More than 300 Foreign Office staff have been told to consider resigning after they raised concerns over Britain’s support for Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.
In a letter sent to Foreign Secretary David Lammy on May 16, the officials questioned the UK government’s continued arms sales to Israel.
To the signatories of the letter, the Foreign Office said if their “disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound,” their “ultimate recourse is to resign from the Civil Service.”
“This is an honorable course,” it added.
The response was met with “outrage,” according to one official who signed the letter. A former official who saw the correspondence also described the response as “obfuscation.”
[There is] frustration and a deep sense of disappointment that the space for challenge is being further shut down,” said the official.
The signatories represent a wide range of expertise across Foreign Office departments, embassies and missions, including in London and overseas, according to the BBC.
In the latter, the officials questioned the UK government’s continued arms sales to Israel and Tel Aviv’s “stark … disregard for international law.”
The officials also called for a suspension of the free trade deal with Israel, a complete suspension of arms sales, the publication of legal advice to ministers, and an evidence-based review of the UK government’s response to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
They also warned that there would be an impact on the UK’s reputation if it maintained its existing relationship with Israel.
In its response to the letter, the Foreign Office said the government’s position is that Israel is “at risk” of breaching humanitarian law, the threshold for barring arms exports, but it says it is for international courts to determine if breaches of international law have occurred, which will not be fully determined for many years.
The UK government has come under fire for making “exceptions” to its partial suspension of arms export licenses to Israel, specifically allowing the continued shipment of components for F-35 fighter jets.
The carve-out of F-35s from the ban on UK arms sales to Israel is being tested in the high court by the NGOs Global Legal Action Network and Al-Haq.
A case in the UK High Court raised serious concerns in May that Britain may be complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as it continues to supply weapons and military components, most notably for F-35 fighter jets, used in attacks that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
