Britain on Tuesday announced a package of measures targeting Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including a planned ban on imports from Israeli settlements and sanctions against individuals and companies involved in supporting or profiting from settlement expansion.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the House of Commons that the British Government had concluded that Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful, aligning its position with the central finding of an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice.
Under the new measures, goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories will be barred from entering the United Kingdom. Britain also plans to prohibit the advertising and promotion in the UK of land and property in settlements and introduce powers to sanction companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing, real-estate and other services connected to settlement expansion.
Miliband said the measures were intended to distinguish between Israel and settlement activity in territory occupied by Israel.
“The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel.”
He said Britain would continue to support trade with Israel within the internationally recognised boundaries associated with the 1949 armistice lines, while opposing the expansion of settlements.
The British Government said the measures are aimed at protecting the possibility of a negotiated two-state solution, under which Israel and a Palestinian state would exist alongside each other.
The announcement was coordinated with France and Canada, which also said they would introduce bans on imports from Israeli settlements. Several other European countries, including Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium, have already imposed or are moving toward restrictions on settlement-related trade.
Britain is also immediately sanctioning five additional individuals accused of supporting, inciting or carrying out violence against Palestinian communities. The new measures bring the number of people sanctioned by Britain in connection with settler activity to 38, according to the British Government.
The measures follow growing international concern over settlement expansion, particularly Israel’s plans for the E1 area of the West Bank. British officials say development there could divide the territory and make the establishment of a viable Palestinian state more difficult.
The British Government said the United Nations recorded more than 1,400 incidents of settler-related violence in the previous year, while 16 Palestinians were killed by settlers during that period. It also said Israel had approved 104 new settlements and allowed tenders for construction of the E1 project to proceed.
Israel strongly rejected the British measures. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Britain of interfering in Israeli affairs and said Israel would close its consulate in East Jerusalem and bar several British officials from entering the country.
The United States has also indicated that it will not adopt the settlement import restrictions, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that such measures could destabilise the West Bank.
The economic impact of the British ban is expected to be limited because settlement products represent only a small share of Israel’s overall exports. The political consequences, however, could be more significant as Britain and other traditional Israeli allies increase pressure over settlement expansion.
Miliband said the legislation implementing the new British restrictions is expected to be in place within six to nine months.
