Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told LBC on Monday that Britain's new restrictions on settlement goods amount to a boycott of Jewish businesses, in an interview that circulated widely and drew sharp reactions in both countries.
Speaking to presenter Tom Swarbrick, Mencer said Jerusalem has been the Jewish homeland since London was rubbing sticks together to make fire. He is British-born and previously directed Labour Friends of Israel, which gave the exchange an additional edge for UK audiences.
The interview followed the announcement Tuesday by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband that Britain will ban imports of all goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and impose sanctions on companies and individuals supplying construction services there. The measure takes effect within six to nine months. Miliband told the House of Commons that Britain considers the occupation unlawful, and that the government agrees ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is taking place in parts of the West Bank, carried out by settler terrorists.
Britain was not acting alone. Twelve governments issued a joint statement the same day confirming their intention to introduce or support restrictions on trade with settlements, among them Canada, France, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland and Portugal. The British government has said the measures target settlements rather than Israel, and that the aim is to prevent settlement expansion from foreclosing a future Palestinian state.
Israel's response came within hours. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the British move despicable and announced that Israel will close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, which served as London's representative office to the Palestinian Authority. He said British representatives will be removed from the joint military center monitoring the Gaza ceasefire, and that British training of Palestinian Authority security forces will end. Israel also barred 12 people from entry, 11 of them British MPs along with a lawyer, saying they were involved in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity. The British embassy in Tel Aviv is unaffected.
President Isaac Herzog called the British decision a grave miscalculation and said it constitutes gross interference in Israel's democratic elections. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the British ambassador to be expelled. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the policy as discrimination against the Jewish people and warned that Britain could face repercussions from Washington.
The direct economic effect is expected to be modest, since settlement goods make up a small share of Israeli exports. The significance is political. Britain has been among Israel's closest allies, and the combination of a trade ban, a consulate closure and entry bans on sitting members of Parliament marks the sharpest deterioration in the relationship in decades.
