Britain revokes Israel arms permits
British government cancels sale of military boat parts after review into Gaza war.
“There are no security agreements between the UK and Israel,” an embassy spokeswoman said.
“UK policy remains to assess all export licences to Israel against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.”
‘Insignificant’ change
Israel’s defence ministry had no immediate comment on the British decision.
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s foreign minister, said that the cancellations were not of any significance.
“Israel has known many cases of embargo in the past,” he told Israel Radio.
“We always knew how to get by, and there is no need to get excited about this.”
The Israeli government was internationally criticised over the high number of Palestinian civilian deaths during its 22-day war on Gaza.
At least 1,400 people, mostly women and children, died during the assault by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights estimates.
The Israeli army puts the number of civilian deaths at a third of that figure.
The Israeli government says thirteen Israelis died over the course of the war, which had the stated aim of preventing Palestinian rocket attacks into Israeli territory.