JERUSALEM/LONDON, Sept 8: Israel said it would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem and bar eleven British MPs from entering the country, in a sharp escalation after London announced an import ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the consulate closure one of four “counter-measures” against the UK. The targeted lawmakers include Zarah Sultana, Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, all known for their criticism of Israeli policies, according to BBC News.
The row erupted after British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that the UK would prohibit imports from settlements, which most of the world considers illegal under international law. Miliband accused “settler terrorists” of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” and said the Israeli government was turning a “blind eye” to violence against Palestinians.
Eleven countries including France, Canada, Spain and Poland are moving to apply similar sanctions, widening diplomatic pressure on Israel. The measures come as Jerusalem pushes ahead with plans for about 1,200 new homes in the West Bank and as settler attacks on Palestinians have risen this year.
The British Palestinian Committee welcomed the sanctions as a sign that London is finally treating the occupation as unlawful. But it warned that the policy “will ultimately be judged not by its rhetoric, but by its enforcement”, urging the UK to ensure no British companies “profit from or facilitate” the occupation.
“We have an obligation to the living and the dead in Palestine to ensure that the actions of the Israeli government and those who continue to support it are held to account,” the group said.
The economic impact of the trade ban is expected to be limited, since settlement exports are mostly farm produce and wine. Still, the diplomatic fallout is already deepening, with Israel accusing Britain of interference and London insisting it will no longer stand aside as settlement expansion threatens the two-state solution.
