Rishi Sunak welcomes the Prime Minister of Israel to Downing Street (Carl Court/Getty Images)
UK-Israel trade – valued at around £7 billion in 2023 and facilitated by a trade deal – is supporting and enabling Israel’s apartheid regime and plausible genocide of the Palestinian people.
Since 7 October 2023, Israel has killed over 41,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, attacked health services and other life-sustaining infrastructure, and blocked much-needed aid. Israel has purposely limited or cut off Palestinian civilians’ access to food and clean water – a war crime under international law – causing widespread starvation and disease.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel could plausibly be committing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. Under international law, this ruling obliges the UK and other countries to take urgent action to stop the genocide. So far, the UK has not acted – and continues to be complicit in Israel’s plausible genocide of the Palestinian people.
Trade is central to the UK and Israel’s close partnership. In 2023, UK-Israel trade was valued at around £7 billion, and provides resources for Israel’s 56-year occupation and apartheid regime, and acts of plausible genocide.
Since 2022, a new UK-Israel trade deal has been under negotiation. This deal would strengthen UK-Israel trade ties, further legitimise Israel’s occupation and apartheid regime, and deepen UK complicity in violations against Palestinians.
Demand that your MP calls on the UK government to take concrete steps to immediately:
• Suspend the current UK-Israel trade deal;
• Suspend negotiations for a new UK-Israel free-trade deal;
• Stop the UK-Israel trade in arms and related technology;
• Stop importing goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
