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Israel targets UK diplomats over West Bank trade ban
Israel clashes with Western allies over West Bank sanctions: As it happened
President Trump reportedly declined to intervene as London accused Israeli settlers of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians Published 8 Sep, 2026 17:30 | Updated 9 Sep, 2026 08:50FILE PHOTO: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visits Palestinian-Americans in West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, September 5, 2026 © Issam Rimawi / Anadolu via Getty ImagesA sharp diplomatic rift has erupted between Israel and several of its key Western partners after 12 countries backed restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and London accused settlers of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in parts of the territory.
The UK, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden issued a joint statement on Tuesday pledging to introduce, support, or consider restrictions on settlement goods, citing “unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion.”
London, Paris, and Ottawa specifically committed to national trade bans, while the group demanded that Israel “immediately halt” settlement expansion, ensure accountability for settler violence and investigate allegations against Israeli forces.
READ MORE: US envoy brands violent Israeli settlers ‘terrorists’Goods and services from Israel itself remain exempt.
Israel has retaliated against London by closing the British consulate in Jerusalem, expelling UK representatives from a US-backed Gaza coordination center and barring British politicians and activists. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had already called on his government to recognize Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
US President Donald Trump reportedly did not object when British Prime Minister Andy Burnham briefed him on the measures in advance. Meanwhile, the escalating row has drawn mixed reactions from governments and political figures around the world.
The UK’s settlement trade ban has triggered a widening diplomatic clash with Israel, as more countries line up behind restrictions and West Jerusalem hits back with countermeasures.
RT correspondent Charlotte Dubenskij takes a closer look at the sanctions, Israel’s response, and whether the measures will have much practical impact.
Former UK Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould has warned that Britain’s settlement sanctions could play into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hands ahead of Israel’s October 27 parliamentary election.
READ MORE: Netanyahu’s wife targets opposition politician with conspiracy claimGould told Sky News that Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s swift condemnation – despite his largely ceremonial role – showed “where the center of gravity of Israeli opinion sits,” with Israelis resenting being “told what to do by a foreign power.” Herzog earlier accused Britain of “gross interference” in Israel’s election and called the trade ban a “grave miscalculation.”
Gould warned the measures could “strengthen the narrative of the Netanyahu coalition that Israel is a country under siege,” with the Israeli prime minister’s team likely to see the row as “an issue we can use to our advantage.”
Netanyahu faces a tight race. A September 6 Kan poll put Netanyahu’s Likud party at 20 of 120 Knesset seats and his right-wing bloc at 52, nine short of a majority. A Globes poll-of-polls put Likud first on 24 seats but likewise showed neither major bloc reaching the 61 needed to govern.
RT contributor Martin Jay has dismissed Britain’s settlement sanctions as largely symbolic, arguing they will have little practical impact and amount to “a political game.”
“It’s a lot of hypocrisy,” Jay said. “The big political statement that’s being made, but there’s not much behind it.”
He argued that identifying which Israeli goods originate in West Bank settlements would be difficult, pointing to previous EU efforts to distinguish settlement products.
“As a political statement, it works very well,” Jay said, claiming Labour could use the move to court Muslim voters in Britain. “But this is all politics. It’s really all about politics.”
Miliband also declined to say whether the US supported the UK’s decision to impose sanctions on West Bank settlements.
“I’ll let our American friends speak for themselves,” he said, noting that London had consulted Washington before the announcement. “I think the whole international community has been quite frustrated, to put it mildly, with some of the actions of the Israeli government. I will let them say what they feel.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier said Washington would not follow Britain’s lead, but stopped short of criticizing the move.
Together we are resolute.My joint statement with the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.https://t.co/dortp6SmG8pic.twitter.com/nQljIyWWXz
READ MORE: Israeli MP’s sledgehammer stunt leaves West Bank village on edge (VIDEO)Miliband defended the settlement trade ban despite Israel’s furious retaliation, saying London is not prepared to “stand by” as settlement expansion fuels “the oppression of the Palestinian people.”
“I regret what the Israeli government has announced, but I’m proud of what we did yesterday, and it was the right thing to do,” Miliband told Sky News.
He acknowledged that Israel’s decision to close the UK consulate in East Jerusalem would be “damaging” to ties with the Palestinian Authority, but said his government has weighed the consequences.
”I strongly believe that what we did, along with other international allies, was absolutely the right thing to do.”
Analysts note that the measures targeting Israeli settlements affect only a fraction of UK-Israel trade.
According to official data, bilateral trade totaled roughly £6 billion ($8.1 billion) in 2025, compared with just £38 million in trade with the occupied Palestinian territories – well below 1%. Even that £38 million cannot be attributed entirely to settlements, however, with the House of Commons Library saying the figure is difficult to isolate because Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories operate within a customs union.
If you’re just joining us, the UK and 11 other countries earlier issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s settlement expansion and construction tenders in the West Bank’s E1 area.
READ MORE: Netanyahu orders demolition of West Bank settler outposts – ReutersUK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a ban on all imports from illegal West Bank settlements, with France and Canada pledging similar measures in the coming months.
The statement welcomed restrictions already taken or planned by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium, while Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden backed national measures or broader EU action on settlement trade.
Australia later said it is preparing additional targeted sanctions but would not join Britain’s blanket trade ban “at this time.”
The trade bans come amid a rapid expansion of Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank.
READ MORE: Israeli settler attacks terrorize last all-Christian village in West Bank (VIDEO)Netanyahu’s government has publicly touted the approval and retroactive legalization of 104 communities and settlements since taking office in late 2022. Many more have also reportedly sprung up without authorization. Israeli anti-settlement NGO Peace Now puts the number at around 340 outposts, alongside 146 settlements formally recognized and funded by the Israeli authorities. Recent estimates put the outpost tally closer to 390-410 when rapidly expanding agricultural ‘farms’ are included. While the government has demolished some unauthorized outposts, settlers have quickly rebuilt them.
The expansion has led to record settler violence. The UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) said in August that attacks reached their highest recorded pace in the first half of 2026, averaging six incidents a day. Combined with military demolitions, settler attacks have displaced thousands of Palestinians, including more than 1,000 children, according to the agency.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has welcomed Britain’s trade ban on Israeli settlements and urged other countries to follow suit.
“Other states should follow, build on it, restore respect for the rule of law,” Albanese wrote on X. “May justice be contagious!” She also took aim at Washington, saying the US should “for once” take inspiration from others rather than pressure them into “complicity.”
Of course there should be consequences to the UK's announced trade ban: other states should follow, build on it, restore respect for the rule of law.May justice be contagious!And imagine if the US for once took inspiration from others instead of pressuring them into complicity. https://t.co/J2fcbgloDF
Former Israeli Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair has backed Britain’s sanctions on settlements, arguing that international pressure is necessary to safeguard Israel’s future.
Writing in the Financial Times, Ben-Yair said he did not welcome punitive measures from an ally but argued that distinguishing between Israel itself and its occupation of Palestinian territory was essential to preserving prospects for peace.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has accused Britain of meddling in Israel’s domestic politics, calling the move “morally distorted” and “blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process.” He also claimed the measures were driven by domestic political considerations ahead of the Labour Party conference later this month.
'Blatant intervention in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral system' - Gideon Sa’ar on UK sanctions pic.twitter.com/TgNrPewB4p
READ MORE: Netanyahu declares West Bank ‘our land’Israel will close the British consulate in Jerusalem, expel UK representatives from the US-backed International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat, and end British training of Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank, Sa’ar announced. Israel will also bar 12 British elected officials and citizens it accuses of “antisemitic and anti-Israel activity.”“Unfortunately, there is a hostile Labour government in office that is systematically acting against Israel, and it will leave us no choice but to respond to its hostile moves,” Sa’ar said.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said London is taking a “new approach” to Israel and Palestine, while stressing his personal support for the Jewish state.
“I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the State of Israel,” Miliband told Parliament. “Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the UK has unshakeable bonds. Our argument is with the conduct of its government.”
Miliband said acknowledging what Britain considers “ethnic cleansing” in parts of the West Bank should be “the prelude to justice.”
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband:I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the State of Israel.There is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the State of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/CyTlISDTaq
Washington, Israel’s closest ally, has made clear it will not follow Britain’s lead.
“Obviously, we’re not going to do what the UK did,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters, while stressing that Washington does not want to see “anything destabilizing” in the West Bank.
Rubio warned that instability there could undermine US efforts to advance the Gaza peace process.
"Obviously we're not going to do what the UK did."US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the UK's sanctioning of goods from the occupied West Bank could have "implications" for the progress of the 20-point Gaza peace plan.Live: https://t.co/ufU6aJu9FQ📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/d3K0YPcT9m
Jordan has welcomed the growing international push against Israeli settlements, backing both Britain’s trade measures and the wider 12-country call for restrictions on settlement goods.
The Foreign Ministry called the British move an “essential step” toward upholding international law and urged other countries to take practical measures against settlement expansion. Amman also welcomed London’s condemnation of what it described as “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in parts of the West Bank.
Read more Russia weighs in on Palestinian statehoodRussia has repeatedly raised concerns over settlement expansion and rising violence in the West Bank.
Moscow has described Israeli settlement activity in the territory as unlawful and warned last month that Israel’s “creeping expansion” and escalating settler violence were pushing the West Bank toward a “point of no return.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has accused Britain of “gross interference” in Israel’s elections, which are due to take place next month.
Herzog called the settlement trade ban a “grave miscalculation” that would fall “on the wrong side of history,” and argued that it would also harm Palestinians by depriving them of business and employment.
Sanctions on Israel from the UK - or any other nation - will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation, and a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.Sanctions are not a solution – dialogue is. I say… pic.twitter.com/ZKjLENRQtG
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, has backed the British move, calling it “unavoidable” because of what he described as continuing “ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank by “Israeli terrorists.”
Olmert accused some Israeli police and military units of supporting those responsible, while blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz for “inaction and indifference.”
“Sanctions are directed against the terrorists not against Israel,” he said.
'Many of them are supported by public figures.'Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert denounces 'terroist action' in the West Bank. pic.twitter.com/C4dptUFH0H
The Palestinian presidency has welcomed the UK announcement as an “important step toward confronting the system of Israeli colonial settlement and its violations against the Palestinian people.”
It called for further international action to halt settlement expansion and impose sanctions on those responsible for settler violence.
Palestinian Presidency Welcomes UK Announcement to Ban Import of Settlement Products and Impose Sanctions on Colonial settlersRAMALLAH, September 8, 2026 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Presidency welcomed the announcement made by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband before the House… pic.twitter.com/5iFXtWyXsq
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned that Britain could face “repercussions or retaliations” in the US over its measures targeting West Bank settlements.
He cited Florida as an example, saying state law could prevent British businesses complying with the measures from doing business there.
Huckabee also stood by his accusation of “Jew hate” against the British government, saying the measures amounted to “discrimination against the Jewish people.”
"This is an irrational action... if the UK is really interested in dealing with issues they feel like are wrong, where are the sanctions against North Korea, China, Russia?"US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who has accused the UK government and Ed Miliband of 'Jew hate'… pic.twitter.com/kPdVVudWn3
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