LONDON: The UK considered pausing its trade agreement with Israel last year but elected to continue the deal, Sky News reported on Thursday.
The Department for Business and Trade undertook an impact assessment last August on suspending the 2019 UK-Israel Trade Partnership Agreement, a post-Brexit continuity deal that grants preferential tax treatment to Israeli imports, allowing most of them to enter Britain without being subject to tariffs.
Impact assessments on trade policy are frequently undertaken. They explore the economic and social effects of proposed changes.
The government launched the assessment in response to Israel’s activity in Gaza and the West Bank, Sky reported. In May 2025, the UK suspended free-trade talks with Israel.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary at the time, criticized comments by Israel’s defense minister calling for “cleansing” Gaza and “destroying what’s left” in the Palestinian enclave. The comments were “repellent” and “monstrous,” Lammy said.
However, the trade deal with Israel remains in place, with Chris Bryant, the trade minister at the time, saying last October that “exports to Israel support thousands of jobs in the UK.”
Suspending preferential trade treatment with Israel “risks unpredictable consequences and significant economic disruption for British businesses,” he added.
Until now, MPs and the public were not informed about the assessment. The government has also not shared its findings.
The news was released to the public in response to a freedom-of-information request by UK-based campaign group Global Justice Now.
The undertaking of the assessment came as famine was declared in Gaza. The EU also faced mounting pressure at the time to suspend portions of its association agreement with Israel.
