UK sends trade envoy to Israel despite claim of freezing talks over Gaza

The UK government is facing accusations of dishonesty over its claim to have suspended free trade negotiations with Israel, after the country’s trade envoy arrived in Tel Aviv this week to promote business ties.

Lord Ian Austin, Britain's Trade Envoy to Israel, said in a post shared by the British embassy on Monday that he was visiting "to meet businesses [and] officials to promote trade with the UK".

"Trade with Israel provides many thousands of good jobs in the UK and brings people together in the great multi-cultural democracy that is Israel," he said.

His visit comes just a week after Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the UK would halt free trade talks with Israel as part of a wider sanctions package in response to its war on Gaza and ongoing settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Chris Doyle, Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, criticised the visit, saying: "Why is the UK sending its extremist trade envoy to Israel, a man who is an apologist for war crimes, at a time when the UK has ended talks on a new free trade deal?"

The move triggered further backlash online, with UK rapper and activist Lowkey accusing Lammy of having "lied" to parliament when he announced the suspension of negotiations. 

Tribute Magazine's editor Karl Hansen said: "The pretence of accountability didn’t even last a week," and Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall called it "slightly mixed messaging".

In response, a spokesperson for the Department of Business and Trade told The New Arab: "We suspended talks with Israel on a new Free Trade Agreement because it is not possible to advance discussions with a Netanyahu government pursuing such egregious policies in Gaza and the West Bank."

However, the spokesperson added that "Lord Austin is in Israel this week in his capacity as Trade Envoy to maintain our relationship with Israeli businesses".

In a post on X, Lord Austin reshared an opinion piece from PoliticsHome, reiterating his commitment to boosting UK-Israel trade.

He said it remained "in our national interest", adding that the pause in formal negotiations "does not change that". He also warned that "other countries must surely be looking on and wondering whether their relations with the UK could be jeopardised by political campaigns".

Last week, Israeli officials brushed off growing criticism from European allies over its conduct in Gaza, describing statements and threats of sanctions as largely "symbolic".

Israeli media quoted officials as saying that pressure from the EU and UK was "declarative" in nature, aimed at sending political messages rather than delivering meaningful consequences.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed nearly 54,000 Palestinians since October 2023 and is increasingly being described as a genocide by legal scholars and rights advocates in the UK and abroad.

On Monday, over 800 legal professionals called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to extend sanctions on Israel over its war on Gaza, warning that Israel's action constituted genocide.