Summary:

The UK government should not enter into any new contracts or renew any contracts with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, or its UK subsidiary, Elbit Systems UK, including the Army Collective Training Service contract recently highlighted in the media and estimated to be valued at £2 billion.  Elbit Systems is the primary supplier of weapons and surveillance systems for the Israeli military, including drones and bombs being used in the Gaza Strip in what is described as a genocide and UK taxpayers’ funds should not be used to finance this company.

Further Information:

It is reported that the UK government is due to sign an approximately £2 billion ($2.69 billion) contract with Elbit Systems UK in order to train British troops as part of the Army Collective Training Service (1).

Elbit Systems UK is wholly owned by Elbit Systems Ltd, Israel’s largest private arms firm, thus profits from the UK arm flow back to a company complicit in what a multitude of independent experts and organisations have described as a genocide in Gaza.

The UK government has stated that genocide is a legal term, suggesting and knowing we must wait for a court ruling that will likely take years, years that Palestinians do not have and cannot afford to wait.  Yet the UK government has both enough information and a duty to act to prevent and stop genocide under the Genocide Convention, which the UK is a signatory to.

Organisations that have referred to the assault on Gaza as a genocide or acts of genocide include but are not limited to: the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The International Association of Genocide Scholars, The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, The US Centre for Constitutional Rights, Médicins Sans Frontières and the Israeli human rights organisations, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.  Genocide Watch has described Israel as executing stage 8 in a genocidal process of 10 stages.

Governments of other countries are acting.  South Africa has taken up a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which has initially ruled that it is plausible that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and issued provisional measures while the case is ongoing.

Governments of numerous countries have expressed that genocide is occurring in Gaza and/or asserted their support for South Africa bringing the case for genocide, for example, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Turkiye.  Some of these countries have requested to intervene in the case at the ICJ and others are working to sanction the Israeli government and halt arms trade.  Numerous governments have taken more decisive action than the UK government.

Meanwhile there is an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel, for ‘war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts’ (2).

At a time when the UK government should at least be divesting from companies that are complicit in apparent genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, it is both inappropriate to use taxpayers’ funds and a stain on our country’s history to contract with companies that have supported the assault on Gaza both directly or indirectly.

While Elbit Systems UK has tried to distance itself from its Israel-based parent company, evidence presented in court and assertions made by the Israeli ambassador demonstrate that it plays an integral role in Israel’s defence industry (3).

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine has previously stated that ‘for Israeli companies such as Elbit Systems… the ongoing genocide has been a profitable venture’ (4).

According to Middle East Eye, ‘Elbit Systems provides around 85 percent of Israel’s drones and land-based military equipment, and has played a major role in supplying Israel with weaponry for its genocide in Gaza’ (1).

Drones and AI-assisted drone targeting have played a critical role in what have been asserted to be systematic acts of genocide in Gaza, for example following and targeting individuals in their homes and tents with their families (5,6).

Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the direct actions of Elbit System staff in genocide.  According the the United Nations, Elbit Systems has key staff embedded in the Israeli Minstry of Defense (4).

Additionally, during an investor conference call on the 18th of March 2025, Elbit Systems President & CEO, Butzi Machlis, expressed how Elbit Systems staff work alongside the IDF ‘during combat’.

The CEO explained:

“A year and a half into the conflict, Elbit remains a key strategic partner for the IDF. Over the past year, the company has demonstrated its ability to scale up production massively and meet customer demands while maintaining a strong presence alongside the IDF, upgrading systems in real-time during combat. Numerous new technological capabilities were introduced for the first time, leading to the expansion of existing and new contracts, as well as significant international interest” (7).

This allows for us to see how Elbit Systems has profited from what has amounted to the killing of Palestinians on an industrial scale and why some action groups are calling for legal investigation (8). 

Elbit Systems is also accused of partnering with other firms to develop high-tech and automated bulldozers that have been used in the settler colonial destruction of Palestinian homes and associated killing of Palestinians (4).

This history has influenced large Japanese corporations, Itochu and NAS, to cancel in February 2025 a memorandum of understanding for a joint project with Elbit Systems, with Itochu announcing that it planned ‘to end the collaboration after the World Court Ordered Israel…to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians…’ (9).

In early 2025, following public protests against genocide in Gaza, the government of Brazil reportedly canceled a contract for ATMOS artillery with Elbit Systems and declared that no new contracts will be entered into until a peace deal is made (10).

The UK cannot partner with a company, including its UK subsidiary, that has proven so vital to Israeli authorities’ alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and evidence of genocide and can follow the path already being set by those of conscience to cease trade with Elbit Systems.

References:

1. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-close-giving-israels-largest-arms-company-ps2bn-contract-train-troops
2. https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu
3. https://aoav.org.uk/2025/concern-as-mod-reportedly-poised-to-hand-2bn-training-deal-to-elbit-israels-largest-arms-firm/
4. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/advance-version/a-hrc-59-23-aev.pdf
5. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/gaza-un-experts-deplore-use-purported-ai-commit-domicide-gaza-call
6. https://aoav.org.uk/2024/the-ohchr-report-on-gaza-insights-flaws-and-the-wheres-daddy-programme/
7. https://uk.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ELBIT-SYSTEMS-LTD-56536814/news/Elbit-Investor-Presentation-q4-24-full-transcript-49547367/
8. https://resistancekitchen.uk/demand-criminal-investigation-into-elbit-systems
9. https://www.reuters.com/business/japans-itochu-end-cooperation-with-israels-elbit-over-gaza-war-2024-02-05/
10. https://bdsmovement.net/news/elbit-systems-war-criminals-and-genocidaires-face-financial-woes