CAMPAIGNING AND PRAYING

For SOCIAL JUSTICE

Autumn 2026-Arms to Israel campaign update

Autumn 2026-Arms to Israel campaign update

Arms to Israel: The Door Half-Closed

 Autumn 2026: Arms to Israel campaign update (September/October/November 2026)

“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the commentary thereof – go and learn it.” (Hillel the Elder, 1st century Jewish sage, Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

Previous campaign

In December 2024 and again in January 2025, we asked you to write to your MP. We called for the ceasefire to be sustained and for UK arms sales to Israel to be suspended. At that point the UK had suspended only around 30 of roughly 350 arms licences to Israel, and it had deliberately exempted parts for the F-35 fighter jets being used to bomb Gaza (1). Last October, our Pray and Post added calls to close the F-35 loophole and keep Israeli arms companies out of UK arms fairs (3).

Many of you wrote, prayed and kept going. Nearly two years later there has been real movement, although the most important door is still open.

The ceasefire we prayed for came in October 2025. But by mid-July 2026, more than 1,100 Palestinians had been killed since the October 2025 ceasefire began (4). The arms have kept flowing too. In January 2025 we reported that the UK had licensed £442m of arms to Israel since 2015 (2). Oxfam now puts the figure at more than £500m, and that excludes the open licences the government doesn’t report (5). The need to stop arming this violence has not gone away.

What changed on 8 September

Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government set out its strongest action yet (6). Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that the UK now regards Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory as unlawful. This follows the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. He also admitted the UK “should have acted earlier” (7).

The package includes:

 

    • A ban on importing goods from illegal settlements. It comes with new powers to sanction companies and individuals who provide construction, finance or real estate services for settlement expansion (6).

    • A ban on advertising settlement land and property in the UK (6).

    • Sanctions on five more violent settlers, including asset freezes and travel bans. This brings the total sanctioned to 38 (6, 8).

    • A new arms “double lock”. The UK will refuse any licence for exports that materially contribute to the occupation, for as long as the occupation lasts (7).

The Prime Minister called the suffering of Palestinians “a scar on the conscience of the world” (6).

This did not happen by accident. It is the fruit of letters, vigils, petitions and prayers across a whole movement, including yours. Oxfam has called it a welcome first step (9), and we give thanks for it, but there’s more to do.

What hasn’t changed

“Woe to those who make unjust laws” Isaiah 10:1

 Look closely at the arms measures. The government has confirmed that no additional licences have been revoked since 8 September. It says the relevant licences were already suspended in 2024 (7). In practice, the double lock locks a door that was already shut, while the biggest one stays open.

 As the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has warned (10), several gaps remain:

 

    • The F-35 carve-out remains. About 15% of every F-35 is made in Britain (11), including the rear fuselage, ejector seats and laser targeting system (5). CAAT estimates the value of UK components in Israel’s F-35s at well over £500m. UK single licences to Israel were worth £634m from January 2015 to March 2025, not counting F-35 components which are exported mostly through open licences that the public cannot see (10).

    • “Incorporation” licences may not be covered. These are parts sent to Israel, in theory to be built into systems for other countries. They made up most of the UK’s single licences to Israel in 2025, and no one tracks where they end up (10).

    • Training and intelligence continue. Components made by Moog UK for the M-346, the last training jet Israeli pilots fly before F-35s and F-16s, have stayed licensed throughout (12). The UK also still trains Israeli military personnel and shares intelligence from surveillance flights over Gaza (5).

    • Nobody is checking. After the 2024 suspension, new licences surged. In late 2024, £127.6m was licensed in three months, more than in 2020 to 2023 combined. Drone parts meant for Romania stayed in Israel. A UK shipment bound for Israel was seized in Belgium, and not one UK licence was reviewed as a result (13).

    • The clock is ticking. The settlement sanctions will take six to nine months to come into force (7). Meanwhile, bids for the first tender to build the E1 mega-settlement, which would cut the West Bank in two, close on 19 October. A second tender for the remaining homes opens days later (10, 14). And the new rules target trade, not the money: War on Want found that £74bn flowed from the UK to businesses linked to settlements between 2021 and 2024 (15, 16).

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers…” Ephesians 6:12

The UK has done this before

A full embargo is not a radical ask. The UK suspended twelve licences to Israel in 2014 and revoked licences for naval guns in 2009. In earlier decades, during escalations from the 1950s to the early 2000s, it imposed complete arms embargoes. It also halted sales to Saudi Arabia in 2019 after a court ruling (5). The government knows how to do this. It simply hasn’t chosen to yet.

“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:14

Pray · Post · Persist

 

    1. Pray

 

    • Give thanks for every step toward justice, and for campaigners who refused to stay silent.

    • Pray for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank facing hunger, displacement and settler violence.

    • Pray for Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband and MPs to match strong words with full action.

    • Pray, as we did in January 2025, for peace among the children of Abraham, and for dialogue that sees every neighbour’s dignity.

 

    1. Post: write to your MP

Our asks have been updated to follow the government’s new framework and the UK’s duty under the Geneva Conventions to ensure respect for international humanitarian law (18). Ask your MP to press for:

 

    1. A full, two-way arms embargo on Israel that closes the F-35 carve-out and ends military training and intelligence support.

    1. Public confirmation that the double lock covers incorporation licences and trainer aircraft components, including the M-346.

    1. Proper monitoring of where UK arms end up, and a precautionary approach instead of waiting for proof of violations.

    1. Immediate action to stop UK companies bidding for E1 tenders, starting before 19 October, and extending the settlement ban to all services and investment.

    1. No Israeli arms companies or delegations at DSEI 2027 or any other UK arms fair.Persist

 

    • Share this blog and pray with your church, CU or SPEAK group.

“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 22:21

Letter template

Write via www.writetothem.com, or print and send to your MP at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Copy the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA.

Dear [MP’s name],

I am writing as your constituent to welcome the government’s announcement of 8 September 2026. Recognising Israel’s occupation as unlawful and banning trade with illegal settlements are important steps. I am grateful for them.

However, the new “double lock” on arms exports has not led to a single additional licence being revoked. Components for Israel’s F-35 jets, which have been used extensively to bomb Gaza, are still exempt. Incorporation licences and trainer aircraft components may also fall outside the new rules. Under Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, the UK has a duty not only to respect international humanitarian law but to ensure others respect it too.

I ask you to write to the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and urge them to:

 

    1. Implement a full, two-way arms embargo on Israel that closes the F-35 carve-out and ends military training and intelligence support.

    1. Confirm publicly that the double lock covers incorporation licences and trainer aircraft components.

    1. Introduce transparent end-use monitoring of UK arms exports.

    1. Act now to stop UK companies bidding for E1 settlement tenders, and extend the settlement ban to all investment.

    1. Ensure no Israeli arms companies are invited to DSEI 2027.

The UK has suspended arms sales to Israel before, and the government has admitted it should have acted earlier this time. I urge it not to repeat that mistake on arms.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely

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