Tensions between the United Kingdom and Israel are rapidly escalating. Britain’s Andy Burnham government is preparing to announce a series of tough measures over the occupied West Bank, including a ban on goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements.
In response, Israel has threatened the UK. The country’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, warned this week, saying, “If the U.K. takes action against Israel, we will also take action against London.”
Behind the fresh escalation of tension between the UK and Israel, an old chapter involving the Falkland Islands has also resurfaced. During the 1982 Falklands War against Britain, Israel secretly supplied Argentina with a large quantity of weapons.
The 74-day war began when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982. Britain ultimately won. During the war, Israel supplied Argentina with Skyhawk fighter jets, air-to-air missiles, mortars, machine guns, anti-tank mines and other military equipment. It also provided 20 refurbished Nesher fighter jets.
Various documents and research show these weapons were sent to Argentina on covert cargo flights via Peru. According to British government records, the total value of Israel’s arms supplies may have been around $1 billion.
Argentina’s Skyhawk fighter jets attacked British forces during the Falklands War. These attacks killed 48 British soldiers and sailors and sank four British warships.
Israel publicly denied supplying the weapons at the time, but secret documents from the British Foreign Office contain evidence of an Israeli arms deal with Argentina.
Behind this lay both military-commercial interests and political motives. The Israeli government of the time saw the Falklands War as an opportunity to expand its arms market in Argentina and Latin America. At the same time, relations between the U.K. and Israel had soured, and a British arms embargo on Israel was in effect.
The government of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was criticizing Israeli policy and had taken a firm stance on Israel’s military activities in the Middle East. As a result, arming Argentina was also a means for Israel to exert political pressure on Britain.