Politics & Diplomacy
Britain prepares a total trade ban on Israel's West Bank settlements
Graphic: Times of Palestine
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government is preparing to announce a complete ban on trade linked to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside targeted sanctions on figures driving settlement expansion, the Times of Israel reported Wednesday — the strongest trade measure any G7 state has aimed at the settlement enterprise.
Bloomberg first reported the sanctions regime under review on 21 August, and Haaretz followed a day later. Downing Street sources cited in the coverage describe a deliberate hardening: Burnham intends a firmer line than his predecessor, and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is weighing further options in the coming weeks.
The trigger, per the reporting, is Israel's decision to open tenders for 1,200 new housing units in a strategically sensitive part of the occupied West Bank.
No formal announcement has been made as of Wednesday afternoon, and the plan's final scope remains the government's to declare. Israeli objections are already on the record: lawyers quoted by the Jerusalem Post argue a ban would breach trade obligations, and critics cited by the Times of Israel warn it could function as a boycott of Israel outright.
For Palestinian readers the measure lands on a familiar ledger. Britain recognized Palestine last September; on Saturday, 102 former French and British ambassadors wrote that recognition without enforcement leaves the recognized state to be erased — and named settlement trade as the place to start. Four days later, London appears to be reaching for exactly that tool.
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