In his announcement on Tuesday, foreign secretary Ed Miliband detailed a new series of anti-Israel measures which he said are aimed at salvaging the two-state solution.
The former Labour leader was at pains to emphasise his own Jewish identity and also the government’s abhorrence of antisemitism and its commitment to protecting the Jewish community.
Stating that the UK’s disagreement was with the current Israeli government and not the people of Israel, Miliband’s remarks in the Commons contained some of the most strongly critical language from a British minister towards an Israeli government.
Though careful not to accuse the Israeli state directly of ethnic cleansing, he used remarks by Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert and former IDF Brigadier General Ephraim Sneh to support his claims that it is taking place in Israel.
Citing the UN definition of “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas”, Miliband said that the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to such activity.
British government policy up until now has declared settlements to be illegal, but today the government accepted the 2024 view of the International Court of Justice that Israeli occupation as a whole was unlawful.
To emphasise what he said was the government’s view of the “unlawfulness” of it, an import ban on goods from settlements was introduced, “with appropriate religious exemptions”, with Miliband saying the new measures amounted to a “comprehensive sanctions regime”.
He also said that there would be consequences for those advertising settlements, and made reference to a recent Israeli property expo which he called “shameful”.
The government also introduced sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank including far-right activists Baruch Marzel and Benzi Gopstein.
Many pro-Palestine campaigners have demanded that Britain withdraw from the F-35 fighter jet programme because of its use by Israel. The government didn’t go that far, but did re-emphasise its partial arms embargo on Israel, introduced in September 2024, and said it would go further and introduce a “double lock” on arms controls and “refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation”.
Amid the criticism of Israel, there was also a call on the Palestinian authority to “accelerate reform”.
As regards Gaza, Miliband again went further than any of his predecessors in condemning Israel’s actions.
He said that Hamas’ atrocities on October 7 “cannot justify what has happened in Gaza”.
As well as announcing that Britain would be welcoming in more students from Gaza, he claimed Israeli government decisions had presiding over a “totally avoidable humanitarian catastrophe” and that “humanitarian aid and access has been routinely blocked” – something disputed by Israel and the US.
While stopping short of endorsing claims of Israeli war crimes, he repeated claims from UN reports that “war crimes appear to have been committed” and said that the government backed “legal processes to determine this”.
There is some continuity from Sir Keir Starmer’s government in that Miliband also said that the question of whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza was a matter for international courts.
Prior to the announcement on Tuesday, some Labour figures questioned whether the anti-Israel measures were more to do with planning for the party’s annual conference later this month.
It was a point Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar also emphasised as he accused Miliband of “outrageous lies” against his country.
Sa’ar said: “They chose to do this, on the eve of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, for domestic political reasons, ahead of the Labour Party Conference taking place this month.”
Other Westminster figures have also speculated whether strong anti-Israel measures might improve the party’s chances at next month’s Holborn and St Pancras, where they face a battle against Zack Polanski to hold onto Sir Keir Starmer’s old seat.
While offering rhetorical opposition to Hamas, outlets supporting them have claimed the foreign secretary’s announcement as a victory.
Israel’s foreign minister announced a series of measures against Israel in response to the measures, including the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem and the banning of 12 British MPs known to be highly critical of Israel – including Zarah Sultana, Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and the entire Green Party parliamentary party – from entering the country.
Despite the urging of far-right internal security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israelis haven’t changed policy to recognise Argentine claims over the Falkland Islands nor, so far, were there any economic measures in response.
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