Wednesday, September 9, 2026 - Israel has vowed to impose retaliatory measures against Britain after UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced new sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and accused some settlers of carrying out the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.
Miliband announced a ban on imports from settlements
considered illegal under international law, restrictions on advertising such
settlements in Britain and further measures targeting companies and individuals
involved in settlement activity.
Israel responded by threatening to close the British
consulate, remove UK officials from a Gaza support centre, end British training
for Palestinian Authority forces and bar 12 British politicians and nationals
over what it described as anti-Israel activities.
Those named included MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, Naz
Shah, Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Richard Burgon, as well as Green
politicians Hannah Spencer, Carla Denyer, Sian Berry, Ellie Chowns and Adrian
Ramsay. Fahad Ansari, Director of Riverway to the Sea, was also listed. Israeli
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the British government’s actions as
“morally distorted” and accused it of “blatant” electoral interference.
Miliband, who described himself as a “proud British Jew”
with the “deepest gratitude to the state of Israel,” told the House of Commons
that his support for Israel did not conflict with his support for Palestinian
rights. “I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the state
of Israel and there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support
for Palestine. Indeed, quite the opposite,” he said.
“The two-state solution is based on an explicit belief that
the only route for security for both peoples is to live side-by-side in
peaceful coexistence with freedom, security and self-determination.” Miliband
said he felt a “deep sense of shame” over Israel’s conduct in Gaza since the
October 7 attacks and accused some settlers in the West Bank of forcibly
displacing Palestinians.
“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, and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians,” he said. “I recognise the gravity of saying this, but the truth is it is the least the people who face such suffering deserve and it should be the prelude to justice.
The Foreign Secretary also announced tighter restrictions on arms and other exports to Israel. “We will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation, in theory a double lock against arms exports,” he said. The measures drew criticism from the United States and opposition politicians in Britain.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he expected
Washington to respond to the British measures and suggested President Donald
Trump could impose consequences. “It’s like throwing a stone and not having an
idea of where it’s going to land. The UK is a sovereign country, they can do
what they want, but so is the US,” Huckabee told the BBC.
Huckabee, who had previously accused the Labour government
of being consumed by “Jew hate,” also said: “The Brits have lost it. “The Jew
hate of their government knows no boundaries and knows no facts.” Asked whether
he was aware that Miliband is Jewish, Huckabee replied: “Yes, I was aware of
that.
“There are some Americans that don’t like America very much,
they march in the streets and burn our flags. It doesn’t mean that they love
America just because they live there. You go by what people do, not just by
what they say or who they’re related to.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat also criticised the
government’s approach, arguing that the sanctions oversimplified a complex
regional conflict. “Sadly this government has reduced complexity to a
soundbite. The Foreign Office knows these sanctions won’t work and is acting without
prudence, introducing sanctions that are both light and dangerous,” he said.
“Light because they won’t actually target settlers but will
be stretched to include all Israeli and Palestinian businesses, including the
pharmaceuticals that keep many British patients alive. Dangerous because they
risk encouraging sectarianism and antisemitism at home, and discouraging
cooperation abroad.”
The British measures follow warnings from the Labour
government that relations with Israel could face a “comprehensive reset” over
plans for the E1 settlement project. The project would link Jerusalem with
Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank. Critics argue that its development would
further separate Palestinian areas and make the territorial continuity required
for a future Palestinian state more difficult.
Many Labour backbench MPs expressed support for the
government’s new position, while Israel’s threatened retaliatory measures
marked a further deterioration in relations between the two countries.
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