Scottish government challenged over funding to Israel-linked weapons firms

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws have exposed Scottish Enterprise, the government’s “economic development” agency. It gave more than £5,500,000 to Israel-linked arms firms in the year ending 31 March 2026, including multiple directly implicated in Gaza’s horrific genocide.

The £5.5m total represented two-thirds (around 67%) of all funding given to firms in the aerospace, defence, marine, and security (ADMS) sector in that financial year. These revelations severely undermine the Scottish Government’s progressive ‘humanitarian’ posturing, particularly on pro-Palestine issues.

Contrast the amount with £500,000 given to humanitarian aid in Palestine and £250,000 to Venezuela following two devastating earthquakes in June. The £500,000 announced in July for humanitarian aid is scarcely 10% of the vast £5.5m sum handed to weapons manufacturers implicated in war crimes which destroyed Gaza.

The timing of the funding in particular has raised eyebrows, as it apparently proceeded after a sanctions agreement between the SNP and Greens. First Minister John Swinney announced on 3 September 2025 that the Scottish Government would not give any new funding to arms firms who deal with Israel.

Swinney and the SNP extended this arms embargo to Israel and/or any nation

where there is plausible evidence of genocide.

Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie called on Swinney to explain whether any funding was allocated after the moral or humanitarian pause was announced. Harvie urged Swinney and the SNP leadership to

urgently confirm when these grants were awarded … [and] prove that not a penny was paid.

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New evidence of financial complicity

The files released exclusively to the Sunday National show us that in the 2025-26 financial year:

• Raytheon Systems was given £710,000. Raytheon is one of the largest suppliers of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), providing the Phalanx close-in weapon system for warships, guided air-to-surface missiles, “bunker buster” bombs, and laser-guided bombs.

• Thales UK was given £467,401. Thales operated a joint venture with Elbit Systems — Israel’s largest weapons firm — to produce the Watchkeeper drone. However, Elbit bought Thales out in January 2026.

• BAE Systems was given two grants, one of £900,000 and one of £1.44m. BAE Systems constructs parts for the F-35 “Adir” jets which Israel has used in Gaza airstrikes. It also produces the M109 howitzer, which has been the IDF’s principal artillery system but is now being replaced.

• Leonardo UK was given £648,568. Leonardo manufactures laser-targeting systems for the F-35 jets that Israel uses in Gaza, supplies naval guns fitted on Israeli warships, and provides radar components for Elbit’s Iron Fist system.

• Chemring Energetics UK was given £1.2m. Chemring Group companies have held 19 UK export licences to Israel since 2008, and its Australian subsidiary supplies infrared countermeasures for the F-35 programme.

• Rosyth Royal Dockyard — which is owned by Babcock Marine — was given £200,000. Babcock has applied for 12 UK arms export licences to Israel since 2008, and has worked with Elbit Systems and Rafael — a state-owned Israeli weapons firm. However, the company states it does not directly supply defence equipment to Israel.

The Sunday National‘s analysis concludes that:

In total in 2025-26, Scottish Enterprise gave £5,525,969 to the six firms listed above, out of £8,208,715 given to the ADMS sector overall.

A Scottish Enterprise spokesperson reportedly told the National that the ban on new awards to companies linked with Israel is certainly in place. They said that any grant payments made after the First Minister’s September 2025 announcement related to agreed contracts which “were in force” before that date.

One Scottish government spokesperson said the new rules were “not retrospective”.

Scottish Greens challenge the SNP

Regardless of whether the rules were “retrospective,” governments and politicians live and act in the present. That obliges them legally to operate now, according to international law — regardless of other considerations like corporate weapons contracts. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) makes this clear.

The ICJ’s historic 2024 ruling stated that obligations under the Genocide Convention compel states to act to prevent genocide. Any Convention party state is obliged to act

at the instant that the state learns of, or should normally have learned of, the existence of a serious risk that genocide will be committed.

Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens’ economy spokesperson, commented to the National:

It is almost a year since the Scottish Parliament voted for my motion on boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Yet the Scottish Government has dragged its feet and failed to turn a clear parliamentary vote into action.

If a single penny was handed to any of these companies after Parliament’s vote, that would be a grave betrayal of what the First Minister promised and a direct breach of what MSPs voted for. We did not vote for empty words. We voted for action.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed while companies supplying the machinery of war continue to profit. The fact that the Scottish Government funded these companies in the first place is deeply shameful. Continuing to do so after Parliament voted for a boycott would be indefensible.

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The First Minister must stop hiding behind warm words and come clean. He must urgently confirm when these grants were awarded, prove that not a penny was paid after Parliament’s vote, and set out exactly what he is doing to implement the decision.

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Explanations or just excuses?

Scottish Enterprise has responded to the National‘s revelations. Its spokesperson said:

Scottish Enterprise has implemented Scottish Government’s defence policy in full, in line with guidance set by Scottish Government, which applies to new grant awards from September 4, 2025 onwards.

Grant award payments made during 2025/26 include contractual obligations entered into prior to this date.

Likewise, a Scottish Government spokesperson told the National:

The Scottish Government has been a clear and consistent advocate for peace, justice and human rights in Gaza and other conflicts and we were one of the first governments to call for a ceasefire.

The measures announced by the First Minister in September 2025 in response to the worsening situation in Gaza were implemented immediately. The measures apply to new requests for funding and are not retrospective.

The funding for the companies identified relates to grants contractually agreed prior to September 2025. Since then, all requests for funding have been considered against the new policy.

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We could rightly say that the Genocide Convention — itself “contractually agreed” — is of much greater significance than any outstanding private sector deal. But apparently that’s not “policy.”

Let’s hope the SNP sticks truthfully to its new rules. The world, and history, are watching.

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Featured image via Scottish Government