Britain has scrapped the sale of some military components to Israel as part of an export review prompted by the war in the Gaza Strip, officials said on Monday. Of 182 arms-export licenses, five were revoked, an Israeli official said. All involved equipment for the Saar 4.5 class Corvette, a naval vessel that took part in the December-January offensive in which more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed. The British embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed the revocation of a “small number” of export licenses but said this did not constitute an embargo on Israel. “There are no security agreements between the UK and Israel,” an embassy spokeswoman said. “UK policy remains to assess all export licences to Israel against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman brushed off the sanctions, telling public radio: “We've had many embargoes in the past... We can manage. This shouldn't bother us.” • EU wants UN move on Palestinian state Israel is grappling with a European Union call for the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state by a certain deadline even if Israel and Palestinians fail to agree on a peace deal. “A peace agreement can come only following direct negotiations and cannot be imposed,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told public radio, Monday, reacting a speech by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in London on Saturday in which he called for the international community to set a deadline for recognizing the state of Palestine. “The mediator has to set the timetable,” Solana said, according to a transcript of his speech. “If the parties are not able to stick to it, then a solution backed by the international community should ... be put on the table. “After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution. This should include all the parameters of borders, refugees, Jerusalem and security arrangements,” he said.
