The High Court has rejected the challenge brought by rights groups which sought to halt the export of British-made F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel following a 20-month court battle.
In a 72-page ruling released on Monday, Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn said that the case was narrowly focused on whether the court could rule that the UK “must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration” considered vital by ministers to the defence of the UK because some UK-made parts might be supplied to Israel and used in serious violations of international humanitarian law 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,” they found.
Middle East Eye understands that the groups who brought the case plan to appeal.
The case was first initiated by the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan) and Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq in late October 2023, soon after Israel launched an attack on Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks in Israel earlier that month.
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Under the Tory government, UK arms exports to Israel continued without any apparent change, despite concerns raised as early as November 2023 by the Foreign Office unit assessing Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.
Last September, the newly elected Labour government suspended around 30 export licenses for UK-made arms after the government assessed there was a clear risk the items could be used in Gaza in serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The licensing of UK-made F-35 components exported directly to Israel were suspended, but parts sent to a global F-35 programme spare parts pool which could end up in Israel were exempted, leaving the court case to shift focus onto the parts.
UK-made F-35 components make up 15 percent of every F-35, one of the world’s most sophisticated fighter jets which Israel has used extensively in its campaign in Gaza, as well as in Lebanon and more recently in Iran.
The government had argued that there was no way the UK could unilaterally halt the export of UK-made parts without impacting the worldwide fleet of F-35s and threatening global peace and security.
Glan and Al-Haq, and three British human rights organisations which are parties to the case, argued that under the Arms Trade Treaty and the Genocide Convention, the UK, as a state party to both, is obligated to stop sending the parts and that, by failing to follow its obligations, is threatening the rule of law globally.
More than 56,500 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with 133,419 wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry.
