Britain is expected to announce sanctions today against “companies and individuals” connected to Jews living in the land of Israel, specifically in Israel’s heartland, Judea and Samaria, according to multiple UK reports. The move comes after years of rhetorical condemnations from London, which previously considered broader economic sanctions, including suspending a trade partnership agreement that grants tariff exemptions, an option examined by the British Business Department but ultimately shelved, and now appears to be moving to targeted action.
At the center of the emerging plan: sanctions against construction companies and specific individuals, plus a declaration that certain imports from Israel are illegal. While the full package hasn’t been published, the decision represents a strategic shift in London after prolonged deliberations, marking a transition to actually imposing punitive measures on Israel.
The stage was set in a harsh message last month from British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who attacked Jews living in Israel and claimed they harm and threaten ‘Palestinian’ security. That evening Miliband made a colonialist statement, saying Britain strongly opposes construction in Israel’s E1 area and elsewhere, demanded Israel’s government halt the construction of new Jewish communities inside the Jewish state, and warned his country won’t sit on the sidelines—it will take countermeasures and targeted sanctions against those participating in the expansion to prevent “the destruction of the two-state solution.”
Responding to Miliband’s statements, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected his remarks outright and called them “condescending.” Sa’ar emphasized that the Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as Britons have the right to live in London, and noted that over a century ago the Balfour Declaration officially recognized the Jewish people’s historic right to reestablish their national home in the Land of Israel.
The foreign minister attacked British policy and called it “absurd,” pointing out that Britain itself still controls colonial territories thousands of miles from its shores, so it has no place lecturing the Jewish people about living in their homeland. Sa’ar added that British policy that blames only Israel fuels antisemitism in the kingdom, and concluded that Israel won’t be a “passive victim” and will respond to the regrettable decision to damage relations between the countries.