The UK government under new prime minister Andy Burnham is preparing a comprehensive package of sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria. Critics of the move within Burnham’s Labour Party say that it could lead to a de facto boycott of Israel in general, "The Times" reports in its lead story today.
Last week, the UK joined sharp statements of condemnation from European governments of the Israeli government’s approval of plans to expand settlement in Judea and Samaria. The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said in a statement that implementation of the plan to build on the area known as E1, northeast of Jerusalem, "would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution." According to the report in "The Times", Burnham will announce "robust" sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the territories.
Such measures have already been taken by Spain and the Netherlands, and are being considered by other European countries. The Netherlands adopted a particularly strict law not only banning imports of goods from Israeli settlements but also forbidding their sale and purchase, making that an offence that could result in a prison sentence of up to six years. The Dutch law will come into effect on September 22. Meanwhile, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, Gideon Sa’ar, has ordered that the expulsion of representatives of the Netherlands from the International Support Center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat.
In the UK, besides sanctions on settlements, the prime minister is also considering personal sanctions on leading figures in the settlement movement. Within the Labour Party and outside it, Burnham has been warned that the sanctions being drafted will have consequences that are too broad, as it will be difficult to distinguish between goods from within Israel and goods originating in the territories. The newspaper writes that government officials said that "there was significant risk that ‘legitimate’ Israeli businesses would be hit by the ban and it risked undermining trade with Israel more broadly." It adds that "They also raised concerns that Palestinian businesses in occupied territories could be hit by the sanctions." Israel exports goods to the UK worth $2 billion annually. There is also trade in services, but it is believed that the sanctions will not apply to them.
The issue of sanctions on Israel as a means of bringing pressure to bear to proceed with a two-state solution to the dispute with the Palestinians divides the ruling Labour Party. 140 Labour members of Parliament (about a third of the party’s representation in the House of Commons) have signed a letter to the new prime minister calling for sharp measures against the Israeli settlements. The party lost seats to pro-Palestinian elements because of what was described as the friendly approach to Israel of the previous prime minister, Sir Kier Starmer. A debate on the matter is due to be held at the party’s annual conference in September, and "The Times" says that "Burnham is expected to make the announcement before then to avoid the issue overshadowing his first conference as leader."
The Labour Friends of Israel group told the newspaper that while it supported "calibrated steps against extremist settlers", a trade ban on the settlements was impossible and would become a de facto boycott of all of Israel. This, it said, "would be deeply damaging to the UK national interest, the British Jewish community and Palestinian workers."
"Moreover, with a general election in Israel on October 27, there is a real risk that untargeted action feeds the ‘siege mentality’ of the Israeli right and is thus politically damaging to Israel’s opposition which is leading in the polls and will bring about a substantive change of direction," the newspaper quotes the pro-Israel group as saying.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 26, 2026.
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