The UK has formally announced a ban on trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside new sanctions and tighter arms export restrictions, prompting Israel’s foreign minister to threaten closing the UK consulate in Jerusalem and expelling British representatives from Gaza coordination efforts.
The UK has formally introduced a ban on trade in goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as part of what Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described as a “comprehensive reset” of Britain’s Middle East policy. Announcing the measures to MPs, Miliband confirmed the legislation is expected to take between six and nine months to come into force. In response, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the country would close the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem and take action against British representatives working in Gaza.
What the UK has announced
The measures go well beyond a straightforward ban on settlement goods. Britain will also target companies and individuals involved in settlement expansion, including those engaged in construction, infrastructure financing and real estate, through a newly established sanctions regime. The UK is separately moving to ban advertising in Britain for property or land located in Israeli settlements.
Miliband also announced a tightening of the UK’s arms export policy, confirming that Britain will refuse new licences for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation, maintaining what he described as a “double lock” on such exports for as long as the occupation continues. Britain has already suspended more than 30 arms export licences relating to weapons used by the Israeli military in Gaza, and those suspensions remain in force.
Significantly, the UK government has now formally described Israel’s occupation of the West Bank as unlawful. Miliband said this assessment was based on Israel’s entrenchment of control, its stated intention to extend permanent sovereignty over the territory, and its continued settlement expansion. He went further still, using the term “ethnic cleansing” to describe what the government says is happening to Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, language he described as the strongest Britain has used on the issue to date.
Israel’s response
Responding to the UK announcement, Saar defended Israel’s position on Jerusalem in forceful terms: “A united Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Israel, and it is under the full sovereignty of Israel… Any foreign activity in the region must be made in the conventional and agreed upon ways, without any intervention in Israeli sovereignty.” He added that he intended to “expel British representatives in from the International Centre for Assistance” in Gaza and Kiryat Gat.
It is worth noting some caution around how far this escalation has formally progressed. Separately, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for the consulate in East Jerusalem to be closed, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the British ambassador to be expelled. At this stage, these appear to represent demands from individual Israeli ministers rather than confirmed, finalised decisions by the Israeli government as a whole, and the precise status of the consulate closure should be treated as part of a rapidly escalating diplomatic row rather than a settled fact.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has also accused Britain of interfering in Israel’s upcoming election, expected in late October.
US involvement
The United States has also entered the dispute. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused Britain of discriminating against Jews over its approach to Israel, and warned that the British measures could carry economic consequences, noting that some US states restrict government business with companies participating in boycotts of Israel.
The UK’s position on a boycott
The British government has been clear that it does not consider the new measures a boycott of Israel as a whole. Miliband specifically said Britain will continue supporting trade with Israel within its internationally recognised pre-1967 boundaries, reflecting continued UK support for a two-state solution. Officials have also noted that the direct economic impact on UK-Israel trade, worth roughly £6 billion annually, is expected to be relatively small, since settlement-produced goods represent only a tiny proportion of that total. The diplomatic fallout, by contrast, appears set to be considerably larger than the immediate economic effect.
The E1 settlement dispute
At the centre of the row is Israel’s E1 settlement project near Jerusalem, which Britain says could effectively divide the West Bank and make a viable Palestinian state substantially more difficult to achieve. Despite the mounting international pressure, Israel has simultaneously announced plans for a further 1,000 homes across two West Bank settlements, indicating that settlement expansion is continuing regardless.
International backing for the UK’s position
Britain is not acting alone. France and Canada have announced matching measures alongside the UK, joining several other European countries that have already introduced, or are preparing to introduce, bans on settlement goods. A joint statement released alongside the announcement shows the UK acting together with Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, all of whom criticised settlement expansion and reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution.
The current diplomatic tension also follows a precedent set last month, when Israel expelled Dutch representatives from the international Gaza coordination centre in Kiryat Gat after the Netherlands introduced its own restrictions on settlement goods, a move that may offer some indication of how Israel could respond to British representatives working in similar coordination roles.
A significant shift in UK policy
The UK’s new position marks a substantial escalation from the policy that existed only a week earlier. Until now, Britain had advised businesses against economic activity in settlements without prohibiting such trade outright; the government has now moved from discouragement to a formal import ban, backed by sanctions and tighter arms export controls, marking one of the most significant shifts in UK policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent years.
