In 1939, Britain announced the White Paper of 1939, which greatly restricted Jewish immigration and land purchases and called for a single unitary state in Palestine.

[12] To prepare for a possible Axis invasion of Palestine, Britain assisted the Haganah in the creation of Palmach, a commando section specialized in sabotage and guerilla warfare.

[14] The army's failure to defeat the insurgents convinced the British government that Palestine was a lost cause, and directly led to its decision to withdraw from the territory.

Convinced the British would not allow the loss of five aircraft and two pilots go without retaliation, the Israelis were determined to repel any retaliatory airstrike, and made preparations to defend their airbases.

Although Israel had its own problems with Egypt and wanted to attack, Britain was hesitant to fight alongside the Israelis, lest the ensuing backlash in the Arab world threaten London's close allies in Baghdad and Amman.

In the end, the government of Anthony Eden reluctantly included Israel in the war plans, due to French pressure and the need for a local ally.

[19] In November 1956, Israel attacked Egypt, and Britain and France seized most of the Suez Canal before financial and diplomatic intervention by Russia and the United States forced them to halt their advance.

While officially at war with Jordan, Israel shared Britain's interest in keeping Hussein on the throne, and agreed to allow British troops to be flown in through Israeli airspace.

[30] The United Kingdom abstained in the vote in the UN General Assembly in November 1947 for the Partition Plan for Palestine, which included a proposal for the establishment of a Jewish State in a part of the British Mandate territory.

We continue to call on both sides to show the strong leadership needed to achieve peace, to take the necessary steps to build trust and to work towards the resumption of negotiations without preconditions.

[35] The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan urged Israel to exercise restraint, arguing that a blockade of the Gaza Strip could lead to "suffering" among Palestinian civilians.

[36] On October 19 and 20, 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conducted a two-day visit to Israel, reiterating his endorsement for the Israeli government and expressing solidarity with its people.

[40] The United Kingdom abstained in the vote in the UN General Assembly in November 1947 for the Partition Plan for Palestine, which proposed a status of corpus separatum for Jerusalem.

"[50] In 2009, the United Kingdom's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued new guidelines concerning labelling of goods imported from the West Bank.

[52] A 2011 White Paper on Trade and Investment for Growth issued by the government of the United Kingdom pointed to Israel as a pivotal strategic partner for Britain's future.

[7] The United Kingdom opened the UK Israel Tech Hub in order to encourage British collaboration with advanced Israeli high technology.

This ambitious agreement aims to deepen cooperation across various sectors, including security, trade, cyber, science and technology, research and development, health, climate, and gender.

Pro-Palestinian and human rights activists and groups have filed petitions in British courts urging that arrest warrants be issued for Israeli officials planning on visiting the UK.

[77] A minor diplomatic incident occurred, with the Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom calling the event an "outrage";[77] his British counterpart Jack Straw apologised for any embarrassment caused.

[80] Police subsequently raided a hotel in London where she was believed to be staying in order to arrest her, but after an investigation it was established that Livni was not even present in the United Kingdom.

[85] British Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced that Britain would no longer tolerate legal harassment of Israeli officials in this fashion and that threats of arrest against visitors of Livni's stature would not happen again.

[91] In July 2006 the British government protested against Israel's celebration of the anniversary of the King David Hotel bombing, an act of terrorism which killed 91 people of various nationalities, including some civilians.

[92] However, security analyst Bruce Hoffman wrote of the bombing in his book Inside Terrorism that "Unlike many terrorist groups today, the Irgun's strategy [by sending warnings to evacuate the hotel] was not deliberately to harm civilians.

The issue had a personal dimension for Tzipi Livni, Israel's then-foreign minister, as Irgun's chief operations officer at the time of the bombing was her father, Eitan.

The death toll given includes Avraham Abramovitz, the Irgun member who was shot during the attack and died later from his wounds, but only the Hebrew version of the sign makes that clear.

Mr Miliband reported that as the Dubai operation had been a very sophisticated one, using high-quality forgeries, the British government had judged it highly likely that they had been created by a state intelligence service.

[106] The last episode showed Shai Masot, an official at the Israeli embassy in London, proposing an attempt to "take down" British "pro-Palestinian" politicians, including Alan Duncan.

[107] The leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn wrote an open letter to Theresa May objecting to what he called an "improper interference in this country’s democratic process" and urging the prime minister to launch an inquiry on the basis that "[t]his is clearly a national security issue".

[38] Pressure for an arms embargo has increased after an attack on a World Food Center convoy in Gaza, which killed seven aid workers, including three British nationals.

[113][38] Britain's readiness to impose ban is partly linked to Israel's refusal to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the Sde Teiman detention center, where Palestinian prisoners are held.