Invest NI believes there are companies based in Northern Ireland “supplying components to larger companies that may ultimately end up in Israel” for use in the current conflict in Gaza, internal emails have revealed.
That is despite previous denials, with two Sinn Féin Economy Ministers saying they had “been assured that Invest NI does not support projects that supply arms to Israel”.
Communications obtained under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, show that in December 2024, Invest NI sent an email to the Government’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Office for Investment, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) headed by David Lammy.
It states: “I am contacting you in the hope you can help me in obtaining lines to take in respect of the Israeli conflict?
“NI has a number of companies in the supply chain supplying components to larger businesses that may ultimately end up in Israel.”
The correspondence adds: “While these businesses may have no control over where components end up, media are seeking responses from NI government about supporting businesses that then potentially feed into the conflict.”
After further email exchanges, the DBT provides advice saying it rigorously assesses every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria.
In February 2025, the DBT says it “has not suspended all export licences, as some are not for use by the IDF in military operations in Gaza”.
The UK department added: “These include military items such as trainer aircraft and components for aircraft missile protection systems, and non-military items such as food-testing chemicals, telecoms and data equipment.
“The suspension covers all items that we assess could be used in military operations in Gaza. This does not, however, include exports to the global F-35 programme.
“It was necessary to depart from the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria to exclude exports to the F-35 programme from the scope of the suspension, as previously set out to Parliament.
“This is due to the F-35 programme’s broader strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security.”
However, the F-35 programme has faced calls for export restrictions due to concerns about its use by Israel in military operations in Gaza.
Israel has used F-35 jets in its bombardment in Gaza, including dropping three 2,000lb bombs on a “safe zone” in July 2024.
It has also been reported that the Labour party licensed exports of more military equipment to Israel in the final three months of 2024 than the Tories did for all of 2020-2023.
It was put to the Department for the Economy (DfE) that, at best, it appears to be unable to rule out the possibility that components built by companies in Northern Ireland are being used in the current onslaught in Gaza.
DfE was asked if it can definitely rule out that companies in receipt of public funding from Invest NI are supplying components for fighter jets or munitions to Israel for use against Gaza.
DfE did not answer that question directly.
Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said: “I am unequivocally opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“I believe comprehensive economic, political sanctions and arms embargoes must be imposed on Israel.”
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said: “After months of investigative journalism, multiple Freedom of Information requests, extensive research, hundreds of demonstrations and mass mobilisations, a pending legal challenge and now an admission from an Invest NI official, the truth can no longer be denied.
“Ending complicity in this genocide begins at our own front door. This is something that the Executive, especially Sinn Féin ministers, continually deny, preferring to lay the blame squarely with the cowardly Keir Starmer.
“Executive ministers repeatedly shirk responsibility for US war planes using our own airports as a transit point en route to bomb Gaza into oblivion.
“They deploy semantic trickery to avoid admitting what the rest of us knew all along; that public money is being used to massacre Palestinians.
“The Executive must cut all ties with the Zionist war machine. The funnelling of public money to all projects involving F-35s must end immediately, and an independent investigation of all Invest NI funding should be carried out as a matter of urgency.”
Sinn Féin repeated the statement by the Economy Minister.
A Government spokesperson said: “As set out to Parliament in September, we have suspended licences for items to the IDF that might be used in military operations in Gaza, based on our assessment that these could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law.
“It is not currently possible to suspend licensing of F-35 components for use by Israel through the global F-35 Programme without prejudicing the entire programme, which would have serious implications for international peace and security due to its crucial strategic role in the defence of NATO and other UK allies.
“The High Court has upheld this Government’s thorough and lawful decision making on this matter.”
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