UK to Ban Trade With Israeli Settlements
UK to Ban Trade With Israeli Settlements
The News
Britain will announce a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post reported Monday, citing its own understanding of the plan.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, serving under Prime Minister Andy Burnham, told the House of Commons last week that the UK needs "a comprehensive reset of our policy" on the West Bank.
Miliband said the coming measures would include a ban on goods produced in the settlements and targeted sanctions on British institutions and individuals. The Jerusalem Post reported the new sanctions regime would likely cover both goods and services.
The Guardian reported that Miliband will use the statement to reassert British support for Palestinian rights and a two-state solution, in a move likely to draw fierce criticism from the United States and Israel. Sky News described it as a "reset" statement toughening the UK's stance.
What Miliband Said
"We are looking, indeed, at our wider economic relationship with the occupied territories, and the different tools we have to tackle it," Miliband told the Commons. "We do not want British companies financing, constructing, or advertising new settlements. The work we are now undertaking is how we can stop that."
Timeline
Labour returns to power in Britain after more than a decade in opposition. Al Jazeera reports that since then the government has suspended some arms-export licences to Israel, while still supplying F-35 parts through the global pool programme Israel can access.
Then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer writes that he "strongly" opposes the "expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza," in a joint letter with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Under Starmer, then-Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announces that the UK, France and Canada have sanctioned six entities and one individual "involved in financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence in the occupied West Bank." Australia and New Zealand impose coordinated sanctions shortly before.
Andy Burnham takes office as prime minister. Al Jazeera reports his administration is viewed as taking bolder steps on Israel.
The UK joins 21 countries and the European Commission in condemning Israel's E1 settlement plan, calling on Israel to "retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank." The same month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the UK the "Islamic Republic of Britain" while criticizing British media coverage of Israel.
UK reports say Burnham has been weighing a trade embargo over recent weeks.
Miliband tells the Commons: "This government will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution. We will act, and I will set out a comprehensive set of measures in the coming weeks." Asked whether he would ban goods trading and investment in both directions immediately, he says a "comprehensive reset of our approach on these issues" is needed because it is "high time." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warns Israel would "act against Britain" if sanctions go ahead.
The Jerusalem Post reports the ban will be announced Tuesday. The paper calls it a developing story.
Reactions
Saar told the Israeli outlet Ynet last week that Israel would respond. "If they act, I think they will be making a big mistake," he said.
Zena Agha, a policy analyst with the British Palestinian Committee, told Al Jazeera the trade restrictions move in the right direction but amount to the "bare minimum." She said: "These are measures we would expect any government to take in accordance with the international legal framework to which it subscribes. So it shouldn't be celebrated in that regard. Nevertheless, it is something which the previous administration didn't do, and so it should be welcomed."
Agha also questioned whether the sanctions will bite. The main issue, she said, is whether they turn into "lip service and rhetoric of condemnation as opposed to an actual meaningful impact on the way that the Israeli military occupation operates and profits off colonisation of Palestinian land and labour."
She argued the shift is more political than economic: "Obviously, the rhetoric differs between them [UK prime ministers], but materially, the Israeli regime operates just as it did, irrespective of whether Andy Burnham or [former Conservative Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak was at the helm. We're seeing more of a continuation versus a rupture."
Shamiul Joarder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, a pro-Palestine group in Britain, called for a full trade ban with Israel, saying Britain must "pull the levers where they need to, in order to ensure that we are abiding by international law."
What's Next
The announcement is expected Tuesday. Miliband has committed to setting out a broader set of measures on settlements in the coming weeks.
As of Monday, no details had been published on which goods and services the ban will cover or how it will be enforced against British companies.
Agha told Al Jazeera it is too early to know how Israel will react, but she would not be surprised if Israel "bats this away" once the measures are announced.
More
Settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law. The E1 project at the center of the dispute would create a continuous settlement corridor running from the large settlement of Ma'ale Adumim and other Israeli settlements to occupied East Jerusalem — effectively cutting the West Bank in half.
Al Jazeera reported the plan comes amid rising violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Britain remains one of Israel's strongest allies in the West and still maintains full diplomatic ties.
Poll
Should the United States restrict trade with Israeli settlements the way Britain plans to?
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