‘Overdue first step’: UK reacts to gov’t ban on Israeli settlement trade

The United Kingdom has announced it will ban imports originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, marking one of London’s strongest policy moves on Israel-Palestine since it formally recognised a Palestinian state last year.

Addressing the UK parliament on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Israel was carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in Palestine and reiterated the British government’s position that Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

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Miliband said allowing settlement-made products to be sold in Britain risked contributing to the occupation, arguing that he did not believe the British public wanted such goods on store shelves.

The measures come as pogroms by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank intensify and Israel pushes ahead with its contentious expansion of illegal settlements.

Miliband said that Canada and France will also impose a ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements, while Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden have pledged to “support further action”.

Israel responded by announcing a series of retaliatory measures against the UK. They include barring 12 British MPs from entering Israel and shutting the British consulate in Jerusalem.

Domestically, the reaction was mixed, with many Labour politicians backing the move, while the Conservatives took a more critical stance on Miliband’s announcement.

Here is how UK politicians and others reacted to the government’s decision:

Conservative Party

Leader of the opposition Conservatives Kemi Badenoch criticised the move, writing in the UK media outlet The Sun that Miliband’s measures were “performative politics, designed to appease Labour MPs and activists regardless of the consequences for Britain”.

“And those consequences could be serious. Israel is an important security and intelligence partner for the United Kingdom.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat said, “turning Israel into a pariah will risk sectarian division in our own country and risk a further rise in antisemitic violence on our own streets”.

Green Party

In a statement, the party “welcomed restrictions on trade with illegal Israeli settlements as an overdue first step”, but said the measures must be “strengthened and followed by wider action to end British complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation and the ongoing genocide in Gaza”.

“Greens have long campaigned for a settlement trade ban and are calling for comprehensive restrictions on goods, services and investment in both directions, covering all illegal settlements with no loopholes,” it said.

“The party has called for a full two-way arms embargo, wide-ranging sanctions and an end to military and intelligence cooperation with Israel.”

Party leader Zack Polanski said he was “proud” that Green MPs had been “staunch in standing up for peace” following Israel’s announcement that they would be banned from entering Israel.

“I’m proud that all of our Green MPs have been staunch in their standing up for peace, standing up for peace in the region for both Israelis and Palestinians, and have also supported Jewish communities in the UK,” he said.

“And so to see the Israeli government ban them, I think is not something we’re particularly concerned about. They’re doing the right thing.”

Liberal Democrats

Responding to Miliband’s statement, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Calum Miller MP, said Labour had “finally abandoned Keir Starmer’s pedestrian approach”.

“The settlement trade ban is a long overdue step in the right direction, but Ministers now need to move with urgency,” he said in a statement.

“The current extremist Israeli cabinet is racing to establish facts on the ground to prevent a two-state solution. Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to introduce emergency legislation to implement this ban without delay. We must make sure there is no UK complicity in the sustainability of illegal settlements.”

Reform UK

Member of Parliament Richard Tice said, “The putrid stench of antisemitism was clear for all to see in the House of Commons.”

“As a result of Miliband’s sanctions, British Jews are less safe and our US security relationship is hugely damaged,” he wrote on X.

UK chief rabbi

Ephraim Mirvis described Miliband’s announcement as a”dark day for British Jews”, and that it would only succeed in “bolstering the very extremism they seek to target”.

On Wednesday, Miliband said he is a “proud British Jew” but disagrees with the chief rabbi over the criticism.

Jeremy Corbyn

Corbyn, a former Labour leader, said sanctions on illegal settlements are welcome, but not enough.

“Britain must end all arms sales, all military cooperation, and all forms of support that sustain Israel’s system of apartheid, occupation and genocide,” he added.

He was among 12 MPs banned from Israel, who said he will “keep speaking up for peace, freedom and justice for the Palestinian people”.

Yvette Cooper

“Strong agreement across the world on today’s UK action against illegal settlements and settler violence that are an existential threat to the two-state solution,” the Health Secretary said on X.

“No one should be profiting from stolen land.”