UK sanctions on Israel ‘stoking antisemitism’, warns former minister

The government’s sanctions on Israel will “stoke” antisemitism, a former minister has said, as a vote criticising the measures was passed by peers. Baroness Altmann said the West was “being played” as she quoted the late Lord Sacks, former chief rabbi, who said human rights was used as a cover for antisemitism. It came as the package of sanctions was heavily rebuked by opposition peers for disproportionately targeting Israel. Foreign Office minister Lord [Stewart] Wood said the UK had also announced sanctions last week against fighters on both sides of the Sudanese civil war.

In September, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions on West Bank settlements which banned imports from affected areas. Lord Wood said the measures would “stand up for British values” and respond to human rights abuses. The law changes were being debated in the House of Lords on Wednesday. A motion to “regret” them was passed by 94 votes to 90. Lady Altmann, who was pensions minister under David Cameron and Theresa May, said: “I’m afraid that the West is being played and this statutory instrument will simply stoke further Jew-hatred.

“It will not promote or help in any way those who want the two-state solution, the Palestinians who lose their jobs [or] who are working alongside Israelis. “I just beg the government to understand the danger of singling out Israel for special punishment when so many of us who are Jewish citizens of this country are trying to warn of the dangers that this entails.” The sanctions unveiled by Miliband will target companies and individuals providing services such as financing and construction for the illegal settlements.

There will also be a ban on advertising in the UK of illegal settlements. Conservative former local government secretary Lord Pickles said the financial restrictions introduced by sanctions would introduce part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel by the “back door”. Tory peer Lord Polak, who is the honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, said it could stop estate agents advertising homes in Jewish neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.

“Britain should be building bridges in the Middle East, not burning them,” he said. His party colleague Lord Leigh of Hurley, who tabled a “regret motion” against the sanctions, said they were motivated by an attempt to “satisfy local, domestic political objectives by the foreign secretary and his government”. Lord Leigh said: “The government’s relentless and unequal focus on measures against Israel has left many Jews in this country fearful.

“There were 1,962 antisemitic incidents in the last six months in the UK. This does nothing to reduce the tensions.” In September, Miliband told MPs the “new approach” was necessary because plans for the E1 development in the West Bank would render a two-state solution “unviable” by “cutting through the heart of Palestine”. The foreign secretary said more settlements had been approved under the four years of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government than in the previous 20 years, and settler terrorism in the West Bank was “rampant”.

He said the government “agreed” there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank by “settler terrorists”. Miliband said the Israeli government had turned a “blind eye” to it, or even encouraged it. Responding in the House of Lords, Lord Wood said: “The expansion of the global human rights and international humanitarian law regime shows how the UK is taking bold action to stand up for British values around the world. “We continue to lead internationally on sanctions implementation, and this amended global human rights and international humanitarian law regime will give the UK a powerful tool to respond to human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations across the world.”