More than 300 Foreign Office staff who raised concerns about potential UK “complicity” in Israel’s conduct in Gaza were told if they profoundly disagreed with government policy they could consider resigning.
The staff letter, seen by the BBC, was sent to Foreign Secretary David Lammy last month.
In it, officials questioned the UK’s continued arms sales and what they called a “stark… disregard for international law” by Israel.
The Foreign Office said it had systems for staff to raise concerns and added the government had “rigorously applied international law” in relation to the war in Gaza.
The reply to the staff letter was sent from Sir Oliver Robbins and Nick Dyer, the two most senior civil servants in the Foreign Office.
They told the signatories: “[I]f your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound your ultimate recourse is to resign from the Civil Service. This is an honourable course.”
The response was met with “outrage” according to one official who signed the letter.
“[There is] frustration and a deep sense of disappointment that the space for challenge is being further shut down,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials’ letter signed on 16 May was at least the fourth such document sent by concerned civil servants to ministers and Foreign Office managers since late 2023.
The BBC understands the signatories represent a wide range of expertise across Foreign Office departments, embassies and missions including in London and overseas.
The letters have reflected the scale of the civilian death toll in Gaza, Israel’s restrictions on aid supply and Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, among other issues.
Staff are also said to feel disquiet that many of their warnings have not been acted on, and those whose jobs it is to implement decisions could be liable in any future legal proceedings against the UK government.
The 16 May letter said: “In July 2024, staff expressed concern about Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and potential UK government complicity. In the intervening period, the reality of Israel’s disregard for international law has become more stark.”
It went on to list the killing by Israeli forces of 15 humanitarian workers in March and Israel’s suspension of all aid to Gaza in the same month “leading many experts and humanitarian organisations to accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war”.
It said the UK government’s position had contributed to “the erosion of global norms”, citing continued weapons exports and the visit to London in April by Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar “despite concerns about violations of international law”.
It added that, “supported by the Trump administration, the Israeli government has made explicit plans for the forcible transfer of Gaza’s population”.
In their response on 29 May, Sir Oliver and Mr Dyer told the staff the department wanted to see “healthy challenge” as part of the policy-making process and had already set up a “bespoke Challenge Board” and regular listening sessions with employees to hear concerns in this policy area.
They wrote that officials were entitled to their personal views, but added it “might be helpful” to “remind” them of mechanisms available to those uncomfortable with policy.
It went on to list a series of ways staff could raise issues, before adding that resignation was an “ultimate recourse” and “honourable course” for those with profound disagreements over government policy.
“[T]he bargain at the heart of the British Civil Service is that we sign up to deliver the policies of the Government of the day wholeheartedly, within the limits imposed by the law and the Civil Service Code,” it said.
A former official who saw the correspondence described the response as “obfuscation”.
“This… simply provides the government with supposed ‘plausible deniability’ for enabling breaches of international law,” said the former official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
They said that the FCDO and broader civil service seemed unable to learn the lessons of the past, referring to the 2016 Chilcot Report recommendations following the inquiry into the Iraq war.
Chilcot criticised the emergence of an “ingrained belief” within senior levels of the UK policy community over the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. His recommendations led to civil service reforms designed to challenge “groupthink” and empowering officials to speak out about policy concerns.
The UK government’s position is that Israel is “at risk” of breaching humanitarian law. Israel has previously said it operates according to international law. Palestinian rights groups have rejected this, taking evidence to several legal cases brought internationally.
In September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of around 30 arms export licenses to Israel, out of a total of about 350, citing a “clear risk” they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
It came weeks before the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant as well as the military commander of Hamas.
Israel’s government has consistently rejected allegations it has committed war crimes in Gaza, calling the ICC’s decision “antisemitic”, while the US Department of State last week announced sanctions against four ICC judges for “transgressions against the United States and Israel”.
In a statement, the FCDO said the job of civil servants was to deliver on government policies and provide professional, impartial advice as set out in the Civil Service Code.
“There are systems in place which allow them to raise concerns if they have them,” said the spokesperson. They added: “Since day one, this government has rigorously applied international law in relation to the war in Gaza. One of our first acts in government was to suspend export licences that could be used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza…
“We have suspended direct exports of F-35 parts for use by Israel, and we categorically do not export any bombs or ammunition which could be used in Gaza,” added the spokesperson.
On 19 May the UK issued a joint statement with France and Canada threatening “concrete actions” against Israel if it did not stop its renewed military offensive and lift aid restrictions.
