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America has distanced itself from the UK government’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel.
Labour is already under fire from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UK Jewish leaders over the move, which foreign secretary David Lammy announced in the Commons on Monday.
Netanyahu denounced the “shameful” decision, which he said would “embolden Hamas”.
Lammy told MPs the a government review had found there was a “clear risk” of the equipment being used to break international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Around 30 arms exports licences to Israel are being suspended, out of a total of around 350.
Downing Street confirmed yesterday that the government had informed the United States about its decision before Lammy announced it in the Commons.
Reacting to the UK’s decision on Tuesday night, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “There’s been no determination by the United States they have violated international humanitarian law.
“We’re going to continue to do what we have to do to support Israel’s defensive capabilities.
“We’ll let other nations decide for themselves if they’re going to support Israel and to what degree. That’s what sovereignty is all about.”
Matt Miller, a spokesman for the US Department of State, said that while Washington respected the UK’s “sovereign decision”, America would not be following suit.
He said: “The US is not going to make an assessment under the UK standard. We will make our determination based on US law.”
He added: “[The UK government] had a legal framework that they needed to apply, they applied that legal framework and it led to this decision. It’s of course appropriate for them to make their own legal judgments based on their system and their laws.”
Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has led the condemnation by UK Jews of the government’s decision, saying it “beggars belief”.
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