British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband sharply criticized Israel on Monday during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, accusing the Israeli government of causing suffering to Palestinian Arabs and describing the situation as “a stain on the conscience of the world.”
Miliband said the government led by Prime Minister Andy Burnham had changed its approach toward Israel. Addressing supporters of the Palestinian cause, he stated, “I want to say to the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people: we hear you. You were right,” before accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing by settler terrorists”, “war crimes in Gaza” and “an illegal occupation of Palestine.”
“When it comes to the attempt to destroy the two-state solution, this party, this movement, this government says: we will not let you succeed,” Miliband stated.
He also referred to his family’s history, noting that his grandmother received refuge in Israel following World War II. “Our argument is not with the people of Israel, but with the actions of its government. My grandmother was given shelter and sanctuary after the Second World War by Israel. And the bonds of solidarity between the British people and those who yearn for peace in Israel and Palestine are too strong to be broken,” said Miliband.
Miliband further announced plans for economic measures targeting Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. “We will ban the import of goods from illegal settlements. We will disrupt the supply lines for British finance, British construction, and British services for illegal settlements,” he vowed.
While attacking Israel, Miliband also condemned the Hamas massacre of October 7. He described it as “Hamas’s murderous attack on October 7th” and said the Labour Party “will always recognize the threats Israel faces and stand emphatically against those who seek its destruction.”
However, he argued that the Hamas attack “cannot justify the suffering the Netanyahu government has inflicted in Gaza and the West Bank. This suffering is a stain on the conscience of the world.”
Miliband previously drew a sharp response from Israel after announcing a ban on imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria following Israel’s issuance of construction tenders in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim.
In response, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced a series of measures against Britain. Israel said it would close the British Consulate in Jerusalem, remove British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat and end British training activities for Palestinian Authority forces in Judea and Samaria under the “British Support Team in Ramallah.” Israel also said it would bar 12 British elected representatives and other British nationals from entering the country over alleged antisemitic and anti-Israel activity or denial of Israel’s existence.
Miliband was appointed foreign secretary by Burnham in mid-July and has a longstanding record of criticizing Israeli policies. As Labour leader in 2014, he moved the party toward a more confrontational position toward Israel.
During the Gaza war that year, Miliband described Israel’s military operation as “wrong and unjustifiable” and criticized then-British Prime Minister David Cameron over his response to civilian casualties. Later that year, he instructed Labour lawmakers to support a symbolic parliamentary motion endorsing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, a move that alienated some Jewish donors and communal organizations.
During a later visit to the region, Miliband toured a Bedouin site and described the expansion of Israeli communities as “wrong and illegal.”