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Government considered suspending UK-Israel trade agreement last year, FOI shows
An impact assessment was undertaken by the Department for Business and Trade. Free trade talks, initiated by the Conservatives, were shelved by Labour last year
The British government is understood to have considered whether to suspend its trade partnership agreement with Israel last year, as one of a range of possible responses to the Israeli government’s policy in both Gaza and the West Bank.
As reported by Sky News, a freedom of information request revealed that last August the Department for Business and Trade undertook an impact assessment regarding whether to suspend the agreement between the two countries.
Since Brexit, the UK has signed dozens of trade deals with different nations, including Israel. Under the Conservatives, the UK was also seeking to negotiate a further, free trade agreement with Israel, similar to ones it has with countries such as Canada, Australia, Japan and Mexico.
However, the Labour government suspended free trade talks with Israel last year, after the then-Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, criticised Israel’ actions in Gaza and condemned comments made by Israel’s finance minister which called for relocating Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries, which Lammy described as “monstrous”. In response, Oren Marmorstein, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson and a former Deputy ambassador to the UK, said: “If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy, that is its own prerogative. External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”
The government did not inform Parliament at the time that it was actively considering suspending its current trade partnership. As reported by Sky, later in 2025, the trade minister at the time, Chris Bryant, told Parliament that “exports to Israel support thousands of jobs in the UK”, subsequently responding to a written question saying that suspending the preferential trade agreement “risks unpredictable consequences and significant economic disruption for British businesses”.
It is understood that the new Prime Minister is considering taking a tougher line on Israel than previous governments, although at the time of writing this has been limited to critical rhetoric from several Cabinet Ministers.
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