Israel targets UK diplomats over West Bank trade ban

The Palestinian presidency has welcomed the UK announcement as an “important step toward confronting the system of Israeli colonial settlement and its violations against the Palestinian people.”

It called for further international action to halt settlement expansion and impose sanctions on those responsible for settler violence.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, has backed the British move, calling it “unavoidable” because of what he described as continuing “ethnic cleansing” in the West Bank by “Israeli terrorists.”

Olmert accused some Israeli police and military units of supporting those responsible, while blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz for “inaction and indifference.”

“Sanctions are directed against the terrorists not against Israel,” he said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has accused Britain of “gross interference” in Israel’s elections, which are due to take place next month.

Herzog called the settlement trade ban a “grave miscalculation” that would fall “on the wrong side of history,” and argued that it would also harm Palestinians by depriving them of business and employment.

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Russia weighs in on Palestinian statehood

Russia has repeatedly raised concerns over settlement expansion and rising violence in the West Bank.

Moscow has described Israeli settlement activity in the territory as unlawful and warned last month that Israel’s “creeping expansion” and escalating settler violence were pushing the West Bank toward a “point of no return.”

Jordan has welcomed the growing international push against Israeli settlements, backing both Britain’s trade measures and the wider 12-country call for restrictions on settlement goods.

The Foreign Ministry called the British move an “essential step” toward upholding international law and urged other countries to take practical measures against settlement expansion. Amman also welcomed London’s condemnation of what it described as “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in parts of the West Bank.

Washington, Israel’s closest ally, has made clear it will not follow Britain’s lead.

“Obviously, we’re not going to do what the UK did,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters, while stressing that Washington does not want to see “anything destabilizing” in the West Bank.

Rubio warned that instability there could undermine US efforts to advance the Gaza peace process.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said London is taking a “new approach” to Israel and Palestine, while stressing his personal support for the Jewish state.

“I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the State of Israel,” Miliband told Parliament. “Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the UK has unshakeable bonds. Our argument is with the conduct of its government.”

Miliband said acknowledging what Britain considers “ethnic cleansing” in parts of the West Bank should be “the prelude to justice.”

READ MORE: Netanyahu declares West Bank ‘our land’

Israel will close the British consulate in Jerusalem, expel UK representatives from the US-backed International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat, and end British training of Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank, Sa’ar announced. Israel will also bar 12 British elected officials and citizens it accuses of “antisemitic and anti-Israel activity.”

“Unfortunately, there is a hostile Labour government in office that is systematically acting against Israel, and it will leave us no choice but to respond to its hostile moves,” Sa’ar said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has accused Britain of meddling in Israel’s domestic politics, calling the move “morally distorted” and “blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process.” He also claimed the measures were driven by domestic political considerations ahead of the Labour Party conference later this month.