Exclusive: UK Lawyers for Israel sought Israeli help in dispute with Palestine NGOs

A pro-Israel legal advocacy group which is challenging the UK government over its partial suspension of arms sales to Israel asked the Israeli government for help to fight threatened legal action by two NGOs working in the occupied Palestinian territories, Middle East Eye can reveal.

The revelation comes after UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI) said it would seek a judicial review unless the UK government cancelled the suspension of 30 arms export licences, and separately filed a conduct complaint against the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan.

Middle East Eye has learnt that UKLFI privately approached the Israeli government to request assistance in 2019 after it had been accused of making defamatory statements by two organisations, UK-based aid charity Interpal and a West Bank-based NGO, the Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P). Threatened with legal action, UKLFI subsequently issued clarifications about both organisations in 2020.

Despite this, as a result of UKLFI’s work, Interpal - which provided humanitarian aid, education, health and community development for Palestinians in need - lost its banking facilities and gave up fundraising in 2021.