Israel closes UK consulate in Jerusalem as Britain among 12 countries to impose trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank
London: Israel has slammed a move by a dozen countries to impose trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, launching a furious diplomatic response after Britain accused it of allowing “ethnic cleansing” in the contested lands.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rebuked the British government for what he called its “morally distorted” decision to punish the country and the settlers, declaring that Israel had to respond to the “hostile” moves.
The dispute also intensified arguments within Israel over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the lead-up to the country’s elections on October 27, with a key political rival accusing him of being taken by surprise by the international action.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband led the sanctions push by blaming Israel for allowing illegal settlements in the West Bank and failing to stop “ethnic cleansing” and violence against Palestinian communities losing their land.
While Israel targeted Britain with its response, including the closure of the consulate in Jerusalem, countries ranging from Canada to Denmark, France and Sweden also backed the trade moves over the settlements.
Miliband said terrorist group Hamas should play no role in the future governance of Gaza, and he declared in parliament that Israel had the right to stop terrorism, protect its people and defend its territory.
He argued, however, that this did not justify the extent of the destruction in Gaza, where he said more than 70,000 people had been killed, and he said the people of Gaza were suffering an avoidable catastrophe.
“International humanitarian law imposes clear rules for states fighting wars – including to ensure access to food and medical supplies, to avoid mass displacement of civilians, and to avoid the targeting of civilians,” he said.
“Serious and intentional violations of this law, if proven, amount to war crimes.”
Miliband backed a United Nations inquiry into Gaza and cited genocides in the past in Rwanda and other countries, although he did not state explicitly that Israel was engaged in genocide.
On the settlements in the West Bank, an area home to 3.4 million Palestinians but claimed by some Israeli settlers, he accused the Israel Defence Forces of protecting illegal settlers who intimidated local communities.
“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists,” he said.
The British sanctions are to be imposed in the coming months on companies and individuals providing services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion.
“Settlements are illegal. They should not be promoted in our country,” Miliband said. The new measures include a ban on advertising settlements.
The UK’s Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, called the sanctions a “dark day for British Jews” and likened them to “gesture politics”. The Greens said they did not go far enough, while the Conservative Party opposed them.
The Israeli foreign minister invoked one of the historic steps toward the creation of Israel, the Balfour Declaration by the British government in 1917, to argue that the Jewish people had rights to Judea and Samaria, the Israeli names for some of the contested lands.
“The Israeli public overwhelmingly supports the communities in Judea and Samaria, and overwhelmingly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in the heart of our land,” Sa’ar said.
“This is something that the Labour government is attempting, through measures that are doomed to fail, to force upon Israel. It will not work.
“We did not return to our land after 2000 years only to lose it under pressure from jihadists, Islamists, anti-Semites, far-leftists and wokes.
“Not only will you fail to harm us, you will harm yourselves and your own influence.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham signalled the action on Gaza and the West Bank in one of his first remarks as leader, saying in early July the government had to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government.
Miliband prepared for the reaction from the Israeli government by citing senior Jewish figures who criticised the settlements.
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has called the settlements a “violent and criminal effort to ethnically cleanse territories” in the West Bank.
Former Israeli army officer and health minister Ephraim Sneh has also called the settlements “ethnic cleansing”.
One of Netanhayu’s key rivals in the coming election, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid, rejected the British decision and said it would strengthen extremist voices inside Israel and encourage Hamas terrorists.
“The British government’s decision to impose boycotts and sanctions on Israel is fundamentally flawed and dangerous policy, implemented at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons,” Lapid said in a statement.
At the same time, he accused Netanyahu of doing too little to counter the moves by countries acting alongside Britain to sanction the settlements.
“For a whole week, the government has been preparing us for sanctions from Britain, and then it turns out that another 10 [sic] important countries have joined it and no one knew,” he said.
“Didn’t they wake him up?” This appeared to be a reference to Netanyahu.
The dispute over Netanyahu’s ability to anticipate events came after major investigations by Israeli media, including The Times of Israel, claimed the prime minister was warned of imminent violence from Hamas before the attack on October 7, 2023.
Britain was joined by 11 countries in the sanctions on settlements. Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden said they were considering or going ahead with restrictions on trade with settlements that were illegal under international law.
The 12 countries all go further than Australia, given that Foreign Minister Penny Wong has signalled plans for “targeted measures” but has rejected a “blanket-style import ban” on goods produced in the settlements.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.