Relationship dossier
Israel
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
Substantial trade and security cooperation alongside persistent disputes over Gaza and settlement policy
Israel toward United Kingdom
+20Israel participates in the bilateral trade agreement with the United Kingdom and in the strategic partnership launched in 2021, providing a basis for continued economic and security cooperation.
United Kingdom toward Israel
+15The United Kingdom maintains a bilateral trade agreement and strategic partnership with Israel. It has also criticized Israeli conduct in Gaza and settlement policy, and in 2024 suspended some arms-export licences where it judged there was a risk of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Overall relationship
+20The relationship combines durable trade and strategic cooperation with recurring disputes over Israeli policy toward Palestinians. The bilateral trade agreement and strategic partnership sustain practical engagement, while UK criticism of Israeli actions and arms-export restrictions reflect meaningful political friction.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Israel and the United Kingdom maintain substantial trade and security ties, including a bilateral trade agreement and a strategic partnership. Relations also face recurring political friction over Israel’s conduct in Gaza and settlement policy. The United Kingdom has criticized Israeli actions and restricted some arms-export licences, while continuing to maintain bilateral cooperation.
Areas of tension
- Israeli military operations and humanitarian conditions in Gaza
- Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank
- UK arms-export licensing and the risk of their use in violations of international humanitarian law
Key developments
The UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement took effect, preserving bilateral trade arrangements after the UK's departure from the European Union.
The United Kingdom and Israel launched a strategic partnership covering areas including security, technology and trade.
The United Kingdom suspended some arms-export licences to Israel, citing a clear risk that certain items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Major uncertainties
- The extent and practical scope of current security cooperation are unclear.
- The longer-term effects of UK arms-export restrictions on bilateral cooperation are uncertain.