‘Use trade talks with Israel as leverage’, government urged

UK officials continue to promote trade and investment with Israel while it is massacring Palestinians.

The British government is being urged to halt its trade negotiations with Israel as it continues to bombard and blockade Gaza.

Chris Law MP, the Scottish National Party’s spokesman on international trade, has accused Labour of acting “as if it is business as usual” after it sent a UK trade envoy to Israel.

Keir Starmer’s trade commissioner for Europe, Chris Barton, visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem between 24-27 March “to discuss a range of trade matters”, the government has said.

Barton’s visit coincided with Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on 25 March that killed at least 23 Palestinians.

On the same day, the Israeli military expanded evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents across Gaza.

The Israeli strikes followed the resumption of its military campaign against Hamas a week previously, shattering a two-month ceasefire.

By the time of Barton’s visit, Israel had bombarded Gaza for the eighth consecutive day, killing nearly 700 people since the end of the ceasefire.

“The latest offensive has been among the deadliest since the conflict began 17 months ago”, Reuters reported.

Barton’s visit also coincided with Palestinians in Gaza facing worsening shortages of food and water after Israel had suspended aid deliveries earlier in the month.

Information about the trade envoy’s visit was provided in response to a freedom of information (FOI) request. This also noted a trip to Israel by another UK trade official, James Clarke, on 4 and 5 February.

Clarke is Britain’s top diplomat negotiating a free trade agreement with Tel Aviv, a process initiated by the Conservative government in 2022.

The Business department stated that Clarke, accompanied by a junior official, met Israeli government officials in Jerusalem “to discuss a range of trade matters”.

This visit took place while the Gaza ceasefire was nominally still in effect, by which time over 47,000 Palestinians had been killed since October 2023, the UN reported.

Dundee Central MP Chris Law said: “Whilst civilians in Gaza are once again bearing the brunt of Israel’s renewed assaults, the UK Government shows that it is more than willing to set the conflict aside and act as if it is business as usual.

“Gazans have had to withstand weeks of intense bombardment and a cessation of incoming aid assistance, yet these trade talks continue unabated. The UK Government should be doing all they can to urge an immediate end to the conflict – and this should include using these trade discussions as leverage.

“Ministers must detail precisely what was discussed at these meetings and prove that they are willing to take serious steps to urge an end to this conflict.”

‘Heinous war crimes’

Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, said: “Most people will be horrified that our government is prioritising a trade deal with a country engaged in the most heinous war crimes.

“But rather than doing the right thing, Starmer’s government is trying to deepen our links with those bits of the Israeli economy most complicit in the atrocities in Gaza through a trade deal focussed on sectors like high tech and security. This in turn deepens the complicity of our government with these war crimes”.

Barton previously visited Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Netanya and Jerusalem during 7-9 May 2024 “to promote and discuss trade and investment”, the Business department said in its FOI response.

The envoy leads a team of over 300 staff in 34 countries across Europe, dedicated to improving market access for UK companies.

The UK government has repeatedly rejected calls to suspend trade negotiations with Israel during the war in Gaza, and does not ban trade in goods from the illegally occupied settlements in the West Bank.

Business minister Douglas Alexander told parliament on 9 April: “We believe that having strong diplomatic and economic relationships with partners allows us to have frank discussions on important issues.”

Alexander says the UK’s priorities for trade with Israel “include infrastructure (construction and energy), healthcare (medicinal and pharmaceutical products), food and drink, financial and professional services”.

UK trade with Israel is relatively small, at 0.3 percent of all trade, and is Britain’s 46th largest trading partner.