UK attorney general urges for distinction between ‘offensive’, ‘defensive’ weapons being sent to Israel

The British prime minister’s most senior legal adviser has intervened in the United Kingdom’s pending decision over the possible banning of arms sales to Israel, amid disputes on whether such weapons are classified as offensive or defensive.

According to unnamed sources cited by the Guardian newspaper, Britain’s Attorney General Richard Hermer told officials at the UK’s Foreign Office they must be certain that weapons sold to Israel are not used to violate international humanitarian law, and that he will not approve a ban on such sales until a differentiation has clearly been made between the types of arms and their purposes.

Hermer’s intervention comes after British Foreign Secretary David Lammy launched a review into whether the UK should continue arms sales to Israel amid the occupation’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip and the war crimes Israeli forces are perpetrating there, with a focus on banning the “offensive” weapons while maintaining the supply of “defensive” ones.

According to the newspaper, a spokesperson for the Foreign Office simply stated that the “government is committed to upholding international law. We have made clear that we will not export items if they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

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It highlighted the “ongoing review process to assess whether Israel is complying with international humanitarian law, which the foreign secretary initiated on day one in office. We will provide an update as soon as that review process has been completed.”

Although Lammy was expected to announce the results of the review before MPs departed for their summer break, that has been delayed specifically due to the fact that senior government figures are still uncertain over their ability to defend their distinction between offensive and defensive in court.

With the UK exporting around £18 million ($23.8 million) worth of military equipment to Israel per year, a ban on some of those sales is expected to further anger Israel and its government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is already reportedly upset over the UK’s decision last month to drop its objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants against him and other Israeli officials.

As part of the review, British officials are reportedly perusing each individual type of weapons system in an attempt to determine the purpose of their use.

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