British sale of F-35 jet parts to Israel is lawful, judges rule

Britain's decision to allow the export of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel, despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza, was lawful, London's high court has ruled.

- Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

The ruling, after more than 20 months of litigation, will be a relief to ministers who feared that if the court declared the sale of F-35 parts illegal, British involvement in the highly lucrative Lockheed Martin F-35 consortium would be put at risk.

In a 72-page comprehensive ruling Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn said they had rejected all the grounds of challenge to a government decision in September to suspend 30 arms export licences to Israel, but to continue to sell F-35 parts to Israel via a global supply pool.

The government argued disruption to the F-35 supply chain would weaken the west and Nato at an acutely sensitive moment. The UK provides about 16% of the parts for the F-35s, and the court was told in closed session that the Lockheed Martin global pool was not structured to permit the UK to insist its parts were withheld from Israel F-35s.