Britain bans West Bank settlement goods; Saar shuts the UK consulate in Jerusalem
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Commons that Britain is immediately banning settlement goods and settlement-property adverts, with a comprehensive sanctions regime to follow in six to nine months. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar closed the UK consulate in East Jerusalem and said 11 British MPs would be barred from entering Israel.
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Miliband told the Commons that settlement goods are banned at once
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Commons that the government accepts there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in parts of the West Bank. He said a comprehensive new sanctions regime would be introduced over the next six to nine months, alongside an immediate ban on settlement goods and on advertising settlement property in Britain. Miliband said the measures target illegal settlements and settlement expansion rather than Israel itself, and that the British government now regards the occupation of the West Bank as unlawful. The step was launched with France and Canada, and a joint statement was issued with 11 other countries including Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.[1]
Saar shut the consulate and said 11 MPs would be barred from Israel
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the ethnic-cleansing accusation an outrageous lie. He announced the closure of the UK consulate in East Jerusalem and said 11 British MPs would be barred from entering Israel. He named Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott among the MPs to be banned. Saar said the British move left Israel no choice but to respond. The announcement follows Israeli tenders for about 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which Miliband said would cut through the heart of Palestine.[1]
NBC framed the ban as two-state support with a limited trade effect
The operative measure is the ban on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Settlement goods are mainly agricultural, fresh produce and wine among them, inside 6 billion pounds of annual bilateral trade. Work and pensions minister Pat McFadden pointed to settlement activity that expanded in recent weeks and months. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the UK ambassador to be expelled, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham stressed the two-state solution in a call with Donald Trump on Monday.[1], [2]
