{"id":764668,"date":"2026-09-09T04:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/764668\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T04:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:22:11","slug":"will-uk-sanctions-have-any-impact-on-israels-settler-terrorists-in-west-bank-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/764668\/","title":{"rendered":"Will UK sanctions have any impact on Israel\u2019s \u2018settler terrorists\u2019 in West Bank? | Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband<\/a>, has announced plans for an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in occupied Palestine and sanctions for companies that \u201cfinance or facilitate\u201d the construction, infrastructure and marketing of illegal settlements.<\/p>\n

He also said \u201csettler terrorists\u201d were perpetrating ethnic cleansing<\/a> in the occupied West Bank, while the government turned a blind eye and some members supported it.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s argument was with the government of Israel, not its people, Miliband said. The new measures would target only the expansion and entrenchment of Israel\u2019s illegal occupation of Palestine<\/a>, not Israel inside the green line \u2013 the 1949 armistice boundary, once seen as a possible template for Israel\u2019s border with a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

The measures were prompted in part by Israel\u2019s decision to press ahead with a vast new settlement<\/a> in the heart of the West Bank, in an area known as E1. The project is designed to \u201cbury the idea of a Palestinian state\u201d, the far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich has said, and Miliband described the issuing of construction tenders in August as a \u201cred line\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told parliament of his family ties to Israel<\/a>, including joyful childhood memories of visiting his grandmother, who found a home there after Nazis murdered her husband and 60 other relatives.<\/p>\n

By acting against ethnic cleansing and settlement expansion, Britain was standing up for its core values, including \u201crule of law, freedom and self-determination\u201d, and the future of both Israelis and Palestinians, he said, adding that the new measures were designed to \u201csalvage the only course for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, the two-state solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Why is going after E1 settlement financing a big deal?<\/p>\n

The trade in goods grown or produced in settlements is a relatively small part of Israel\u2019s export economy, although its exact scale is obscured by a lack of Israeli statistics.<\/p>\n

Miliband highlighted that the Israeli settler population in occupied Palestine had almost tripled over the past three decades, from 270,000 in 1993 to 770,000 today.<\/p>\n

That expansion is underpinned by large government subsidies. A trade ban alone would be unlikely to have much impact on the viability of construction that is a government priority, or on the broader Israeli economy.<\/p>\n

However, plans to place sanctions on any company that finances or facilitates settlement expansion could force Israel\u2019s main banks and insurance companies to chose between their business interests in the UK and those in occupied Palestine.<\/p>\n

Miliband has not provided details of the new measures, which he said would take between six and nine months to put in place. But they have the potential to slow or stop construction.<\/p>\n

The activist Yehuda Shaul wrote in a social media post about new building projects: \u201cCompanies that bid for tenders on government-led projects, including settlement expansion, must have a financial guarantor. Without the backing of Israeli financial institutions, these projects cannot occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UKUK foreign secretary announces sanctions on trade with Israeli West Bank settlements \u2013 videoWhat is the status of Israeli settlements and the settler economy?<\/p>\n

Miliband said Britain recognised Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestine as unlawful, in line with a landmark 2024 ruling<\/a> from the UN\u2019s international court of justice (ICJ). The UK had previously recognised settlements as illegal, but remained silent on the occupation overall.<\/p>\n

The ICJ ordered Israel to end its occupation \u201cas rapidly as possible\u201d and make full reparations for its \u201cinternationally wrongful acts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Israeli supporters of the UK measures say they redraw the line between Israel proper and illegally occupied territory, and are a much-needed response to Israeli government policies that are undermining the country.<\/p>\n

Michael Sfard, one of Israel\u2019s leading human rights lawyers, saidthe measures were \u201cenormously important\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt redraws the green line and provides a recommitment to international law. Every cent that goes from the UK or other countries to support the economy of settlements is a cent that allows violation of international law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, whom Miliband quoted in his speech, said: \u201cThe British government decision became unavoidable as a result of a continuous effort of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by a large group of Jewish terrorists in the West Bank \u2026 Sanctions are directed against the terrorists, not against Israel, and as such they are unavoidable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli settlers near the West Bank settlement of Bruchin last year. Photograph: Maya Alleruzzo\/APWhat does Miliband\u2019s intervention mean for UK-Israel relations?<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Gideon Sa\u2019ar, responded rapidly with a series of measures, including closing the UK the consulate in East Jerusalem<\/a>, Britain\u2019s diplomatic mission to occupied Palestine.<\/p>\n

There was fierce condemnation from other Israeli politicians. The far-right minister Ben Gvir called for Israel to recognise Argentinian sovereignty over the Falklands \u2013 even before Miliband made his speech.<\/p>\n

However, Israel holds elections in six weeks, and for months polls have shown Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition stuck below the threshold needed to form a new government.<\/p>\n

Although none of the leading candidates to replace him oppose the occupation, there has been growing condemnation of violence in the West Bank. A new government would mean a chance to reset ties.<\/p>\n

Israel may be seeking to deter others from following the UK\u2019s lead, but a dozen countries have already said they are planning similar restrictions on settlement trade, among them Israel\u2019s historical allies Canada and France. A joint statement from the UK prime minister, Andy Burnham; the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney; and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the action marked \u201ca further turning point in our approach to protecting the two-state solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s policies have already pushed Israel into a position of unprecedented international isolation, and taking similar punitive action against all these countries would only deepen that.<\/p>\n

\"UKUK condemns Israeli settler ethnic cleansing in West Bank – The LatestWhat other pressure could be applied?<\/p>\n

The measures unveiled by Miliband mark the most serious step yet to impose a political and economic price on Israel for settlement expansion.<\/p>\n

The Israeli government\u2019s furious response belies growing support both inside Israel, and among some of the country\u2019s staunchest supporters abroad, for stronger action to halt violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

This summer dozens of Israelis from the country\u2019s security, political and cultural elite threatened <\/a>legal action against their government over support for \u201cJewish terrorism\u201d and an \u201cideology of ethnic cleansing\u201d in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and some Republicans in Congress attacked<\/a> Miliband before his speech. But the US also has elections this autumn. The Democrat Rahm Emanuel, a former Chicago mayor whose father fought in the Israeli military, used a speech in Tel Aviv to call for broad sanctions on Israel\u2019s financial sector to stop violence against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Pressed on the implications of placing sanctions on banks with branches in settlements \u2013 which is all of Israel\u2019s major institutions \u2013 he told the Jerusalem Post: \u201cAmerica uses its tools to achieve its policy goals. We believe in a two-state solution. You want to pursue a greater Israel? You pay full price for it. Everything. That\u2019s a choice you make.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has announced plans for an import ban on goods from illegal settlements…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-764668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}