British High Court has given a ruling that the UK Government can continue to export the parts of Lockheed Martin F-35 jet to Israel. The United Kingdom contributes components for F-35s to an international defence programme that produces the bombers.
“The case is about a much more focused issue than just the jet parts. The actual issue remains whether the court can rule that UK must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration because of the prospect that some UK manufactured components will or may ultimately be supplied to Israel, and may be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law amid Gaza conflict,” said Judges Stephen Males and Karen Steyn in a 72-page ruling.
The Palestinian human rights organisation, Al-Haq, based in the West Bank, took legal action against the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in January over its decision to exempt the parts when it suspended some export licences in September last year.
The F-35 jets are critical to the UK arms industry. About 16.2% of all sub-awards in the F-35 programme have gone to UK-based manufacturers, as per some estimates.
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