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Britain bans imports from Israeli West Bank settlements
September 9, 2026
Britain bars imports from Israeli West Bank settlements alongside France and Canada, and Israel responds by ordering the UK consulate in East Jerusalem closed.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the 1967 Middle East war, and Britain has for many years regarded the Jewish settlements built there as illegal under international law.
Key facts
- Roughly 160 settlements, home to 700,000 Jews, have gone up under Israeli rule since the West Bank and East Jerusalem were occupied in the Middle East war of 1967.
- UN records covering the start of 2025 through the end of July 2026 count 316 Palestinians killed at the hands of Israeli forces or settlers, with injuries exceeding 5,600.
- Settler attacks on Palestinians and on their property across the West Bank have climbed sharply since the Gaza war began, a conflict set off when Hamas led an assault on Israel on 7 October 2023.
- Alex Gandler puts it down to politics, telling Radio 4's Today programme that "this comes down to politics" and that "the timing could not be worse than it is", with Israeli elections under 50 days away and the Jewish High Holy Days near.
- That stance, he said, matches what the International Court of Justice set out in a 2024 advisory opinion, and it ought to shape how Britain conducts its "economic relationship" with the occupied West Bank.
Reuters reports that Israel will close the British consulate in East Jerusalem after Britain, France and Canada blocked imports from Israeli West Bank settlements. The BBC reports that Miliband told the Commons the UK will build a comprehensive sanctions regime over the next six to nine months, and that he also announced a ban on advertising illegal West Bank settlements in the UK. The Guardian reports that the measures were coordinated with France, Canada and nine other countries also moving against settlement expansion. Al Jazeera carries Israel's instruction to shut the East Jerusalem consulate within 30 days, and the South China Morning Post carries the import block by the three governments. The New York Times reads the moment as Europe acting together and diverging from the United States, while Axios reports that Trump did not oppose the British sanctions.
The domestic argument runs through antisemitism. The Guardian reports that the chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, called the sanctions a "dark day for British Jews" and warned that they could encourage those who direct hatred at Jews. The Guardian also reports that Miliband, who calls himself a proud British Jew, does not agree with Mirvis and wants people of all faiths and none to feel safe in Britain. The Times of Israel reports that Miliband criticised Israel's response and rejected the argument that British Jews have been put in danger. The BBC reports Israeli foreign minister Saar thanking Conservative figures for their opposition to the announcement, and the BBC also reports that 11 UK MPs, among them Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and all five Green Party MPs, are barred from entering Israel. On the standing record, the BBC reports about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
Where the accounts part is the setting for Miliband's answer on the safety of British Jews. One puts his remarks in an interview given after he spoke in the Commons, another in a broadcast questioning in which he was pressed on the chief rabbi's fear. The words he used are carried the same way on both sides, so what differs is where the exchange happened rather than what he said. The measures themselves, Israel's consulate order, the entry bans on MPs and Miliband's regret about Israel's response hold across the accounts, and the placement of his answer on British Jews has not closed.
Splitting the West Bank into two halves, the plan would cut East Jerusalem off from the rest of the territory, and Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister, has said before that it would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".
Still developing
The record does not settle Miliband's answer on the chief rabbi's warning, where its place in the run of events moves between the accounts.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- BBC — UK announces sanctions on West Bank settlements prompting furious Israeli response - BBC
- The Guardian — Miliband rejects chief rabbi’s claim that West Bank sanctions put UK Jews at risk - The Guardian
- axios.com — Trump didn't oppose UK sanctions on Israeli settlements
- Al Jazeera — Israel tells UK to close East Jerusalem consulate within 30 days
- South China Morning Post — UK, France, Canada block imports from Israeli West Bank settlements - South China Morning Post