Israel is considering withdrawing defence and security co-operation with the UK if Sir Keir Starmer goes ahead with recognising Palestine, in a move that could undermine national security.
Diplomatic sources have told The Times that Binyamin Netanyahu’s government is examining the response as one of a range of options if Britain presses ahead with Palestinian recognition next month.
An official warned that Britain and other countries considering diplomatic recognition should “carefully consider” the consequences of such a move.
Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week
COHEN-MAGEN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Another diplomatic source said: “London needs to be careful because Bibi [Netanyahu] and his ministers have cards they could play too. Israel values its partnership with the UK but recent decisions mean it is coming under pressure and the UK has a lot to lose if Israel’s government decides to take steps in response.”
Israel has reacted furiously to the decision by Starmer, accusing him of handing Hamas a “prize for terror” by going ahead with recognition outside of a peace process and before the remaining hostages are released. Starmer has said Britain will recognise the state of Palestine next month unless Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire and signs up to a long-term peace process.
On Thursday Netanyahu said he intended to take control of all of Gaza but did “not want to keep it” as he convened a meeting with his security cabinet to discuss a complete military takeover.
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Withdrawing defence and security co-operation with Britain would have significant economic and security implications for both countries, experts warned.
Over the past couple of years, Israel intelligence has provided crucial information to Britain’s spy agencies about Iranian-backed threats in the UK, which now pose as big a threat to Britain as Russia.
Intelligence from Mossad, Israel’s national spy agency, is understood to have passed crucial information to its British counterparts that thwarted an alleged Iranian-linked terrorist plot on the Israeli embassy in London. It led to two of the largest counterterror raids in the UK in recent years, when five men were arrested in connection to the alleged plan to target the embassy in Kensington, west London.
The UK has also made use of Israeli-made drones for surveillance operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israeli defence equipment has been credited with saving the lives of British soldiers during military conflict with both countries.
Sir Keir Starmer
TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Defence co-operation is also deeply ingrained between the two countries; Israeli companies sell weapons systems, parts and software to British companies such as BAE.
Israeli firms are deeply integrated in the British defence industry’s supply chains and account for a substantial chunk of the overall trading partnership between the two countries, which is worth £6 billion and supports 38,000 jobs.
Members of the Israeli government are said to be split over whether to cut ties with Britain. Some warn that it would have a detrimental impact on the Israeli economy and end the assistance being provided by the British military to fly RAF aircraft over Gaza to help find missing hostages.
Other British assets in the region are being handed over to the Israeli military so it has real-time information on the movement of captured Israelis.
Pulling defence co-operation would also have a significant economic impact to the Israeli economy because its exports far outweigh imports in the industry.
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Britain also continues to supply spare parts for F-35 fighter jets despite suspending other export licences to Israel where the equipment was used to commit or facilitate violations of international law in Gaza.
The Israeli embassy in London cautioned that any recognition of a Palestinian state in effect rewarded Hamas, but declined to comment on the consideration of intelligence ties until September.
An embassy official told The Times: “This counterproductive move will certainly not contribute to deepening the mutually beneficial relations between Israel and those who advance this ill faith agenda.”
The move would mark an all-time low for British-Israeli relations, which have come under significant strain since the Labour government suspended some export licences to Israel in September and in June the UK sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers.
The UK and Israel have collaborated on intelligence sharing for decades, beginning before the creation of the state of Israel and the recruitment of Jewish informants during the Mandate era in Palestine, which included code-breaking, counter-insurgency and surveillance.
Experts predicted that Israel would not go ahead with plans to pull defence co-operation given the extent of mutual intelligence sharing as well as the economic implications and said it was more likely to be used as a threat in an attempt to force a change of mind on Palestinian statehood.
The Foreign Office was approached for comment.