Despite genocide, Boris Johnson says arms ban on 'Israel' 'insane'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Apr 2024 00:06

The former UK PM criticizes David Cameron for not weighing in on the debate over reducing UK military supplies to the occupation.

Boris Johnson leaves his house in London on March 22, 2023 (AP)

According to Boris Johnson, prohibiting arms shipments to "Israel" would be "insane".

After Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed three British relief workers affiliated with the World Central Kitchen this week, over 600 British lawyers, academics, and retired senior judges, including three Supreme Court justices, have urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to end military aid and consider sanctions against top Israeli leaders.

The rebellion is evident across major political parties, with the Labour Party experiencing internal turmoil as London's mayor and 50 Labour MPs called for an end to arming an entity increasingly exposed for its actions. Mayor Sadiq Khan emphasized the need to hold the Israeli government accountable and insisted that arms sales to "Israel" be paused immediately.

The dissent is spreading across major political parties, including the Liberal Democrats, who recently urged No. 10's ethics advisor to investigate whether UK arms sales violate Britain's ministerial code, emphasizing the importance of not being complicit in breaches of international humanitarian law, as reported by The Guardian.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, while attempting to unify his party on this issue, has only demanded the release of the legal advice mentioned in leaked audio recordings.

In 2023, Britain exported £42 million worth of weapons to "Israel", with figures since October 7 last year yet to be disclosed. A British decision to break ties with "Israel" over Gaza would carry significant political implications beyond the monetary value of arms transfers.

Johnson wrote in the Daily Mail, that although the attacks on the convoy were "shattering", the IOF was attempting to use "precise munitions".

According to the former Prime Minister, the greatest fear is not the death of thousands of innocent Palestinians or even the death of foreign aid workers from his own country but rather the greatest tragedy "if Britain and the US crumble," is that the meek Israelis will be prevented from conducting a ground incursion into Rafah.

Truly tragic, as this would deter them from achieving their "objective" of obliterating Hamas, according to Johnson.

Touting Israeli propaganda and talking points, he criticized MPs' demand for defunding the occupation and called the Palestinian Resistance a "bunch of murderers and rapists" and sympathized with the Israelis who, according to him, have suffered "the biggest and most horrifying massacre of Jewish people since world war two.”

This would make the banning of sales of munitions to "Israel" “insane” and “shameful".

“The sooner the government formally denounces the idea, the better,” he said.

David Cameron, the former Prime Minister, current Foreign Secretary, and potential future Tory leader, is allegedly facing pressure from within the party from those labeled as "extremists" due to his perceived lack of unwavering support for "Israel". Despite previously referring to Gaza as an "open-air prison" during his tenure as PM, Cameron's criticism has become more tempered. However, he is reportedly experiencing internal party pressure as a result.

Johnson expressed that Cameron was in a "purdah on the subject."