UK MPs on an Anti-Israel Rampage

Eighty members of the House of Commons and House of Lords have demanded that the British government place a total embargo on arms for Israel and, at the same time, ban the importation of goods from “the settlements” — by which they mean from Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. the “West Bank”), an area where Jews have lived for the last 3500 years, and which the League of Nations included in the territory assigned to the Mandate for Palestine, which was supposed to become the future Jewish state. More on this moral imbecility can be found here: “UK lawmakers demand full arms embargo and settlement trade ban on Israel,” by Mathilda Heller, Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2026:

A group of 80 UK MPs and peers has written to the new British prime minister asking him to impose sanctions on Israel, including a full arms embargo and a ban on trade that supports Israel’s settlements.

80 MPs and peers is hardly an impressive number. The House of Commons has 650 members, and the House of Lords has roughly 800 to 830 members. That means there is a total of at least 1450 members in both Houses. 80 signatories to this anti-Israel letter constitute 5.5% of the total, which means that at least 94.5% of them refused to sign onto this nauseating demand.

The letter, led by MP Kim Johnson, urges the government to “decisively change its stance in order to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and to prevent Israel’s continued violation of international law.”

It notes that, last month, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry report “confirmed Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza” and urged the government to recognize this finding….

No one in his right mind expects anything to come out of an agency of the UN that is the least bit fair to Israel. Think only of that virulent antisemite Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for Conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Think of the fact that the General Assembly has condemned Israel more times than all the remaining 192 nation-states put together.

And what about that charge of “genocide” that these MPs and peers assert has been “confirmed”? No, it hasn’t. There are no grounds, none, to support such a charge. “Genocide” requires “intent.” There is no evidence that the IDF has tried to mass murder the people of Gaza. In fact, it has made tremendous efforts, far exceeding those of any military in history, to minimize civilian casualties, by means of an elaborate system of dropped leaflets, text messages, and robocalls, to warn civilians away from sites about to be targeted.

One of the world’s authorities on urban warfare, West Point Professor John Spencer, has written that “Israel is applying more measures to minimize civilian casualties than any military in history.” General Sir John McColl, a 38-year veteran of the British army who as at first inclined to criticize Israel, visited Gaza to see the IDF in action, and came away with a deep appreciation of the IDF’s effort to save civilian lives. So did Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded British forces in Afghanistan. After repeated visits to Gaza, Colonel Kemp said, in words that echo those of John Spencer, that “ based on my experience and on my observations: the Israel Defense Force, the IDF, does more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” These are all military men; they have earned the right to be heeded. Far from being guilty of “genocide,” the IDF adheres to standards that no other military has met.

The letter is backed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which spent the last few weeks campaigning for PM Andy Burnham to “break with Starmer’s shameful legacy” by imposing wide-ranging sanctions against Israel, including a full arms embargo, an end to all military cooperation and diplomatic support, and a total ban on all trade.

A full UK arms embargo on Israel would do little harm to Israel, that can easily replace the same small amount of arms from other suppliers, including the U.S. and Germany. But that embargo would undoubtedly lead to a reciprocal embargo by Israel. Because Israel is a world leader in so many areas of military technology, including anti-missile defenses (e.g. Iron Dome and Iron Beam), aeronautics and aerospace,, tank technology (the Merkava 5), and loitering munitions (suicide drones), for which alternative suppliers do not exist, the UK has more to lose from this exchange of embargoes than does Israel.

Fortunately, only 5.5% of the MPs and peers are calling for such an embargo by the UK. If common sense prevails at 10 Downing Street, it will go nowhere.