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<\/a><\/p>\nA view over a new neighborhood in the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank on September 8, 2026 in Kedumim, West Bank. (Amir Levy\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The declaration exacerbated the rising tensions riling the traditionally strong Israel-U.K. alliance. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar warned that these steps stoked antisemitism against British Jews in an on-camera statement to reporters in Jerusalem. <\/p>\n
Sa\u2019ar charged that the measures were a politicized hostile action deliberately taken ahead of Friday\u2019s Jewish New Year holiday, with an eye toward influencing the country\u2019s Oct. 27 elections.<\/p>\n
Israel, he said, is responding by closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem that services Palestinians. It will also remove British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat and halt the British training of Palestinian Authority security forces. He added that Israel would bar the entry of 12 British politicians and other nationals involved in anti-Israel activity.<\/p>\n
France and Canada have also announced a ban on the import of settlement goods, Miliband told parliament. He noted that the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway have either banned goods or in the process of doing so. <\/p>\n
In the same address, Miliband affirmed Israel\u2019s right to exist, reflected on his own Jewish roots and rejected the notion that there was a connection between the policy steps against West Bank settlement activity and the safety of British Jews.<\/p>\n
What is motivating the U.K., Miliband said, is \u201ca deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community\u201d as well as Israel\u2019s \u201cclear intent to bury the Palestinian state.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, he said, the U.K. \u201cwill introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied [Palestinian] territory\u201d as part of a \u201cnew comprehensive sanctions regime\u201d that will be put in place within nine months.<\/p>\n
This will include, he said, \u201caction against specific companies and individuals who provide services, such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n
To those who \u201cfinance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of U.K. sanctions,\u201d Miliband warned.<\/p>\n
Miliband clarified that the ban would not affect the export of religious items or life-saving Israeli medications. He explained that trade with the settlements was minimal and that the greater impact would be the sanctions on services.<\/p>\n
As part of declaring the ban, Miliband said that the British government is also adopting the International Court of Justice\u2019s 2024 advisory opinion that all Israeli settlement activity over the pre-1967 border was illegal. <\/p>\n
But others in Parliament pushed back against Miliband\u2019s declaration. MP Richard Tice of Britain\u2019s right-wing Reform party said that the sanctions were a grave mistake that would \u201cembolden the scourge of antisemitism against British Jews on British streets,\u201d endanger ties with the United States and lead to \u201ctit for tat\u201d sanctions from Israel.<\/p>\n
Miliband shot back that \u201cno British Jew is responsible for the policies of the Israeli government and it behooves all of us to make sure that there can be no confusion about that,\u201d saying that Tice\u2019s statement \u201cfell foul\u201d of that goal.<\/p>\n
The U.K. action is the latest escalation in tensions between Israel and the Labour-led British government headed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took power in July. <\/p>\n
The prior government, led by former Labour Premier Keir Starmer, had already angered Israel by recognizing Palestinian statehood in 2025, suspending licenses for the export of arms to Israel and freezing talks toward a free-trade agreement.<\/p>\n
France and Canada are also announcing a ban on the import of settlement goods, Miliband told parliament. He explained that the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, and Norway have either banned goods or in the process of doing so. <\/p>\n
In concert with Miliband\u2019s appearance at Parliament, Britain and 11 other countries issued a joint statement pledging \u201ctheir intention to introduce national and\/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law.\u201d <\/p>\n
Those other countries were Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. <\/p>\n
The 12-country bloc said it was taking this step to maintain the viability of the two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, describing the situation in the West Bank as \u201crapidly deteriorating.\u201d <\/p>\n
In its statement, the bloc stressed that it was taking this step amid an \u201cunprecedented level of settler violence and settlement expansion, including the unacceptable decision to publish tenders for the E1 settlement project.\u201d That project is seen as cutting through land that would render a Palestinian state unviable.<\/p>\n