A COURT case against the British government over arms exports to Israel could be the most important challenge to the legal system in “generations,” arms expert Andrew Feinstein has said.

The case, brought by the Global Legal Action Network and the human rights group Al-Haq, will be heard in the High Court on Monday.

It calls on the government to suspend all arms exports, citing a clear risk that these could be used by Israel to violate international law.

Currently only 30 out of 350 licences are suspended and components for the lethal F-35 fighter jet are exempt. 

Speaking to the Morning Star’s deputy news editor Ceren Sagir in a video interview, Mr Feinstein warned that if the legal system sides with the British state as it has done before, effectively allowing it to “trample” over British and international law, “then we will be able to say without a shadow of a doubt that the legal system in Britain is broken.

“Because if our legal system cannot protect the civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, in the West Bank, in Yemen, in Sudan, in the Congo, from the awful consequences of having British weaponry rain down on them, then our legal system is not fit for purpose.”

He added that it is an “existentially important” case, which will indicate not only the extent of Britain’s role in the genocide, but could also “suggest that our legal system is totally incapable  of holding our government to account.”

Mr Feinstein also estimated that if Britain, US and Germany stopped supplying Israel with arms, it would be forced to end its assault on Palestinians within around four days.