Chief Rabbi: Miliband’s sanctions will endanger Jews

Britain’s Chief Rabbi has warned that Labour’s sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank will put Jewish people in danger. On Tuesday, Ed Miliband , the Foreign Secretary, accused Israeli settlers of “ethnic cleansing”, warning they would face the “full force” of UK sanctions, including a ban on all goods produced in “illegal settlements in the occupied territories”. Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi of the UK, described the new sanctions as a “truly dark day for British Jews ”. He accused the Government of ignoring “the deep concerns expressed by so many of us. These measures will succeed only in bolstering the very extremism they seek to target.” Sir Ephraim added: “At a time when our community is more vulnerable than ever to the wave of extremism that has been building over recent years, these sanctions do nothing to advance the cause of peace. Nor do they make anyone safer – quite the contrary.” Israel responded to the sanctions by announcing the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem. Dozens of UK officials will be forced to leave the country, including the British military contingents assisting the Gaza peace process and training the Palestinian Authority. Eleven hard-Left MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, have also been banned from entering Israel. On a day that marked the lowest point of British-Israeli relations since the birth of the Jewish state, but also underscored Israel’s growing isolation among traditional allies, the Foreign Secretary described the occupation of Palestinian territory as “unlawful” for the first time and accused Israel of trying to make the two-state solution “unviable”. Mr Miliband told the Commons: “The British Government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists. And all too often, the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this.” Britain will impose specific measures against companies and individuals who support the settlements with finance, infrastructure, real estate and construction services. The UK will also refuse all export licences for weapons that “materially contribute to the occupation”, Mr Miliband said. Announced just before the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the package was coordinated with France and Canada, which will impose similar measures, and endorsed with a statement of support from nine other European countries. Concerns were raised about how the ban could be enforced in a way that does not harm trade with the main Israeli economy. The measures provoked a furious response in Israel with Gideon Sa’ar, the country’s foreign minister, accusing Mr Miliband of telling “outrageous lies” about Israel and attempting to interfere in the general election, which takes place on Oct 27. “The latest decision by the Labour government joins an increasingly escalating series of unilateral measures against Israel adopted by the hostile Labour government since it took office in July 2024,” he said, adding that government policy was “fuelling” anti-Semitism in Britain. Mr Sa’ar said these included previous lesser sanctions and last year’s formal recognition of Palestinian statehood. Framing the move as a “countermeasure”, Mr Sa’ar announced the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem, which serves as Britain’s mission to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, the Tel Aviv embassy being Britain’s mission to the state of Israel. The British Support Team, a small group of military officials who help train Palestinian security staff, and monitor settler violence, also has one week to leave Ramallah. The British delegation at the Israeli-US-run International Gaza Support Centre will be forced to leave Israel as well. Miliband feels ‘deep sense of shame’ Announcing the sanctions, which stop short of a general ban on services emanating from West Bank settlements, Mr Miliband described himself as a “proud British Jew” who felt the “deepest gratitude” to Israel for giving a home to more than 60 members of his family including his grandmother. But he said he felt a “deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community”. Describing the condition of the Palestinian territories as a “stain on the conscience of the world and of this country too”, he said the UK had presided over a “deeply painful contrast between our professed commitment to a two-state solution, and the reality on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank”. The sanctions were triggered in part by Israel inviting tenders to build a large new settlement to the east of Jerusalem called E1, which threatens to cut the Palestinian urban heartland of the West Bank in half. Israeli ministers have described the proposed development of approximately 3,400 homes as a device to “kill” prospects of a Palestinian state. The package is also in response to rampant settler violence against Palestinians. The Telegraph understands that, upon entering Downing Street, Andy Burnham immediately began work with Mr Miliband on a tougher package of sanctions and building a coalition with other countries to deliver them. On Tuesday, a joint statement by Mr Burnham, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, described the two-state solution as “critical for peace, stability and security in the Middle East and beyond”. “It is a fundamental national interest for the UK, France and Canada to protect and secure this outcome,” it read. “Systematic settlement expansion in the West Bank, including the government of Israel’s latest decision to progress the E1 settlement, as well as the dramatic increase in settler violence, pose a direct and urgent threat to that vision for peace.” Mr Miliband rejected the Chief Rabbi’s comments on Tuesday, telling Jewish News he did not “accept” the allegation he was putting British Jews at risk. “I don’t accept that,” he said. “Any person who targets British Jews because of the actions of the Israeli government is an anti-Semite in my view. That’s very, very important, and I couldn’t have said it more plainly.” Asked whether he had ignored Jewish groups who opposed the sanctions, Mr Miliband added: “Well, there are different views in the Jewish community, truthfully, about what we should do if you talk to people from Yachad and other organisations.” Yachad is a British-based charity which has said the sanctions are “an important and necessary development”.