 people and sparked a severe humanitarian crisis, according to Palestinian officials.
Meanwhile, Labour’s Friends of Israel group said it was “deeply concerned” about the signal the UK’s actions sent to Iran, and warned it risked “empowering Israel’s enemies”.
After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack triggered the war in Gaza, Britain, like other Israeli allies, rallied to support the country and its right to self-defense.
But as the death toll in the enclave rose and the humanitarian crisis deepened, then-British Foreign Secretary Sir David Cameron, a Conservative, became critical of Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries to the besieged area and the huge number of civilian deaths.
He also said Britain would consider recognising a Palestinian state as part of diplomatic efforts to move towards a two-state solution to end the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But despite regular legal assessments examining whether Israel is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza, the Conservative government has chosen not to halt arms sales, remaining in lockstep with the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Labour began shifting UK policy in July, two weeks after winning the election, when ministers supported Palestinian refugees and restored funding to UNRWA, the United Nations agency that is the main actor in humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israel, aid was suspended after some 12 of the 13,000 Israeli personnel in the Gaza Strip took part in an October 7 Hamas attack that Israel said killed 1,200 people.
The UK announcement came after the EU and several other countries resumed funding. The United States, historically the largest donor to UNRWA, has maintained its aid ban.
A week later, Starmer dropped the UK’s objection to a request by the International Criminal Court prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders.
The move comes after pro-Palestinian activists put intense political pressure on the Labour Party ahead of the UK general election.
Starmer shocked many on the left of his camp when he said Israel had the right to withhold electricity and water from Gaza a few days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. He later claimed he had made a mistake but was too late to correct the record.
In the election, Labour was defeated in five constituencies by pro-Palestinian independent candidates, and many other Labour MPs’ support for the issue waned, shrinking their majority.
Jonathan Ashworth, the former Labour leader who lost his seat in this way, argued that Britain’s change of policy should come as a surprise to no one.
Mr Starmer signalled before the election that he would review legal advice on UK arms exports to Israel. “Labour has delivered on the promise it made before the general election,” Mr Ashworth told Sky News.
But Downing Street denied that there had been any fundamental change in Britain’s relationship with Israel under Labour, and other British leaders have acted similarly in the past – Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher imposed an arms embargo on Israel after its invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
A government official said: “The British government continues to support Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law. The UK remains fully committed to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and other regional powers.”
