UK Summons Israeli Envoy, Plans Settlement Sanctions
UK Summons Israeli Envoy, Plans Settlement Sanctions
The News
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband summoned Israel's top diplomat in London and said Britain will prepare new targeted sanctions against Israelis taking part in what he called "illegal settlement expansion" in Gaza and the West Bank, according to Bloomberg.
The trigger was the Israeli government's publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, which Miliband branded an "unacceptable and destructive act."
Israel hit back the same day. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said he "rejected outright the statement of the UK Foreign Secretary and the patronizing tone of his words," the Jerusalem Post reported.
Timeline
Bloomberg reports Miliband saying the UK government will prepare new targeted sanctions against Israelis involved in illegal settlement expansion in Gaza and the West Bank, which Bloomberg describes as the latest sign of Labour's hardening stance toward Israel.
Sky News reports that Miliband has summoned Israel's top diplomat in London over the "unacceptable and destructive" settlement project.
The Daily Mail reports Miliband's condemnation was aimed at Israel publishing a tender for the E1 settlement project.
Sa'ar publicly rejects Miliband's statement; Sky News describes the exchange as a war of words between the Foreign Secretary and the Israeli government.
Reactions
Miliband called the tender an "unacceptable and destructive act" by the Israeli government.
Sa'ar said he "rejected outright the statement of the UK Foreign Secretary and the patronizing tone of his words."
Sky News characterized the day's exchanges as a clash between Miliband and the Israeli government over the settlement project.
What's Next
Miliband said the UK government would prepare the new targeted sanctions; no list of names, timetable or legal instrument has been published in the reporting so far.
The E1 tender itself is the open question: Israel has published it, and Britain has now put its objection on the record both through the summons and the sanctions threat.
More
Bloomberg frames the sanctions plan as part of a broader hardening of Labour's position toward Israel. The dispute is over E1, a settlement project in the occupied West Bank, and the sanctions Miliband described would target Israelis participating in settlement expansion in Gaza and the West Bank rather than the Israeli state itself.
For American readers, the split matters because Washington's closest European ally is moving toward penalizing Israeli settlement activity — a step the United States has not taken.
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