‘10,589 percent rise’: UK purchases of Israel arms spiked massively during genocide

The UK bought massive amounts of Israel’s military gear between 2023 and 2025 — the most intense years of the genocide. UN figures show a spike of 10,589 percent in Israeli imports with the British police and military being major recipients.

Israel has been found, by the UN, to have committed genocide against Palestinians. Declassified UK reported:

Figures from the UN Comtrade database show that UK imports from Israel of arms, ammunition and related parts increased from just £55,000 in 2023 to almost £5.9 million in 2025.

That is equivalent to around a 10,589 percent rise during two years in which Israel was found by a UN commission to have committed genocide in Gaza, claims it has denied.

👉 NEW — Revealed: Israeli arms imports to UK surged during Gaza war

By Akhil Ranjan & @iainoverton

UN trade data shows value of military goods from Israel to UK increased by a factor of more than 100 between 2023 and 2025https://t.co/qzKeqGEApA

— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) June 18, 2026

Where the imports ended up is not totally clear:

The figures represent imports into the UK as a whole rather than government spending, so customers could include both public and private end-users.

However:

The British army and police forces would appear to be among the purchasers, having announced they were spending tens of millions of pounds on Israeli weaponry during the two-year period.

The UK government has faced strong pressure from campaigners to distance itself from the settler-colonial state.

Oxfam policy advisor Martin Butcher said:

It is appalling that the UK has so sharply increased purchases from Israel, boosting Israeli profits and therefore helping pay for the Gaza genocide and risking complicity.

Israel’s Elbit, Rafael and other death firms are named

The report, written by journalists Akhil Ranjan and Iain Overton, found that the big names in the Israeli war industry were all involved:

The figures will include the 2023 contract which Israeli defence company Elbit Systems secured to provide drones, surveillance radar systems and training technology to the British Army.

The same year, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems signed a £20m deal to equip Britain’s Challenger 3 tanks with its Trophy active protection system.

And:

In 2024, Israeli surveillance companies supplied technology to British police forces, while drone manufacturer XTend received a £1.93m Ministry of Defence order.

The spike in trade came despite a UK ban on Israel attending DSEI, the UK’s biggest arms show, in 2025.

The UK keeps arms figures very quiet

The investigators found the UK government:

does not appear to publish a readily accessible record of arms imports from Israel. Searches of the UK’s official trade data portal returned no import figures that corresponded with the UN data.

However:

Other data sets such as Trading Economics show the same rise in UK imports of Israeli military goods.

And there has also been a global rise in Israeli arms imports:

Globally, the UN data showed that Israeli exports of arms and ammunition have increased substantially in recent years, rising from £1.05 billion in 2021 to £1.83bn in 2025 , their highest level on record.

The UK has supported the Israeli killing machine from the off. From spy flights over Gaza and military training for Israeli personnel through to arms deals, there is no sense that the British government has learned any lessons or shown any accountability. What we get is rhetoric — what we need is full divestment.

Featured image via Declassified