Britain’s decision to suspend 30 export licences for defence equipment for Israel is symbolic as much as practical — but it is a potent symbol at that. In all there are 350 such licences for defence equipment — and Britain supplies only about one per cent of Israel’s defence imports.
It’s the political message that’s important — as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to point out. This “shameful” and “misguided” decision “will only embolden Hamas”, he said.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary and a lawyer, said the exports were being blocked as they could be used for offensive, and not defensive, actions. By implication they could cause unwarranted harm to civilians. This is against humanitarian law.
The story is one of what’s fair and unfair in today’s annals of war, law and politics
The story is one of what’s fair and unfair in today’s annals of war, law and politics. To date, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health authority, 40,800 Palestinians have been killed in more than 300 days of war in Gaza. And there is growing concern about the rising violence in the West Bank.
The argument from Netanyahu and his hardline allies in Israel that the aim of eradicating Hamas and its extremist allies trumps other considerations is wearing thin — even among cabinet members in the government and commanders of the Israel Defence Forces. Here there is an odd similarity with the current political trajectory of Vladimir Putin. Both leaders thrive and survive as long as their wars continue.
Laws have accompanied wars practically since armies were formed and tribes, clans and chieftains fought each other. The legal norms and conventions had a sharp upgrade with the advent of industrial warfare two centuries ago — with the introduction of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and the Hague and Geneva conventions.
The end of the Second World War led to the retooling of the conventions and norms that are the basis of what we refer to today as the “rules-based order”. The foundation document, in spirit if not legal fact, is the UN Charter, and Charter of Human Rights — constantly refashioned to address nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Lord Ricketts, former national security adviser, welcomed the export restrictions, though he realised they would have little impact on the fighting in Gaza and the West Bank. “About time, too,” he told the BBC, citing what he considered the unwarranted killing of aid workers in Gaza.
Law and politics are inextricably tangled in any modern conflict — as seen in Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan and Somalia. The law can be a powerful tool, but in the end, as the great Prussian Clausewitz explained, all conflicts end in politics — one way or another — and however much the current combatants may try to ignore it.
