Netanyahu criticizes UK decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed a decision by the British government to suspend some arms exports to Israel over the risk that they could be used to violate international law.

In a thread on his English account on the social platform X, Netanyahu called the move “shameful” and said it would not “change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas.”

“With or without British arms, Israel will win this war,” he wrote.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government announced the suspension Monday. The move has limited military impact but it is intended to increase pressure by Israel’s frustrated allies for an end to the war in Gaza.

The United Kingdom is among a number of Israel’s longstanding allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the nearly 11-month-old conflict in Gaza. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians in its toll.

British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel compared to major suppliers such as the U.S. and Germany. But the U.K. is one of Israel’s closest allies, so the decision carries some symbolic significance.

Israel says it closely adheres to international law in its campaign against Hamas, which launched an attack that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage on Oct. 7 that sparked the war.