THE British government has reached “peak genocide complicity,” campaigners have warned after it emerged that 51 Israeli companies will exhibit at next week’s Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair.

The biennial event, opening on Tuesday at the ExCel centre in east London’s Docklands, will host Israel’s three largest weapons firms — Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries — despite the government refusing to invite an official Israeli delegation to the fair.

A recent Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) report says Britain is “deeply complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” highlighting this country’s involvement in the F-35 fighter jet programme.

The jets, which Israel has used to drop 2,000lb bombs on Gaza, have brought British companies an estimated £572 million since 2016 through contracts and spare parts.

Prime contractor Lockheed Martin and subcontractor BAE Systems will also exhibit at DSEI.

The campaign group also has found that nine of the 10 companies, or their parent firms, with licences for the largest recent arms exports to Israel will be represented at the fair.

CAAT’s Emily Apple said: “This government keeps insisting it is doing everything in its power to hold the Israeli government to account for its actions.

“This information shows this is an outrageous and offensive lie. It has reached peak complicity in genocide in allowing 51 Israeli arms companies to exhibit at DSEI.

“It is allowing companies to market their genocide tested weapons to human rights-abusing countries around the world. The people who run these companies are war criminals.

“They should be investigated for crimes against humanity, not invited to profit from the unspeakable devastation they have caused in Gaza.”

Ms Apple said that the arms companies, in supplying the Israeli military, were “facilitating and profiting from Israel bombing hospitals, killing journalists and deliberately starving babies.

“These are not the actions of a government committed to taking action against Israel,” she said. “These are the actions of a government deeply complicit in a genocide.

“It is clear that our government will not do anything that disrupts the profits of arms dealers.

“It is therefore down to campaigners across the country coming together to take action to uphold international law on the streets of east London.”

A government spokesperson said: ‘The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong.

“As a result, we can confirm that no Israeli government delegation will be invited to attend DSEI UK 2025.

"There must be a diplomatic solution to end this war now, with an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza."