In a crowded session at the British Parliament on Tuesday, Members of Parliament convened to witness the government’s recalibration of its ties with Israel. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, accompanied by his cabinet colleagues, attentively listened as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, a newcomer like Burnham, declared a prohibition on trade with settlers from the occupied West Bank. Miliband revealed that both Canada and France had also decided to implement similar measures.
Amidst cheers resonating in the parliamentary hall, Miliband highlighted that France and Canada, in addition to Britain, would halt the import of goods from illegal settlements. He emphasized that these three nations were not alone in condemning Israel’s persistent expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. Miliband underscored that several other countries, such as the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, and Norway, had either imposed bans on goods or were in the process of doing so, with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden committing to supporting further actions.
Furthermore, Miliband announced that the UK intended to take actions against specific companies and individuals involved in services like construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion. The decision to implement these measures was prompted by Israel’s recent move to open tenders for the construction of 1,200 settler homes in an area known as E1 in the occupied West Bank, which was viewed as crossing a crucial “long-term red line.”
In response to the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, Miliband asserted that the UK had opted for sanctions. He remarked to the lawmakers that there was evidence of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by settler extremists in certain West Bank areas.
Subsequently, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned Miliband’s statements, denouncing them as baseless allegations. Sa’ar retaliated by announcing the immediate closure of the UK’s consulate in East Jerusalem and implementing several other countermeasures, including expelling UK representatives from a joint military centre monitoring the Gaza ceasefire and terminating UK’s training of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank. Israel also declared its intention to bar the entry of 12 elected UK officials and other British citizens allegedly involved in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activities.
Jewish leaders in Canada and Britain voiced their disapproval of the sanctions imposed by the UK, Canada, France, and other European countries. They criticized the actions as politically motivated and detrimental to the Jewish community’s interests. Amidst the escalating tension, the official Palestinian news agency commended the collective determination of the countries taking action against Israeli settlements, characterizing the settlement expansion as a blatant violation of international law.
The decision to implement sanctions was rooted in the UK government’s acknowledgment of past missteps in handling Israel-related issues and the need to pursue a more effective approach under Burnham’s leadership. Months before Burnham assumed office, he had hinted at a prospective shift in the UK’s stance towards Israel, expressing regret over the Labour Party’s initial response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza and emphasizing the need for improved policies under his leadership.
