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<\/a><\/p>\nMembers of Parliament gather with MP Abtisam Mohamed (centre) in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament, London, to show support for the two Labour MPs who were denied entry to Israel are on their way home to the UK. (Stefan Rousseau\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During a three-hour House of Commons debate on Thursday, lawmakers argued that Britain\u2019s long-standing position that the settlements are illegal under international law means it should fall in line behind other countries advancing bans, particularly at a time of rising settler violence and efforts to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
The debate \u2014 the latest in a number of formal discussions about a potential ban in Parliament \u2014 was led by Abtisam Mohamed, a politician from the governing Labour Party who is the first Arab woman and first Yemeni member of Parliament. She was denied entry into Israel in 2025, a year after being elected.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to pose a simple question to the government today, a question that sits at the heart of this debate,\u201d Mohamed said in opening the session. \u201cIf settlements are illegal, why have we not made an outright ban on trade? What exactly is it that we\u2019re waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers from other parties piled on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no excuse that we have to wait for other countries to move because they\u2019ve moved ahead of us,\u201d said Ellie Chowns from the left-wing Green Party, which has made opposition to Israel part of its platform. \u201cThere is no excuse that this is too technically difficult because the legal framework already exists.\u201d<\/p>\n
And a member of the Conservative party, which has traditionally favored strong ties with Israel, said he was unconvinced by the argument, made recently by a government official, that other measures that are potentially less complicated to administer could achieve the same pressure on Israel. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done everything except the obvious, which is just the ban,\u201d said the lawmaker, Kit Malthouse. \u201cThe question I\u2019m left asking is, why? Why the reluctance? Why the hesitation? Nobody\u2019s buying the complexity argument.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday, EU foreign ministers met to discuss a ban on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in order to gauge if there is enough support for the move. The EU\u2019s foreign minister said a ban on imports was the most popular option under discussion and said she expected that the conversation would soon advance.<\/p>\n
The discussion in the House of Commons comes as the British Labour government is in flux, with a new prime minister set to take over from Keir Starmer next week. It also comes as the government is taking steps to reassure a Jewish community that has been rattled by a number of violent incidents. This week, the government both allocated more than $300 million in security funding for Jewish institutions while also formally declaring Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, seen as tied to many of the attacks, to be a terrorist group, in a move that enables more intense prosecution.<\/p>\n
In an appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee earlier in July, the government\u2019s top Middle East minister fended off allegations that the Labour government was slow-walking pressure on Israel. Hamish Falconer also noted that British Jewish leaders are urging against an import ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are legitimate and reasonable concerns from the British Jewish community that if we were to take steps which were crude, which were untargeted, could have unintended consequences on the lives of the community who are already under considerable pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cI do take that seriously for obvious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Board of Jewish Deputies, an umbrella organization for almost 200 Jewish groups in Britain, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that it was reluctant to comment on a potential ban on West Bank imports before a new prime minister is installed. But the group has previously weighed in strongly against efforts to boycott Israel, arguing in a 2017 report that \u201cto hasten a solution to the settlements would be to assist the chances of negotiations through promoting peace, rather than the problematic boycott campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falconer also signaled that all bets could be off if the Israeli government moves forward with a settlement project known as E1, telling the Foreign Affairs Committee, \u201cI have said repeatedly that no one should benefit from a profit made on land that has been unlawfully procured.\u201d<\/p>\n
The E1 initiative would expand Jewish settlements on a stretch of land east of Jerusalem, bisecting the West Bank, and is seen by both its proponents and critics as a bid to undercut a potential future Palestinian state. The current right-wing Israeli government has moved the E1 project significantly toward actualization, approving it formally. <\/p>\n
If the project proceeds further, Falconer told lawmakers, \u201cthen we and our friends and allies would take tangible action in response.\u201d<\/p>\n