UK Sanctions West Bank Settlements, Israel Retaliates — SkimNews
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- The UK announced sanctions on illegal Israeli West Bank settlements, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stating Israel had "turned a blind eye" to "ethnic cleansing" by settlers; a new sanctions regime banning settlement goods and targeting expansion services will roll out over six to nine months.
- Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced counter-measures including shutting the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem and barring 11 UK MPs — including Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott — from entering Israel on accusations of "antisemitic and anti-Israel activity."
- Ed Miliband cited Israel's tenders for 1,200 settlement homes in the strategically critical E1 area east of Jerusalem as the trigger, saying the development would render a two-state solution "unviable" by cutting "through the heart of Palestine."
- The UK acted jointly with France and Canada, then issued a 12-country joint statement with Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, committing to national measures restricting trade with settlements.
- In the same announcement, the UK sanctioned Hezbollah's financing wing and added Iran sanctions aligned with the US and EU.
- US Ambassador Mike Huckabee warned Washington would respond with "huge economic impact on British businesses," suggesting action at both individual US state and federal levels, while UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called it "a dark day for British Jews."
Why it matters: The UK is executing its most concrete punitive action against Israeli settlement activity to date, coordinated across a 12-country coalition — but it triggers immediate Israeli retaliation (consulate closure, MP travel bans) and a threatened US economic response from Ambassador Huckabee, opening a diplomatic rift with Israel's closest Western allies over the same week the E1 settlement tender reignited the debate.
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