Israel: Trade

Baroness Altmann Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Altmann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Austin both on securing this debate and on his excellent introduction. I must thank from the bottom of my heart my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, for his remarks just now, which have almost brought me to tears. I declare my interest as a member of various APPGs on Britain and Israel and British Jews, and I associate myself fully with the remarks made by the noble Lords, Lord Leigh and Lord Livingston, on the BDS issue.

There are many important areas in which Israeli trade contributes significantly to the UK and helps improve our future economic growth. In my allotted time for today, I will focus on three vital issues: Israel’s contribution to our health, technological advances and security.

On health, as the noble Lord, Lord Stevens, explained, Israel supplies many medicines for the NHS and saves this country significant sums. There is a long history of co-operation between Israel and the UK on national and international health challenges. For example, the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humberside NHS Trust is working with the Israeli firm Taliaz, with its AI technology supporting mental health patients; that is just one small example. Israel is a recognised global leader in digital health, biotech and medical innovations, as we have heard from other noble Lords. We have much to learn from the advances that Israel continues to make. I ask the Minister: how do the Government plan to expand scientific, medical and commercial co-operation with Israel to ensure that its breakthroughs directly support UK healthcare and bolster the NHS?

In science and technology, including environmental tech, Israeli innovation is world-renowned. Its advances can help the UK. As a global leader in fields ranging from sophisticated air traffic control systems to high-level security, it has developed improvements in sectors such as clean energy, the creative industries, life sciences, digital technology and services, which are core areas of the Government’s 10-year plan to boost the UK’s economy and productivity. Since these are such important areas of our plan for growth, does the Minister agree with me that closer co-operation with Israel can accelerate UK technological leadership, helping the Government meet their industrial strategy and growth goals even faster?

Lastly, on national security, including intelligence sharing and counterterrorism, Israel makes a positive contribution to the UK. Past Governments built a strong defence partnership and developed close co-operation on counterterrorism and cyber security, with Israeli experts playing an important role in defending our country against bad actors. In that connection, I repeat that it is an extreme disappointment that our Government have suspended some of our trade with Israel—and only Israel—on what I consider spurious grounds. There are hints of antisemitism. Given that both nations face increasingly complex security challenges, does the Minister agree that Israel-UK trade and co-operation can offer significant potential for boosting UK growth, innovation, intelligence collaboration and the joint development of advanced capabilities?