Israel Enforces Retaliatory Measures Against UK Following West Bank Settlement Sanctions

Israel has announced four retaliatory measures against the UK in response to its decision to ban the import of all goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the move a "series of anti-Israel decisions by the Labour Government".

On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said in a speech to parliament that the rapid expansion of Israeli settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory was "unlawful" and accused Israel of carrying out "ethnic cleansing". He also announced sanctions against companies providing services to illegal settlements as well as tougher new restrictions on arms exports to Israel.

Twelve countries, including the UK, France, Canada, Spain and others, also shared a joint statement supporting a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict and announced their plans to impose their own trade restrictions on Israeli settlements. After Miliband’s speech, Israel announced four countermeasures against the UK, including the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said: “Accusations made today by the Foreign Secretary of the Labour Government in the British Parliament were outrageous lies.” He accused the UK of trying to interfere in Israeli elections, which are due in late October. President Isaac Herzog said sanctions would prove to be a “grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation, and a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history”.

The four measures being implemented against the UK include:

• The closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem within 30 days.
• The removal of British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center located in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel.
• The termination of British activities to train Palestinian Authority forces in the occupied West Bank under the “British Support Team in Ramallah”.
• A ban on entry to Israel for 12 British MPs and other British nationals involved in “antisemitic and anti-Israel activity, as well as those who deny the very existence of the State of Israel”.

Saar said this response should be viewed as a message to every country, adding: “Whoever acts against Israel, Israel will act against them, and they will lose their influence and relevance in the region. Measures against Israel will not go unanswered.”

On Wednesday morning, Miliband condemned Israel’s decision to close its consulate in Jerusalem, calling it “regrettable and damaging”. Other countries that signed the joint declaration include France, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, though Israel has not yet applied countermeasures against them.