Dear _________________ MP,

I am deeply upset by the fact that the UK Government continues to support arms trade with Israel, making the UK complicit in Israel’s continuing violations of human rights and international law.
During the last three months of 2015, at least 130 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers and Israeli armed illegal settlers.   Such killings have continued in 2016.  Amnesty International has described Palestinian deaths as ‘extrajudicial killings’.
During Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza in July and August 2014, 2,205 Palestinians (including 521 children) were killed in what was the deadliest recent example of Israel’s indiscriminate acts of violence against the Palestinian people.
Yet UK-made weapons and military technologies continue to be sold to and used by the occupying Israeli forces. Last year, the Government admitted it had issued arms export licences for equipment which could be used by the Israeli military in Gaza, yet no licences were suspended or revoked, despite the continuing violence.

In the four months that followed the bombardment it approved at least a further £4 million worth of arms sales to Israel.
If the government’s own export guidelines (Assessment of export licence applications Guidance) were properly applied, the result would be a de facto embargo on arms exports to Israel.

At the same time, the UK imports Israeli military hardware and components and also provides training, in the UK, for Israeli military personnel. Israeli military and industry sources openly attribute the success of Israeli exports to the weapons and technologies being ‘combat proven’. This means that when the UK imports Israeli arms, it is helping Israel benefit from unlawful practices.

I would therefore ask you to do whatever you can to push the Government to impose a two-way arms embargo (i.e. an embargo on buying arms from and selling arms to) Israel. Many thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely,