Thank you, that was my understanding, I telephoned VS to enquire, and although they could confirm the hold baggage, they didn't seem to appreciate the ridiculously small, particularly in width, hand baggage allowance on BE. They couldn't assist, this potential £50 each way fee and the fact that the call centre can't give me the online discount that is offered for the straight LHR-TLV route means I may not use VS but stick with BA/LY.
This is a shame, the potential to avoid a 3 and a half hour drive to and from LHR for my 5 or so flights to TLV each year ( plus flights in the opposite direction for my colleagues coming to the UK) was a bonus, even if the 07:00 flight back was a bit of a grind.