The head of the foreign affairs select committee has urged the Government to introduce a ban on goods from the occupied West Bank to help shore up the chance of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Dame Emily Thornberry called for the ban amid what she said is a “level of the settler violence” that is the worst she has ever seen.
The Labour MP said the two-state solution was at risk of being lost by actions from the Israeli government and settlers trying to force Palestinians off their own land in the West Bank.
Dame Emily said that while she did not agree on a full ban on Israeli goods, she thought a ban on those from the West Bank would be part of a deterrent. She also said British money should not be funding settler expansion in the area.
It comes as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband rebuked Israel on Thursday after it published a tender for the construction of a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Mr Miliband said was an “unacceptable act” which would “destroy” the two-state solution.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected his claim and its “patronising tone”.
Speaking to Sky News, Dame Emily said: “The international community have agreed that the Palestinians are going nowhere, the Israelis are going nowhere.
“There need to be two territories, two countries, so that they can live side-by-side, and what’s known as the West Bank is the part that the international community have pretty much unanimously agreed is the area that should be for the Palestinians.
“We have a far-right government in Israel which is doing its best to try to extinguish the hope of a Palestinian state by building as many Israeli settlements on that area as possible.”
She added: “A year ago my committee said that we should stop allowing the sale of goods from the West Bank in Britain and the Government is yet to do anything about that.”
She continued: “We must acknowledge that this is occupied Palestinian land, and whilst the occupation continues, then goods that come from businesses that are benefiting from an illegal occupation of Palestinian land should not be bought in Britain. It’s not too much to ask.”
In July, Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer said ministers were “in discussions” about a trade ban on goods from the West Bank settlements.
Dame Emily also joined Mr Miliband in speaking out against the E1 settlement project which would separate the West Bank from East Jerusalem.
A joint statement between the UK, France, Germany and Italy had urged Israel to “retract” its plans.
Mr Miliband said he had told Mr Sa’ar that Israel should halt E1 plans “immediately” and the Foreign Office summoned the country’s charge d’affaires to set out the UK’s “profound objection” to the plans.
The E1 scheme would see Israel build more than 3,000 homes in the area.
Dame Emily said: “They’re about to cut the whole of the West Bank in half.
“There is also a level of settler violence which is just the worst we’ve ever seen, so the tens of thousands of Palestinians are being displaced, either by the Israeli army or by settler violence.”
She added: “We have to make sure that we get a Palestinian state, and the reaction of the Israeli government has to been to try to extinguish the Palestinian state by building these settlements, by terrifying Palestinians, and by getting them to move out of the area.”
“Frankly, if we don’t move now, there won’t be a Palestinian state.”
Mr Miliband had said: “This Israeli government’s publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project is an unacceptable and destructive act.
“E1 would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution.
“The UK has been clear privately and publicly in our opposition to E1 and our support for a two-state solution as the only way to ensure long-term security and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.
“All settlements damage that prospect and are a flagrant breach of international law.”
Mr Sa’ar accused the Foreign Secretary of being “entirely one-sided” and said he rejected his statement and “the patronising tone of his words”.
In comments on X, he wrote: “It is absurd for Britain to lecture the Jewish people about where they may live in their historic tiny homeland, when the Jewish people’s connection and right to this land is the most extensively documented of any people in human history.
“There have been no new decisions regarding development in E1. The decision was made on 2025.
“The tender process has been under way for several months, with certain tender documents published only in recent days.”
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