UK Sanctions Israeli West Bank Settlements, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Defends Trade Ban

Britain announced sanctions banning imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband presenting the trade restrictions as part of Labour’s promise to take a tougher stance in support of Gaza.

“The snap YouGov survey, conducted on Wednesday, revealed 52 per cent of respondents support”

The Independent

A snap YouGov survey conducted on Wednesday found 52 per cent of respondents support the trade restrictions, including 33 per cent who said they "completely approve" and 19 per cent who said they "somewhat approve".

ABC

Prime minister Andy Burnham defended the sanctions in the Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, telling MPs, "In this difficult and dangerous world, Britain has to stand for something."

The measures restrict the import of settlement-produced goods, impose financial sanctions on developers, and halt arms export licences contributing to the occupation, while the Stop the War Coalition said the announcement must serve as a "floor, not a ceiling".

The Independent reported that the poll also showed 31 per cent of the 4,506 British adults surveyed did not know whether to support the ban.T

Israel responded to Britain’s sanctions by issuing retaliatory counter-measures, with foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar warning, "If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain."

Sa'ar confirmed Israel would close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, remove British officials from the international Gaza coordination centre, and ban entry to 12 British MPs and activists.

Al Jazeera

The Jerusalem Post reported that Miliband defended the sanctions in an interview with Sky News as something he was "proud" of because it was "the right thing to do," while also saying he regrets Israel’s announcement that it will close the UK’s consulate in east Jerusalem.

In the same reporting, a British official told The Jerusalem Post that the British government is "considering its response" to Israel’s decision to close the consulate.

Euronews said Miliband called the Israeli closure decision "lamentable y perjudicial" and told BBC Radio that "Preveíamos que esto podía ocurrir" after seeing other countries face similar reprisals.

Britain’s sanctions were framed as targeting settlement expansion and the occupation’s impact on the two-state solution, with the BBC saying the UK sanctions will ban settlement goods and also act against companies and individuals providing services for settlement expansion.

“"the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse"”

BBC

In Parliament, Ed Miliband said the British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists, and he added that the Israeli government has "turned a blind eye" to this and worse.

The BBC reported that Miliband announced a ban on advertising illegal West Bank settlements in the UK and said the sanctions regime would introduce a "new comprehensive sanctions regime" over the next six to nine months.

The New York Times described Israel’s fury after the announcement and said Israel announced countermeasures including closing the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, while the institution, founded in 1839, represents the British government in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Al Jazeera reported that Miliband also announced tougher new restrictions on arms sales to Israel, and it said Israel’s four countermeasures included banning 12 British MPs from entering Israel and closing the British consulate in Jerusalem.A