UK should be part of the \u2018strong international move\u2019 for tougher measures against trade linked to illegal Israeli settlements, Thornberry tells Anadolu<\/p>\n
Britain should move much faster to sever economic links with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and align itself with a growing European push against settlement trade, according to the chair of the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee, who believes the country\u2019s incoming leadership has an opportunity to take a firmer stance.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Anadolu in Westminster, Emily Thornberry urged the next prime minister, widely expected to be Andy Burnham, to ensure Britain provides no financial or commercial support to settlements that she says are entrenching Israel\u2019s occupation and undermining the prospects of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
Burnham is set to be confirmed as the next Labour Party leader on July 17, and would officially take over as prime minister from Keir Starmer on July 20 after a meeting with King Charles III.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy advice, if Andy Burnham wanted to hear it, would be that we should be … moving much faster to find a way in which we can ensure that we do not put any money, any resources, any insurance, any finance, any goods, anything to help with the (illegal Israeli settlement) development in the West Bank, and we buy no goods from the West Bank,\u201d said Thornberry.<\/p>\n
Her comments come as Israel presses ahead with plans to expand settlements in the strategically significant E1 corridor, a move widely viewed internationally as one of the biggest threats to the viability of a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
The roughly 12-square-kilometer (4.6-square-mile) area lies between occupied East Jerusalem and the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma\u2019ale Adumim. Israel plans to build thousands of new housing units and supporting infrastructure, which Thornberry views as a direct, hostile retaliation to the growing international recognition of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
Growing pressure over illegal Israeli settlements<\/p>\n
Thornberry said international patience over the expansion of illegal settlements is rapidly wearing thin, particularly as concerns mount over Israeli actions in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
She argued that Britain should join countries including the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Belgium, which are pursuing tougher measures against trade linked to settlements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen many countries starting to look at how to ensure that we don\u2019t put services or goods into the West Bank. We don\u2019t support the annexation of the West Bank, the snuffing out of Palestine, as ministers have said,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what the settlement program is and we need to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Thornberry, international law provides a clear basis for such action.<\/p>\n
She pointed to the International Court of Justice\u2019s advisory opinion, saying the global community must \u201cabstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning Occupied Palestinian Territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a strong international move to do that, and I think that Britain should be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also added that Britain already distinguishes between Israel and the occupied territories through its existing trade arrangements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be possible. We have a trade deal with Israel where we have preferential treatment of goods coming from Israel, but not from the West Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burnham\u2019s evolving position<\/p>\n
While Thornberry said she could not predict the approach of an incoming Burnham government, she noted that his views on Israel and Palestine have evolved over time.<\/p>\n
Historically, Burnham largely aligned himself with mainstream Labour Party policy. During the party\u2019s 2015 leadership contest, he said his first overseas visit as Labour leader would be to Israel and joined Labour Friends of Israel.<\/p>\n
He also criticized the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as \u201cspiteful.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, he consistently backed a two-state solution and opposed illegal Israeli settlements, including during a visit to the occupied West Bank with pro-Palestinian lawmakers in 2012.<\/p>\n
His position shifted further after the outbreak of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza war. In October 2023, as mayor of Greater Manchester, he broke with Labour\u2019s national leadership by calling for an immediate ceasefire, and in 2025 co-signed a letter urging formal British recognition of a Palestinian state. More recently, he has voiced concern over what he described as the \u201cdisproportionate nature\u201d of Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza.<\/p>\n
Last Thursday, Burnham apologized for Labour\u2019s initial response to Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, promising a tougher approach toward the Israeli government if he becomes prime minister.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Guardian, Burnham acknowledged concerns over Labour’s handling of the Gaza conflict and said the party needed to \u201cdo better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know many people feel that at the start of Israel\u2019s military action in Gaza, my party didn\u2019t get it right, and I am sorry about that. The response has too often not been good enough. We need to do better,\u201d he told The Guardian.<\/p>\n
\u2018We missed an opportunity\u2019<\/p>\n
Thornberry also reflected on what she believes was a missed diplomatic opening following US President Donald Trump\u2019s election, arguing that his influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have been used to advance a broader Middle East peace initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t overwhelmingly happy when Donald Trump was elected \u2026 But it seemed to me that one of the things that could be a positive was that he certainly had strength and he could be presented with a plan, saying, \u2018If you really want a peace prize, this might be a way you could do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She said a group of influential countries that have \u201can authority almost in the region\u201d could have worked together to build momentum for such an initiative.<\/p>\n
However, she said, the international focus shifted to the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, what happened was Ukraine, and so all that authority and power was instead used on trying to persuade Trump to not pull out of Ukraine … We missed an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK should be part of the \u2018strong international move\u2019 for tougher measures against trade linked to illegal Israeli…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43,180804],"class_list":["post-539440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-sitekeywords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}