Lord Carlile, a prominent Jewish member of the House of Lords, has resigned as a patron of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a controversial activist group which uses its members’ legal skills to combat “attempts to undermine, attack and/or delegitimise Israel, Israeli organisations, Israelis and/or supporters of Israel”.

Lord Carlile, a cross-bench peer who is also a barrister and Kings Counsel, told Middle East Eye of his resignation on Monday but made no further comment. He has since been removed from the "our patrons" page on UKLFI's website.
 

 
This followed an article by Lord Carlile for the Independent supporting the Labour government's decision to partially suspend arms sales to Israel and describing it as both courageous and legally correct. A report in Jewish News, noting that he sits on the all-party committee for Israel, refers to his article as a "major intervention".

Lord Carlile's article ends by turning to the "problem" of Benjamin Netanyahu who he accuses of "stubborn resistance" to sound advice and, together with Hamas, of undermining attempts at mediation. He writes:

"Those of us who hold these opinions have felt the sting of disparagement and deprecation for holding them, even from some political colleagues we admire. For Jews to criticise other Jews who hold these views is to undermine the very freedoms for which our forbears lost their lives, under the yoke of the most terrible tyranny.

"I hesitated long and hard before expressing these concerns. However, I know that I am not the only person who has felt scourged by these issues. I hope that sharing my disquiet will help to restore a more familiar and calmer discussion."

UKLFI, meanwhile, has a very different position: it defends Netanyahu and supports arms sales. Last week it wrote to the Department for Business & Trade and the Treasury Solicitor threatening to call for a judicial review unless the government rescinds its suspension of about 30 arms export licences.

UKLFI has also been actively opposing moves by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants accusing Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a submission to the court last month it argued that the arrest of Israel's key leaders, or "even the disruption of their work by forcing them to take steps to avoid arrest, would be liable to prejudice the conduct of the wars and could even jeopardise the survival of the country and its people."

More recently, in what appears to be a vexatious action, UKLFI has reported Karim Khan KC, the ICC's chief prosecutor, and his assistant, Andrew Cayley KC, to the Bar Standards Board in Britain, alleging professional misconduct. Khan and Cayley are both British barristers.

Lord Carlile's departure leaves UKLFI with nine remaining patrons:

• Rt Hon the Lady Cosgrove KC
• Baroness Deech KC
• Lord Dyson
• Lord Grabiner KC
• Stephen Hockman KC
• Lord Howard of Lympne (Michael Howard, former Conservative Party leader)
• Sir Ivan Lawrence KC
• Lord Pannick KC
• Professor Richard Susskind (IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice)