Burnham defends UK sanctions on Israel over settlements

Britain had to "stand for something", Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the UK parliament in a defence of his government's decision to block imports from Israeli settlements ⁠in the occupied West Bank.

Mr Burnham, who has been in the job since July, said Britain had long endorsed the two-state solution in the Middle East, but words needed to be backed by action.

"Leadership is about taking action where there is injustice, where we need to correct unfairness, people being driven out of their homes," he said.

"In this difficult and dangerous world, Britain has to stand for something."

The import ban marked one of Britain's most significant policy shifts toward Israel in years.

Israel reacted angrily to the sanctions, telling the United Kingdom that it must close its consulate ⁠in East Jerusalem within 30 days, two Israeli officials and two sources familiar with the matter said.

"We will always stand with the underdog and take what action we can to support them," Mr Burnham said.

"That is leadership on the world stage, Britain being true to what it has always been about," ‌he added.

The closure of the consulate, which represents the British government in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza on Palestinian issues, is among a series of retaliatory measures by Israel in response to the UK, France and Canada announcing sanctions on Israeli settlements yesterday.

The announcement of sanctions by 12 countries against Israeli settlements in the West Bank came in response to increasing attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the occupied territory.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

This position was reaffirmed in a 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion that found Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory unlawful.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he regretted Israel's decision to order the consulate to close, but said it was not a surprise.

"We weighed the costs and benefits of acting (...) and we thought we simply could not stand by because we feared Israeli action," he told BBC television.

Yesterday, Mr Miliband said Israel had "turned a blind eye" to violence carried out by settlers against Palestinians.

Mr Miliband rejected suggestions that the sanctions would impact intelligence cooperation with Israel.

"We have important intelligence and security relationships with Israel, and I'm confident they will continue," he said, declining to go into details.

"And I was very clear yesterday that we do believe in working with our Israeli partners when it comes to the threats they face from Iran," he added.

British diplomats working at the consulate, whose presence in Jerusalem dates back to 1839, will also lose their diplomatic status in 30 days, the Israeli officials and two sources said.

UK officials assigned to a US-led Gaza coordination mission in Israel, as well as British diplomats based ‌in Ramallah, have been given seven days to leave, one ⁠of the Israeli officials and the two sources said.

Israel has also announced that Britain would no longer be allowed to train Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, and that 12 British politicians and other nationals, including former Labour Party leader and outspoken critic of Israel Jeremy Corbyn, would be banned from entering the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment on the consulate closure.

Badenoch criticises sanctions

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that he had thanked Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British opposition Conservative Party, for her criticism of the sanctions.

Ms Badenoch wrote in the Sun newspaper that the ‌Labour government was "putting its own party-political-interests ahead of our national interest".

Mr Miliband said, in addition to banning imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the UK would also take measures against companies and individuals providing services to settlements including "construction, infrastructure, financing, or real ⁠estate".

France and Canada also said they would ban the import of products from Israeli settlements, while nine other countries including Denmark and Portugal endorsed the British action.

In response, Mr Saar called ‌the action by Britain "morally distorted" and accused the UK of "blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process" ahead ⁠of next month's Israeli election.

The ‌sanctions are the latest in a series of actions targeting Israel's settlement policy and underscore its growing diplomatic isolation among some of its traditional allies.

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There has so far been a muted response from the United States, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Washington did not want to see "anything destabilising" in the West Bank while declining to specifically comment on the Sanctions.

Britain's chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis condemned the UK sanctions ⁠as a "truly dark day", while British Jewish group Yachad said that the announcement was "not anti-Israel, and it is certainly not antisemitic," accusing Israel's "extremist government" of crossing almost every "red line" to entrench its "occupation".

Mr Miliband dismissed the criticism of the sanctions by the rabbi.

The sanctions are ⁠widely regarded by diplomats as an important but symbolic step, with goods from Israeli settlements making up only a fraction of Israel's exports, but the move highlights Israel's growing diplomatic isolation.

Israel's government has faced mounting international condemnation over Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza.

Israeli attacks have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, while Israel's expansion of settlements and rising settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank have also drawn international condemnation.

Britain, France and Canada were among countries that in 2025 formally recognised the State of Palestine and have previously imposed sanctions targeting settlements and Israeli ministers over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians.