Britain is expected to outline new economic restrictions targeting settlements in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, in a significant toughening of British government policy toward the Israeli government.
The package of measures, expected to include a trade ban on goods produced in the settlements, are set to be announced on Tuesday in Parliament by Ed Miliband, who became Britain’s foreign secretary in July.
The decision is one of the clearest policy shifts in British foreign policy since Andy Burnham became prime minister in the same month, succeeding Keir Starmer who was elected in 2024.
Some analysts say Britain’s move will likely be followed by other countries also imposing harder-hitting and broader sanctions.
Ahead of the statement in Parliament, Pat McFadden, a senior British cabinet minister, said that the overriding drive behind the plan was to keep alive the possibility of a two-state solution, a proposed framework to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
“What we’re really concerned about is that there is an attempt, openly by some Israeli ministers, to erase that possibility through the expansion of these settlements in the West Bank,” he told Sky News.
He added that the trade restrictions would be limited to those settlements. “I think it’s also important to say that Israel is an important trading partner for the U.K. This isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods,” Mr. McFadden told the broadcaster.
Britain, a longtime ally of Israel, has condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are widely considered illegal under international law. Within Israel, a number of former generals, intelligence officials and prime ministers recently accused armed settlers in the West Bank of ethnic cleansing after they raided and torched Palestinian homes, mosques and villages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shrugged off international and domestic criticism and promoted building more settlements at a breakneck pace.
Even before the U.K. announcement was made, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, warned that the plans could stoke tensions with Washington and that countermeasures could have a “huge economic impact on British businesses.”
Mr. Huckabee told the BBC that Britain’s firms might face restrictions on business in some U.S. states, citing Florida as an example. “It’s like throwing a stone and not having an idea where it’s going to land,” he said.
Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, said last week that “Israel will act” against any new British sanctions, without elaborating.
Other critics have warned that action against Israel could be used by Mr. Netanyahu to galvanize his supporters ahead of elections scheduled there for next month.
Israel has become increasingly isolated on the world stage in the aftermath of the devastating war in Gaza, and international attention has increasingly focused on Israel’s tightening grip over the West Bank. The sanctions are set to be imposed at a time when Israeli extremists have repeatedly attacked Palestinians, on occasion assailing homes with little intervention by Israeli forces.
Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, became increasingly contentious in Britain, particularly after a United Nations commission said that Israel was committing genocide in the enclave. Israel has rejected allegations of genocide from scholars and human rights groups, saying the target of its campaign is the militant group Hamas.
When he took over as prime minister, Mr. Burnham apologized for the British government’s initial reaction to Israel’s conduct in Gaza, saying that his Labour Party “didn’t get it right” and adding: “There’s increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed.” He did not say genocide had been committed, saying that only the international courts could determine accountability.
The debate over Gaza has had some domestic political consequences with an insurgent Green Party capitalizing on misgivings over Labour’s caution among more left-leaning voters.
Tuesday’s statement is a significant moment for Mr. Miliband who, when he became foreign secretary, referenced his Jewish heritage, saying that his parents came to Britain as refugees from the Nazis.
He promised to work “tirelessly to seek a sustainable peace in Palestine and Israel, including an end to the terrible suffering of the people of Gaza and security for the people of Israel.”
Last month, Britain condemned the Israeli government decision to move ahead with plans for new homes for settlers in E1, part of the West Bank near Jerusalem, in a joint statement with countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway and Australia.
The statement urged Israel “to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel’s international standing.”
Mr. Miliband denounced the planned settlements as “an unacceptable and destructive act,” and vowed to respond with new policies, including sanctions targeting those involved in expanding settlements.
“We need to look at our wider economic relationship with the occupied territories, as we are doing, and at the different tools we have,” he said in Parliament last week. “We do not want British companies financing, constructing or advertising new settlements.”
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