Irish Minister Urges EU Ban on Trade With Israeli Settlements as Ed Miliband Plans Measures

Irish defence minister called on EU member states to take more concrete action to ban trade with Israeli settlements and prevent their expansion as settler pogroms intensify across the occupied West Bank.

“ban trade with Israeli settlements and prevent their expansion”

Al Jazeera

In London, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told lawmakers Britain would set out a "comprehensive" package of measures on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in the coming weeks.

ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Miliband said Israel's E1 settlement project would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state and "risks making a Palestinian state unviable," and he added, "This government will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution."

The National reported EU leaders expressed frustration at the bloc's failure to address rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, describing efforts to collectively ban all trade with Israeli settlements as having hit a brick wall.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar warned that Britain would face retaliation if it imposed sanctions over settlement expansion, telling Ynet: "If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain."

The BBC reported Miliband said he would introduce a "comprehensive reset" of policy on Israel "in the coming weeks" and that the government would examine how to stop UK companies "financing, constructing or advertising new settlements" in the occupied West Bank.

Al Jazeera

Haaretz added that Sa'ar said on a podcast that Israel would retaliate if Britain took measures against it over settlement expansion, warning that such a move would amount to interference in Israel's upcoming election.

In parallel, The National quoted Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign affairs and security policy chief, saying she had been sending condemnation messages but that "strong action would be something that would send a clear message."

Amnesty International UK said Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are living through a campaign of ethnic cleansing and that settlements are at the heart of Israel's illegal occupation and system of apartheid, arguing that "the trade that sustains them must be stopped."

“the trade that sustains them must be stopped.”

Amnesty International UK

Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s Economic Affairs Director, said the UK has a legal responsibility to act but warned, "But the devil will be in the detail."

Amnesty set out tests for any effective UK trade ban, saying a comprehensive ban must cover goods, services and investments and must be backed by strong enforcement mechanisms and compliance incentives.

Amnesty also said it would examine whether any ban is comprehensive in scope, contains robust definitions and is clear in its direction to business, adding that any UK measures must be defined by reference to international law and include real enforcement powers.