Ongoing support for trade negotiations with Israel “utterly scandalous”, says GJN

Date: 13 November 2023
Campaigns: Trade

In response to reports that UK Government support for a UK-Israel FTA is ongoing, Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now said:

“The UK Government rightly took measures to impose sanctions on Russia as it waged war on Ukraine. Yet today as Israel’s war on Palestine continues, killing civilians with impunity, party officials in both the Conservative and Labour parties have stated their ongoing support for deep free trade negotiations with Israel.

This further blanket endorsement of Israel – a state committing what UN officials and over 800 academic experts have referred to as a potential genocide – is utterly scandalous. Enough is enough: the UK needs to use its position of considerable influence to call for an end to the violence. A minimum we would expect is our government to scrap future trade talks, as a starting point for the sort of sanctions for a government engaged in daily war crimes.”