Miliband had sought to stress that the measures were targeted at settlers and not against Israel as a whole.
But it is unclear how a ban on settlement goods would be implemented given that a number of products are made at locations on both sides of the Green Line.
The woman went on to say she believed Labour was implementing the measures for political purposes.
“It’s completely obvious,” she said. “It’s just for votes. They just want to appease a group.”
She went on to say that those appeasement efforts would be futile as the group she was referring to, those who hate Israel, would never be satisfied until “all Jews are gone”.
She added, however, that she thought anti-Israel campaigners would “take it as a win”.
“They are saying online, ‘look, it works, it works. We’ve gotten one thing. Now we have to keep pushing harder.’”
Protesters outside Downing Street told the JC that Ed Miliband does not speak for them[Missing Credit]
The government's decision was commended by Hamas, which said it was a “step in the right direction”.
The woman said: “I think it’s going to embolden the protesters to some scary levels. I’m afraid for the future of the country, Jews here, my children, our friends. I’m just shaking, with anger, and I’m frightened, quite frankly.”
Miliband has repeatedly referenced his Jewish heritage during his public comments on the new policy.
One Jewish woman at the rally, Victoria Portnoy, 43, from Essex, said the foreign secretary does “not speak for me.
“The government thinks it has got Miliband speaking on behalf of Jews. He definitely does not speak on my behalf, or any of the Jews that I know, especially not the Jews of Essex. He does not speak for any of us. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
Suggesting that the measures could strengthen the resolve of anti-Israel protesters, Portnoy continued: “The fact that they’ve done them now puts Jews at risk. That’s a simple fact, because of the timing of it. They’ve done it just before the High Holy Days. To draw attention to the Jewish community just before we’re all about to go to synagogue is just completely outrageous.
“The fact that they’re even doing it at all, I think, shows a massive hypocrisy within the government.”
She cited Israel's decision to shut down the British consulate in Jerusalem in response, and the potential damage done to an invaluable bilateral relationship.
“By sanctioning Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, they’re actually putting the UK on the back foot, not just UK Jews, but the UK as a whole,” she said.
“Israel provides so much to England, to the UK: medicines, intelligence, information technology. Look at where Israel are standing currently with IT. It’s incredible.”
Some British Jews have gone as far as suggesting that Mossad should stop helping Britain foil terror attacks on its own soil.
Portnoy said: “There is a part of me that is so angry with the UK, with my government, that I think maybe Israel should [stop providing the UK with services].”
However, despite wanting “the UK to feel the repercussions”, she concluded: “It is too dangerous. We need Israeli intelligence.”
Another protester outside Downing Street was 48-year-old retired police officer Gill Levy from north London, an occasional JC contributor who has dual British and Israeli citizenship.
He referenced Miliband's use of the term “ethnic cleansing by settler terrorists” in the West Bank and said that ultimately, the “ethnic cleansing” will be against Jews.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband (Image: Getty Images)Getty Images
“If you don’t have a partner for peace among the Palestinians, and you create a Palestinian state, it will mean that you have to eject all the Jews from the West Bank,” Levy asserted.
“By empowering that, they’re not empowering peace. They’re empowering ethnic cleansing.”
John, a Christian retiree from south London, was holding a placard which read “Christians stand with Jews”. He said: “I think the sanctions are deeply shameful and shocking, but unfortunately not surprising.
“Miliband has just jumped on the bandwagon and gone along with the accepted narrative that so many people are willing to accept uncritically, and it’s very sad that he should do such a thing.”
