The UK Government has announced a ban on imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of a new package of measures aimed at settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain would prohibit imports of goods produced in settlements and restrict UK businesses from providing a range of services supporting settlement activity.
The announcement is the substantive follow-up to the Government's promise in August to introduce “comprehensive measures” in response to Israeli settlement expansion, including the E1 project.
Imports from settlements to be banned
The new policy goes significantly further than the previous UK position, under which businesses were strongly advised against economic and financial activity in Israeli settlements but trade was not prohibited outright.
The measures will ban imports of goods originating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
They will also prohibit certain services connected with settlements, including areas such as financing, construction, infrastructure and real estate, as well as advertising settlement property.
The Government has stressed that the restrictions apply to settlements rather than Israel as a whole, with ministers maintaining that Israel remains an important UK trading partner.
Miliband says UK backs further international action
Miliband said the UK was acting alongside international partners, with France and Canada joining Britain in banning settlement goods.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden have also pledged support for further action, while a number of other European countries have already taken or proposed measures against settlement trade.
The Foreign Secretary said the Government believed Palestinians were being forcibly displaced in parts of the West Bank by violent settlers and accused those responsible of destroying homes, roads and other infrastructure.
Government hardens position on West Bank occupation
The Government has also adopted a stronger formal position on Israel's presence in the occupied West Bank, while continuing to support a negotiated two-state solution providing security for Israelis and Palestinians.
The UK has long maintained that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. The Government's latest measures are intended to distinguish between Israel within its internationally recognised pre-1967 lines and settlement activity in occupied territory.
Measures follow E1 settlement row
The package follows the Israeli Government's launch in August of a tender for the E1 settlement project.
Miliband condemned the move at the time as “unacceptable and destructive”, arguing that E1 could cut across the West Bank, separate it from East Jerusalem and undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state.
The Israeli Chargé d'Affaires was summoned to the Foreign Office and the Government promised that a comprehensive set of measures would follow.
Tuesday's announcement now confirms that trade restrictions form part of that response.
Israel condemns British action
The measures have prompted strong criticism from Israeli politicians.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the sanctions as a grave miscalculation and argued that they risk interfering in Israel's forthcoming election.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has also warned that Israel could respond to action taken by Britain.
The Israeli Government maintains that the West Bank is disputed territory and rejects the position taken by the UK and most of the international community on the legality of settlements.
US ambassador warns of possible consequences
The plans have also been criticised by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who argued that the measures discriminate against Jewish people and warned of potential consequences for British companies operating in US states with anti-boycott legislation.
The Government has nevertheless maintained that the measures are specifically directed at illegal settlement activity and do not amount to a general trade boycott of Israel.
Major shift from previous UK guidance
Until now, goods produced in Israeli settlements were excluded from preferential tariff treatment under the UK-Israel trade agreement, while Government guidance strongly advised British businesses against conducting economic and financial activity in settlements.
That guidance stopped short of imposing an outright prohibition.
The decision to ban settlement imports therefore represents a significant tightening of UK policy and turns the Government's previous advice to businesses into concrete restrictions.
It also delivers the first major element of the “comprehensive measures” promised by Burnham's Government following the E1 settlement decision.