Britain is taking new action against Israel over expanding settlements in the West Bank, and Israel is already hitting back.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced it is banning imports from Israeli settlements and barring British companies from providing services that help build or expand them, including financing, construction, real estate and advertising.
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Britain also says it considers Israel’s occupation of the West Bank illegal, not just the settlements.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the shift in parliament, accusing some Israeli settlers of carrying out what he called “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians and saying Britain could no longer simply condemn settlement expansion without acting.
“We’ll call out what is unlawful,” Miliband said. “We act on services to prevent new settlement expansion. We act on settler violence. We support accountability for what has happened in Gaza. And we pledge to galvanize the international community to confront the ongoing and urgent humanitarian crisis.”
France and Canada announced similar action, while several other countries have backed efforts to protect a future two-state solution.
The British ban is expected to take six to nine months to go into effect.
The immediate economic impact is expected to be limited because goods produced in West Bank settlements account for only a small share of Israel’s exports. But the move marks a significant shift in Britain’s policy toward a longtime ally.
Israel, US push back on UK actions
Israel condemned the move and announced retaliatory measures.
It ordered the British consulate in East Jerusalem to close and barred 12 British lawmakers and other UK citizens from entering the country.
Israel is also ending Britain’s participation in a U.S.-led Gaza coordination mission and British training of Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank.
The Trump administration is also pushing back.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would not follow Britain’s lead and warned the measures could destabilize the West Bank. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also warned Britain it could face U.S. retaliation.
“I guess a big question is, why put this kind of pressure on Israel?” Huckabee said. “Is the UK also putting the same kind of very strong sanction on North Korea, on China, on Russia? I don’t know why Israel is being singled out for this kind of attention.”
Britain says the measures are aimed at Israeli settlements, not a broader boycott of Israel.
Britain says the goal is to stop settlement expansion from further undermining the possibility of a future Palestinian state.
