UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband dismissed warnings that sanctions on Israeli settlements endanger British Jews.
Published
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has rejected claims from Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis that sanctions targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank would put British Jews at greater risk. Miliband stated that ministers can confront the Israeli government's actions while simultaneously fighting antisemitism.
The sanctions, which Miliband announced, prompted a furious response from Israel, including the shutdown of the UK consulate in East Jerusalem. Miliband accused settlers of carrying out the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians, a charge that fueled the diplomatic backlash.
Support for the UK's position emerged from within both the British and Israeli Jewish communities. Senior UK rabbis backed the sanctions, stressing a diversity of views and warning that inaction on settler violence must end. Prominent Israelis, including a former prime minister and the president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, also welcomed the measures as a necessary response to settlement expansion and violence.
Miliband further disclosed that British intelligence received assurances from its Israeli counterpart that information sharing between the spy agencies would continue unaffected. He noted that the international community, including the United States, shares a "frustration" at Israel's failure to constrain illegal settlers.
Sources: 1.