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UK Chief Rabbi slams ‘terror encouraging’ arms embargo

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis says withholding arms exports “feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach” of international law in Gaza, encourages terror.

By World Israel News Staff

The Chief Rabbi of the UK slammed a recent government decision to limit arms exports to Israel, saying that the move emboldens Islamic terrorists and purports the assertion that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza violates international law.

“It beggars belief that the British government, a close strategic ally of Israel, has announced a partial suspension of arms licenses, at a time when Israel is fighting a war for its very survival on seven fronts forced upon it on the 7th October, and at the very moment when six hostages murdered in cold blood by cruel terrorists were being buried by their families,” Sir Ephraim Mirvis wrote on social media platform X.

“As Israel faces down the threat of Iran and its proxies, not just to its own people, but to all of us in the democratic west; this announcement feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of International Humanitarian Law, when in fact it is going to extraordinary lengths to uphold it. Sadly, this announcement will serve to encourage our shared enemies. It will not help to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages, nor contribute to the peaceful future we wish and pray for, for all people in the region and beyond,” he continued.

“Britain and Israel have so much to gain by standing together against our common enemies for the sake of a safer world. Surely that must be the way forward.”

The UK government issues licenses to weapons manufacturers which permit them to export weapons to Israel, rather than engaging in direct sales with Jerusalem.

Notably, the decision to issue licenses comes after consultations with lawyers, who will advise the government not to grant permissions should a country be suspected of breaching humanitarian law.

UK Defense Minister John Healey attempted to downplay the significance of the decision in an interview with Times Radio on Tuesday morning.

The suspension of licenses for 30 of the 350 companies that sell weapons to the Jewish State “will not have a material impact on Israel’s security,” he claimed.