UK Public Contracts Worth £2.1 Billion Held by Companies Tied to Israeli Settlements, Investigation Finds

Procurement records reviewed by Al Jazeera show 17 companies identified by the United Nations as tied to illegal Israeli settlements hold 125 UK public-sector contracts worth a combined £2.129 billion ($2.89bn). The figures come from data compiled by procurement analysts Tussell and shared with the outlet, cross-referenced against company filings and a UN Human Rights Office report naming firms involved in settlement-related business.

The largest share, more than £1.7 billion, runs through Motorola Solutions, the US technology and communications company, primarily via its British subsidiary Airwave Solutions. The UN report describes Motorola as embedded in settlement security infrastructure, supplying equipment and services to enterprises operating in settlements across the occupied West Bank.

Four other corporate groups named in the UN report also hold UK contracts. Heidelberg Materials, the German building-materials multinational, has an Israeli subsidiary that owns a quarry on Palestinian land in the West Bank. Egis, a French engineering firm, and CAF, the Spanish train manufacturer, are both involved in the expansion of Jerusalem's light-rail network, a project activists say knits settlements into the city while cutting Palestinian neighborhoods off from one another. Fosun International, the Chinese conglomerate whose UK-facing subsidiary Breas Medical receives British public money, owns Ahava, the cosmetics manufacturer based in the Mitzpe Shalem settlement.

The contracts span road maintenance, transport, emergency services and driving licensing, according to the investigation, meaning revenue tied to settlement activity is flowing through routine functions of British government.

Legal exposure

In July 2024 the International Court of Justice ruled Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful and ordered it to end "as rapidly as possible." The court also found other states obligated not to render aid or assistance that helps maintain that presence.

Stephen Humphreys, professor of international law at the London School of Economics, told Al Jazeera the pattern raises questions about UK compliance.

"Evidence is growing that the UK may be in breach of its international obligations by continuing to contract with entities identified by the UN as providing assistance of this sort."

Humphreys added that the UK may also be falling short by not opening its own investigation into the companies' activities.

More than 140 Labour MPs are pressing the government to ban trade with illegal settlements, a step Prime Minister Andy Burnham is reportedly weighing. The government issued a statement this month warning UK businesses against bidding on construction tenders inside settlements, citing "legal and reputational consequences" and the risk of involvement in "serious breaches of international law."

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the contradiction stark. "Quite simply, the UK government is propping up apartheid," he told Al Jazeera. "Every day, the UK deepens its complicity in Israel's economy of occupation and, in turn, Israel's economy of genocide." That characterization is Corbyn's own; it is not an official finding.

The Cabinet Office told Al Jazeera that individual public authorities decide case-by-case whether to exclude suppliers, and that UK procurement policy does not permit boycotting suppliers over ties to other countries absent formal sanctions, embargoes or restrictions.