Council mulls legal options for evicting Israeli arms manufacturer

Somerset Council has agreed to explore its legal options for evicting an Israeli-owned weapons manufacturer from an office building the local authority owns after receiving legal advice from a KC on behalf of a pro-Palestinian pressure group.

According to the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), which commissioned the legal advice on behalf of Palestine Action, Somerset must evict the business as it is "not excused" from the Genocide Convention, European Convention on Human Rights and International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

Somerset said it received a 70-page document from Palestine Action setting out legal routes for evicting Elbit. On Tuesday (23 April), Councillors subsequently passed a motion that agreed to "explore all ways of legally evicting Elbit UK or otherwise, to dispose of the property."

The motion also agreed to: "Ensure that moral and ethical considerations are fully appraised in addition to financial advantage in any future commercial property investments for yield."

In a statement, PILC argued that the council must serve a notice on Elbit and end the lease, that international law is being broken and that the council has a duty to act against their tenants.

The legal action group said: "We've highlighted that as part of the state, Somerset Council is not excused from the Genocide Convention, European Convention on Human Rights and International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. It therefore has a legal duty to act and end the lease."

Elbit Systems' UK headquarters is located in a Bristol office building owned by Somerset Council.

Somerset became landlord to the weapons manufacturer after inheriting the property from the now-defunct Sedgemoor District Council.

There have been a series of protests over the arrangement, some of which have seen red paint splattered over the council building.

Elbit manufactures a range of military equipment used by the Israeli military, including drones, missiles and bombs. It is unclear what kind of work is done in the Bristol office.

PILC is acting on behalf of Palestine Action. Franck Magennis and Liz Davies KC of Garden Court Chambers have assisted PILC.

Paul Heron, Legal Director at PILC, added: "Somerset Council has a legal duty to end the lease and to kick Elbit out. Disposing the property and selling the building for profit is just passing the buck. We hope that Councillors do the right thing."

During the discussion, Leader of the Council, Cllr Bill Revans said: "We are seeking to find legal routes to end this tenancy, however, our advice from our lawyers at the moment is that we have no legal grounds for eviction but we are open and will study the 70-page letter we received yesterday from Palestine Action to see whether that gives us any route forwards to legal eviction."

Cllr Revans also noted that the council is considering selling the property as an alternative to eviction.

While the motion passed, a number of Somerset Councillors expressed concern that costly litigation could impact the council's precarious financial situation and contribute to the council issuing a section 114 notice.

In February, Somerset had to make significant savings and request a £36.9m capitalisation direction to bridge a funding gap of £100m and to set a balanced budget for the coming financial year.

Elbit Systems UK has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey