Ex-senior army officers urge UK to 'cut all military collaboration with Israel' Four senior former army officers have written to the UK prime minister calling for a full arms embargo on Israel and a suspension of involvement with any Israel-linked defence firms. The Times reported on Tuesday that the signatories told Keir Starmer that despite the ceasefire in Gaza, “now is not the time to return to business as usual with the Israeli government”. They called on sanctions on the Israeli government to go further. Among the letter's signatories was John Deverell, who served in the British army for more than three decades. He was also defence attache in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, including at the time of the 11 September terror attacks. The other signatories were Andrew Graham, the former director general of the UK defence academy; Peter Currie, a retired major general, and Charlie Herbert, a former senior army commander in Afghanistan. Read more: Ex-senior army officers urge UK to 'cut all military collaboration with Israel' A man sits on the edge a destroyed building in the Al-Saftawi neighborhood, west of Jabalia city in the northern Gaza Strip on 10 December 2025 (AFP/Bashar Taleb)