UK sale of F-35 fighter jet parts used by Israel ruled legal by High Court

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The UK High Court has ruled that the government’s decision to keep making available F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel through a global pool of components is legal, despite a wider ban on arms sales to the country following the Netanyahu government’s actions in Gaza.

Campaigners at Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq had taken legal action against the Department for Business and Trade over the UK’s supply of critical parts for the combat aircraft.

The UK does not sell F-35 components directly to Israel, but has continued to supply them to a global pool of parts that Israel has access to. The UK has cited national security needs and that of its allies in the F-35 programme — which was challenged in court on the grounds they may be used to breach international humanitarian law.

The court on Monday ruled that the “acutely sensitive and political issue” was “a matter for the executive which is democratically accountable to parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts”.

This is a developing story