‘It’s not a good sign for the settlers,’ says Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Team’It’s only sanctions from the outside that will stop Israel, including its genocidal policies in Gaza,’ Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg tells Anadolu
New trade restrictions and sanctions targeting Israel could signal a shift toward stronger international pressure on its policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip, according to analysts and activists.
Eleven European countries — France, the UK, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden — plus Canada, announced Tuesday their intention to impose national restrictions on settlement trade and or support European restrictions.
The countries said the situation in the West Bank is “rapidly deteriorating,” citing unprecedented levels of occupier violence and settlement expansion.
Speaking about the measures announced by Western countries, Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg said the sanctions were significant because they indicated a growing willingness among Israel’s allies to use economic pressure to challenge policies by Tel Aviv.
“The trade ban and the sanctions are very important because I think that the West is really looking for a chance to begin to punish Israel for its behavior or begin to pressure Israel, and these sanctions hold the best possible path,” said Goldberg.
He argued that the significance of the measures went beyond efforts to curb violence by Israeli occupiers in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“I don’t know if this is about curbing settler violence. That’s not the point,” he said, arguing that occupier violence was closely linked to official Israeli policy.
Goldberg said sanctions imposed by individual countries would not, by themselves, be enough to end occupier violence or force an immediate change in Israeli policy.
Rather, he said, their importance lay in creating sustained external pressure on Israel.
“It’s about a change in Israel,” said Goldberg. “And that change can only come through outside pressure. This is the beginning of serious outside pressure.”
He said the measures could also encourage the EU to reconsider its broader relationship with Israel, including its existing agreements.
Goldberg said he hoped the developments would prompt the EU to “reexamine the articles of association” governing its relationship with Israel and consider wider boycott measures.
“I actually think that these are the only things that can force Israel to change its behavior,” he said.
Goldberg linked the sanctions to Israel’s war on Gaza, arguing that external economic and political pressure was necessary to influence Israeli policy.
“I can’t repeat this enough; it’s only sanctions from the outside that will stop Israel, broadly speaking, including its genocidal policies in Gaza,” he said.
He highlighted the number of countries joining the measures, saying the participation of additional states made the development particularly significant.
“The fact that they were immediately joined by 11 other countries is also extremely important,” said Goldberg.
But Goldberg cautioned against expecting an immediate transformation in Western policy toward Israel.
“That’s not to say that Western policy towards Israel is going to change tomorrow,” he said. “These things take time, and they’re very slow.”
‘A very significant ban’
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, described the measures as significant because of the number and prominence of the countries involved.
“This is a very significant ban because it is so many countries doing it,” said Doyle. “It’s the first time really that we’ve seen leading countries like Britain, France, taking action.”
Doyle welcomed the UK’s role, saying that it had shown a willingness to take measures based on international law.
The measures go beyond a trade ban on Israeli settlements and include restrictions affecting financial services and advertising, according to Doyle.
He said the arms-related sanctions were particularly significant because they were intended to remain in place for as long as the occupation continues.
Doyle highlighted what he described as the British government’s formal acceptance of the International Court of Justice’s ruling on Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Taken together, he said, the measures represented a shift from verbal criticism toward concrete action.
“All of this and more shows that there is a British government right now that is prepared to be on the side of international law, to not just criticize Israeli actions verbally, but to take the sort of serious actions that should have been taken years ago,” he said.
He nevertheless questioned whether the measures would immediately change the policies of Israel’s government.
“Will it make a difference? I think it’s very difficult to see that with the current Israeli government,” he said.
But Doyle said the measures could carry a longer-term political message for Israel.
“One has to wonder whether future governments, whether the Israeli electorate will get the message that if they continue to behave like a pariah state, then they will be treated like a pariah state, and it has consequences,” he said.
‘Not a good sign for the settlers’
Yonathan Mizrachi, from Israel’s Peace Now movement, said the measures were particularly significant for the future of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“It’s definitely not good; it’s not a good sign for the settlers,” he said.
For Peace Now, however, the broader significance was whether the international community was prepared to defend the prospect of a two-state solution through concrete action.
“For us, what is the most important thing is to show that the international community is committed to the two-state solution and willing to act in order to achieve that,” said Mizrachi.
He said it included action against violations of international law and the continuation of the occupation. “This is what is most important for us,” he said.
Despite growing international pressure, Mizrachi said Peace Now is optimistic.
“We’re always trying to be optimistic,” he said.