THE current Tory government is considerably more eager to provide Israel with military assistance than it was during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, according to declassified documents.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak swiftly deployed Royal Navy vessels and surveillance planes to support Israel just days after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu launched an offensive on Gaza following attacks by Hamas. 

But formerly secret files seen by Declassified UK reveal that officials may have hesitated to take such a stance under Thatcher’s rule.

The documents disclose Britain’s reluctance to respond to security aid requests from Israel's Prime Minister Shimon Peres in 1986.

According to Declassified UK, British officials were concerned that expanding co-operation with Israel on airline security and hostage rescue could jeopardise relations with Arab states.

One British diplomat in Tel Aviv complained that “the Israeli security services are pretty well a law unto themselves.” 

At the time, Mossad was using forged British passports for covert operations.

Thatcher refused to expand support for hostage rescue and bomb disposal due to their sensitive nature and lack of enthusiasm from relevant departments to collaborate with Israel.

In 1986, Peres’s adviser on counter-terrorism was unable to convince officials to arrange a military exchange with the SAS in Israel.

A memo about his visit said: “Everyone, and notably the Ministry of Defence, agreed that there is no wish to see a deeper CT [counter-terrorism] relationship with Israel.”

Britain’s defence intelligence service severed contact with the Israeli military between 1987-88 after the “discovery of undeclared intelligence activity by Mossad in the UK.”

Today, the level of support has undergone a significant change, with Downing Street reportedly sending an SAS team to help free British hostages. 

According to an Israeli special forces veteran interviewed by Declassified UK, there is “extensive collaboration” between the SAS and its Israeli counterpart, Sayeret Matkal.