London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

UK-Israel deal reflects Britain’s ambitions in the Middle East

UK-Israel deal reflects Britain’s ambitions in the Middle East

In an effort to increase its post-Brexit geopolitical clout, London is strengthening its relations with states accused of gross human abuses.

It has been almost a year since Britain formally left the European Union. Since then, Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has come under fire for drawing closer to its human rights abusing allies, even as it promotes the mantra of a “Global Britain” that champions human rights worldwide.

On November 29, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid announced that Israel would become a “tier-one cyber partner for the UK”.

Yet Britain’s adoption of Israeli technology could have malign consequences. As the Middle East Eye reported, the UK-Israeli agreement came months after allegations that around 400 British citizens and residents were targeted with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli-based firm NSO Group, including two members of the House of Lords.

The two ministers also proclaimed their mutual desire to counteract Iran in the Middle East. This comes as the EU pursues further talks with Iran in a desperate bid to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. While Iran made further preconditions for an agreement, Britain’s siding with Israel — which staunchly opposes a renewed agreement — could now undermine London’s past support for reviving the nuclear deal.

Along with a populist vision propelling Britain’s shift towards its historic allies, Britain has also faced economic vulnerability after leaving the European Single Market last year. Thus, it has pursued hasty trade deals with other countries, including former colonies now in the Commonwealth of Nations, such as in Africa - especially Kenya and Nigeria - India and Australia. And it now seeks to bolster relations with its traditional Middle Eastern partners.

Exposing the ‘double-game’


Britain’s past stance towards Israel has often seemed perplexing. On the one hand, London has criticised Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and its actions against Palestinians. David Cameron, one of Britain’s most pro-Israel prime ministers in living memory, warned in 2010 that Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip had turned it into a “prison camp”.

Now Britain wants to maintain Israel as a key arms client, trade partner, and ally so it can have strategic influence in the Middle East. This has become more profound following Brexit. Even after the 2016 Brexit referendum, trade volume between London and Tel Aviv noticeably increased.

Meanwhile, as Israel bombed Gaza last May using cutting-edge F-35s in its campaign, the US arms company Lockheed Martin which manufactured the aircraft said that “the fingerprints of British ingenuity can be found on dozens of the aircraft's key components". The UK Defence Journal estimates them to be 15 percent British-made.

While there is much global focus on the United States’ unconditional support for Israel, it was Britain that initially facilitated the state of Israel following the 1917 Balfour Declaration, begetting the Mandate for Palestine which set the foundations for a future Jewish state in historic Palestine.

At the time, Britain’s ‘double-game’ was apparent. On the one hand, it promised Palestine to the Arab leaders of Mecca should they revolt against the Ottoman Empire, while it really intended to give the land to the Zionist movement.

Britain has subtly championed neo-imperial fantasies of its role in the Middle East, and Johnson has now pulled the rug from under this façade. Under his populist leadership, Britain has hardened its traditional support for Israel, from banning the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement from public bodies, to designating the Gaza-based Hamas party as a terrorist organisation in its entirety.

Ultimately, Britain’s strengthening of relations with Israel complements its aims to exert greater geopolitical influence in the Middle East by deepening its trade, arms sales and military cooperation with its traditional allies in the region, along with compensating for the loss of EU trade and relations.

‘Trade before torture’


Truss was Trade Secretary when she admitted that she “accidentally” sold weapons to Saudi Arabia, just after the UK’s own Court of Appeal deemed such transactions to be ‘illegal’ following the Riyadh-led intervention in Yemen, showcasing Britain’s desires to maintain ties to the Gulf despite legal issues.

After all, the Gulf is a key region in which Britain seeks to maintain modern-day influence. The UK is currently pursuing a free trade agreement with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, either individually or collectively through the GCC. The GCC is already one of the UK’s largest trading partners, with bilateral trade amounting to almost £45 billion ($60 billion) in 2019.

One controversial partner is Bahrain, where London was accused of putting “trade before torture”, after Johnson hosted Bahraini officials in Downing Street in June 2021. More recently, a Bahraini political activist, Ali Mashaimi, has staged a hunger strike outside the Bahraini Embassy in London, protesting the abuses of his 73-year-old father Hassan Mushaima and 69-year-old Dr Abduljalil al Singace, two of the many political dissidents facing alleged torture and mistreatment by the Bahraini authorities.

Despite such domestic concerns raised over Bahrain’s practices, including in the British parliament, London has empowered Manama’s monarchy, as it seeks to maintain a crucial naval base in the country. Britain’s Ambassador to Bahrain Roddy Drummond reportedly told reporters in September 2019 that British military objectives in the region “depend on the support from the Kingdom of Bahrain”.

Further highlighting the Gulf’s importance for Britain’s global ambitions, the UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in November indicated Britain’s intentions to relocate a key military base in Canada to Oman, reportedly amid Britain’s wishes to counteract Russian expansion in Ukraine. Britain evidently seeks to leverage the Middle East to project greater regional and global military power.

Brexit has not created major changes in Britain’s foreign policy, given these are historic allies and Britain has shown reluctance to address their human rights policies in the past. However, London is making more reactionary strides in its foreign policy, at the expense of British civilians and people in the Middle East, and its hardening approach towards Iran indicates it may abandon diplomacy for its geopolitical objectives.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×