UK Government announces renewal of free trade agreement talks with Israel
UK Government announces renewal of free trade agreement talks with Israel
The news will see Israel try to reinvent an EU-era agreement with the UK’s Labour Party, which recently withdrew the previous government’s objection to the ICC’s request for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu
The new British Minister of Business and Commerce, Jonathan Reynolds, has announced that the UK government will resume negotiations on free trade agreements. The announcement confirmed that the talks will be renewed with Israel and a number of other regions, including the Cooperation Council of the Gulf States, India, South Korea, Switzerland, and Turkey.
The resumption of talks led by the new Labour government is the first step towards agreeing to the quality trade deals the UK needs to enable businesses to access international markets, increase jobs, and create growth.
“Increasing trade overseas is essential to deliver a strong economy at home. That is why I did not delay in reviewing the progress and prepared to continue the trade talks with our international partners,” said Reynolds.
For Israel, it will be an opportunity to negotiate with the UK in a post-Brexit, wartime economy. The 1995 trade agreement it signed with the UK (through its EU agreement) is currently heavily swayed towards goods and almost entirely neglects services. The country may want to push to include new aspects such as tech and innovation or take advantage of Israel’s service industry which accounts for 70% of its economy.
For the UK, it agrees to renew free trade agreement talks amid a honeymoon period for the new government. However, the Keir Starmer premiership has been quick to undermine Israel so far, such as when it withdrew the Conservatives’ objection to the International Criminal Court’s request for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Trade talks are ongoing.
