UK Leads 12 Nations in Planned Sanctions on Israeli Settlements

Twelve European nations, spearheaded by the United Kingdom, have announced their decision in principle to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank due to Israel's policies in the region. However, the actual implementation of these measures has been postponed for six to nine months, signaling a belief that a change in Israeli government could alter policies, thus negating the need for sanctions. This marks a significant escalation, as previous sanctions on settlement products were imposed by private commercial entities, not by states.

The move comes in response to the Israeli government's approval of 1,200 new housing units in the West Bank, viewed by these nations as a de facto annexation that undermines the two-state solution favored by Europe and the United States. It also follows a surge in violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians, which the Israeli military had warned could lead to a wider conflict, and for which it claimed there was insufficient response from Israeli security forces.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described Israel's actions in the West Bank as "ethnic cleansing," a term he stated constitutes a war crime under international law. He asserted that the British government agrees that ethnic cleansing is occurring in Palestinian areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by Jewish terrorists, with the Israeli government either turning a blind eye or, worse, having government members support the forced displacement of Palestinians. Miliband announced that the UK government will ban trade with companies located in settlements and sanction those building in them or financing such construction.

The UK reiterated the widely held international position that settlements are illegal, contrasting with repeated Israeli Supreme Court rulings affirming their legality. "I do not believe the British people want us to support the occupation by accepting products from settlements," Miliband stated, announcing the import ban on products from "illegal settlements in occupied territories" and pledging full force sanctions against companies providing services like construction, financing, or real estate to these settlements.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the UK declared that "Israel's actions in the West Bank undermine the possibility of a two-state solution." They called for an immediate halt to settlement expansion and civilian administrative authorities, and for accountability for settler violence. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot added that France would cease trade with Israeli settlements, citing the West Bank's volatile situation, unchecked settlement expansion violating international law, extremist settler violence, and Israeli authorities condemning these acts. Barrot emphasized that this "devastating situation severely harms the dignity of the Palestinian people, seriously jeopardizes Israel's security, to which France is unreservedly committed, and erodes the two-state solution, the only alternative to a state of permanent warfare."