The government has imposed fresh sanctions on six entities and one individual accused of financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence in the West Bank.
The announcement came as part of a coordinated action alongside Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Norway aimed at tackling networks which they say finance attacks against Palestinians.
Additionally, for the first time ever, the government’s official guidance explicitly advises businesses against economic and financial activity in Israeli settlements. However, the government continues to support trade with Israel “within 1967 lines but states that there should be no economic involvement in illegal settlements”, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, told MPs on Tuesday: “Today we are acting with our international partners to sanction those who support and sponsor violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
“Settler expansion and violence are illegal and a fundamental threat to the viability of a two-state solution, and to long-term peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis. These measures show the UK is leading with our partners to target those who are fuelling this violence.”
According to the Foreign Office, those sanctioned include The Farms Association, which it says provides organisational support to Israeli settler farms and outposts in the West Bank “including those associated with violence, intimidation and forced displacement of Palestinians”; Ahavat Gilad, which serves as a financial conduit for the Farms Association and reportedly channels “donations to settler outposts including those associated with violence against Palestinians” and Ari Yshag, which “fundraises for illegal settler outposts associated with violence, intimidation and forced displacement of Palestinians”.
Also sanctioned are Artzenu, which the department claimed “promotes, finances and resources settler farms and outposts associated with violence against Palestinians, including fundraising for tactical military equipment for armed settler squads”; Shivat Zion Lerigvey Admata, which is “the registered legal vehicle through which Artzenu's financial activities are conducted, channelling donations to outposts linked to serious human rights abuses” and Eyal Hari Yehuda, a construction and demolition company that “facilitates, supports and is responsible for owners, staff, associates and family members who have used company resources while hired on construction and demolition jobs in the West Bank to destroy Palestinian land and property, as well as physically attack, shoot and kill Palestinians”, as well as its owner, Itamar Yehuda Levi.
The government refused to rule out further actions against Israel unless Jerusalem agreed to end “settlement expansion, clamp down on settler violence, prosecute those responsible, and lift ongoing restrictions on the functioning of the Palestinian economy”.
It also announced further £1 million towards “humanitarian mine action in Gaza” and said that Israel should “open all crossings and remove arbitrary restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid and equipment to ensure that UK aid can reach all those who desperately need it”.
A joint statement by foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Norway, and the UK said the coordinated action was taken to “hold extremist settlers accountable for the horrific levels of settler violence against Palestinian civilians”.
It continued: “For too long, violent settlers have been able to act with near impunity, and settlement expansion and creation of outposts continue with the support and facilitation of the Government of Israel. In some cases, settler violence takes place under the protection of Israel’s security forces. We continue to urge the Government of Israel to take action to ensure meaningful accountability for violence in the West Bank.”
In response to the measures, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said: “Israel firmly rejects the disgraceful measures adopted by foreign governments against Israeli citizens, entities, and a government minister [the latter referring to France imposing a travel ban on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich].
“The real essence of these steps is the attempt to impose a political stance regarding the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel and concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - camouflaged as measures against violence.
“What these governments have in common is their resounding failure to combat the antisemitism that is rampant in their own countries. Anti-Israeli policies of the kind adopted today only serve to fuel that antisemitism.
“Astonishingly, these governments have also failed to impose sanctions or take action against the phenomena that truly drive violence - the Palestinian Authority’s salaries for terrorists (‘pay-for-slay’) policy and incitement.”
The announcement comes shortly after 140 Labour MPs – including potential leadership contender Wes Streeting and Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chair Dame Emily Thornberry – signed a letter calling for a ban on “trade with illegal Israeli settlements”.
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