Boris Johnson urges UK to keep arming Israel and makes swipe at David Cameron

Former prime minister urges government to continue its support for Israel’s war effort despite strike which killed seven aid workers
Boris Johnson
PA Wire
John Dunne @jhdunne5 April 2024
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Boris Johnson has urged the government to keep up arms supplies to Israel despite a deadly drone strike which strike which killed seven aid workers.

The attack on World Central Kitchen workers has prompted condemnation from across the world with Rishi Sunak branding the deaths “appalling”.

Joe Biden warned continued US support was dependent on more humanitarian efforts by Israel and within hours more humanitarian corridors were opened.

In the UK some have called for arms sales to Israel to be suspended but writing in his Daily Mail Column Johnson said such a move amounted to a western “death wish”.

He wrote: “If you want an example of the death-wish of Western civilization, I give you the current proposal from members of the British establishment that this country should ban arms sales to Israel.

“If you want evidence of government madness, it appears that Foreign Office lawyers are busily canvassing the idea- which has not yet, as far as I can tell, been rejected by the foreign secretary (David Cameron) himself.”

Johnson’s swipe at Cameron comes amid a heated debate about whether to continue to allow arms exports to Israel after the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli strike.

John Chapman, James ‘Jim’ Henderson and James Kirby (World Central Kitchen/PA)

Government lawyers are considering whether Israel is in breach of international law in its Gaza campaign which has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people, the vast majority who are civilians.

Mr Johnson continued: “He (David Cameron) seems to have gone into a kind of purdah on the subject,” Johnson said of Cameron on arms exports.

Suspending military help to Israel would, he said, be “willing the military defeat of Israel and the victory of Hamas.”

Meanwhile Lord Cameron said on Friday Israel must follow up its initial report into how three British aid workers were killed with “a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency”.

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-AID
Damage to a World Central Kitchen vehicle hit by a drone
AFP via Getty Images

The UK will carefully review findings of the initial Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) report into the incident released on Friday, the Foreign Secretary added.

Three Britons were among the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers who died in airstrikes carried out by the IDF on Monday.

They were John Chapman, 57, James “Jim” Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

Israeli officials have dismissed two officers over the strikes, which were described as a “grave mistake stemming from a serious failure”.

Three other senior officers were also reprimanded for their roles in the strike, which took place in Gaza.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in