The United Kingdom, France, Canada and nine other countries said on Tuesday they will impose fresh trade restrictions on Israel in response to the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
London was the initial government to make a public move, announcing that it would suspend trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. British officials said the measures would apply to direct commerce with the West Bank settlements and to British companies that provide services to those settlements.
Israel moved quickly to react to the British announcement. Government officials said they would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, the office responsible for Palestinian affairs, and would expel British representatives serving at the U.S.-led coordination center for postwar Gaza.
UK foreign minister Ed Miliband characterized the expansion of settlements as "ethnic cleansing" and said it was undermining prospects for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. In outlining the scope of the British measures, he identified both direct trade with settlements and provision of services by British firms as targets for the restrictions.
"The expansion of Israeli settlements was 'ethnic cleansing' that was undermining the two-state solution," Ed Miliband said.
Israel rejected the British criticism and framed the move as interference in its sovereign affairs. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said: "The accusations made today...were outrageous lies."
Prior to the British announcement, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the BBC that the United States would consider retaliatory steps against the UK if the sanctions went ahead, saying some U.S. states could bar British companies from doing business there.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who assumed office in July, discussed the Middle East with President Trump on Monday.
Tensions between the UK and Israel have worsened as the Labour-led British government has adopted a firmer stance on Israel, a shift officials attribute in part to rising public anger over the Gaza war. A YouGov survey cited by British officials found that 50% of Britons back a ban on trade with what the poll described as illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, 16% oppose such a ban, and the remainder are undecided.
- Immediate measures: Halted trade with West Bank settlements and restrictions on British companies providing services to those settlements.
- Israeli response: Closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem for Palestinian affairs and expulsion of British representatives from the U.S.-led Gaza coordination center.
- Third-party reaction: U.S. diplomat warnings that states could bar British firms from business in response to the UK's sanctions.