LORDS were found to be profiting from the assault against Gaza today after a Declassified UK investigation revealed 13 peers have links to Israel’s arms trade.
Seven peers work for companies involved with Israel’s weapons trade, while another six hold shares in firms that supply the Israeli military, the report said.
The shareholdings are publicly declared, meaning the value of each is at least £100,000, likely seeing turnover increase since Israel intensified its assault on Gaza on October 7.
Five peers were found to have financial interests in BAE Systems, which provides key components for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) F-35 jets that are raining down bombs on Palestinians.
Among the senior politicians was Lord Sedwill, a former national security adviser, who has been a non-executive director at BAE Systems since 2022.
Viscount Eccles, Lord Gadhia, Lord Glendonbrook and Lord Sassoon also hold shares in the firm — the price of which have soared by 35 per cent since October.
Campaign Against Arms Trade spokeswoman Emily Apple told Declassified: “These unelected peers are profiting from genocide.
“An arms embargo will lead to a decrease in share prices — so it is unsurprising this government is prioritising the profits of arms dealers over Palestinian lives when so many politicians are shareholders.”
Lord John Sutton, a defence and trade secretary under New Labour, was appointed as chair of Pearson Engineering in 2022, weeks after the firm was taken over by Israel’s state-owned arms giant Rafael.
Rafael currently makes many of the missiles and drones used in Gaza. The Pearson website claims that the IDF does not use its equipment, but acknowledges the Israeli state has “significant control.”
Stop the War national convener Lindsey German told the Star that Lord Sutton’s involvement “comes as no surprise to us, given his former boss Blair’s fondness for foreign wars.”
Thales, which has a joint venture with Israel’s largest weapons firm Elbit Systems to produce Watchkeeper drones for the British military, counts Arbuthnot of Edrom, Lord Houghton of Richmond, and Lord Powell of Bayswater among its advisers.
Declassified found that Lord Peach, another former defence chief, works as an adviser to Martin-Baker, which makes ejection seats for F-35s.
Lord Patten holds shares in Lockheed Martin, the main contractor for F-35s and Lord Levene of Portsoken has investments in General Dynamics, which manufactures MK-80 bombs for Israel.
