\n<\/p>\n
LONDON: Israel said on Tuesday it was closing Britain\u2019s consulate in East Jerusalem in \u200bresponse to plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.<\/strong><\/p>\n Britain will also no longer participate in a U.S.-led coordination mission for Gaza \u200cand some British officials, including former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and other nationals will be banned from entering Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,\u201d he said, describing comments by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband about ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel as accusations that were \u201coutrageous lies\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The British consulate in East Jerusalem is accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n Saar said that \u200bhe had coordinated Israel\u2019s response with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused Britain of interfering in Israel\u2019s upcoming elections, due in late October.<\/span><\/p>\n The trade measures proposed by \u200bBritain, France and Canada on Tuesday are the latest in a series of actions targeting Israel\u2019s settlement policy and underscore its growing diplomatic isolation among some of \u2060its traditional allies.<\/span><\/p>\n They were joined by the foreign ministers of 10 other countries, including Denmark, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden, in a statement reaffirming support for a negotiated two-state settlement \u2013 a Palestinian state co-existing peacefully alongside \u200bIsrael. Concern is mounting over settlement expansion and violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTogether, we are resolute: the two-state solution must be protected, and we will take action in pursuit of a just and lasting peace,\u201d \u200bthey said.<\/span><\/p>\n Miliband said on Tuesday that Britain could no longer simply \u201ccall out\u201d injustice and suffering, but had to act to oppose the expansion of settlements, which he said threatened the viability of a Palestinian state.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSuccessive Canadian governments have held the position that a two-state solution is the way forward for long-term peace that also addresses Israel\u2019s legitimate security concerns. Illegal settlements in the West Bank significantly undermine these objectives,\u201d Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand wrote on X.<\/span><\/p>\n The United Nations, Palestinians and most countries \u200bregard settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this. A Reuters report published on Tuesday found Israel\u2019s government is financing some of the West Bank\u2019s most radical settlers, who use illegal outpost farms to displace Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n France, also introducing a ban on West Bank products, cited the \u201cfrenzied expansion\u201d of settlements there and a \u201cflare up of violence\u201d as the reasons for it taking action.<\/span><\/p>\n But U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that \u200cthe sanctions could \u2060be destabilizing for the West Bank, adding that Washington would not follow Britain, France and Canada in blocking imports from Israeli settlements.<\/span><\/p>\n The main produce from West Bank settlements is agricultural, including dates, citrus fruits, herbs and wine, and makes up only a tiny fraction of Israel\u2019s total exports.<\/span><\/p>\n Given the small volume of exports from the settlements, the trade bans are largely symbolic, and will not dent larger bilateral trade flows, but are part of wider efforts to reinforce support for the two-state solution, just as Israel announced plans for 1,000 new West Bank homes on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n Miliband, who became Britain\u2019s foreign minister in July, went further, saying the UK believes that \u200bthere is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of \u200bthe West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cToday we refuse to be bystanders \u2060to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution,\u201d Miliband said, referring to Britain\u2019s long-held support for the idea, which Israel opposes.<\/span><\/p>\n The focus of recent concerns is Israel\u2019s E1 settlement project in the West Bank not far from Jerusalem, which would cut across land the Palestinians seek for a future independent state.<\/span><\/p>\n Israel-UK relations have become increasingly strained in recent years, with London criticising Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza, the expansion of West Bank settlements and rising \u200bsettler attacks on Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n Britain in \u20602025 joined other countries to recognise a Palestinian state as a means to promote the two-state solution, and had already issued sanctions in relation to West Bank settlements in June.<\/span><\/p>\n France\u2019s ban on goods from Israeli settlements comes amid growing frustration among some European Union member states that have pushed for a bloc-wide response to settlement expansion, but have so far failed to secure the qualified majority needed for EU action, largely because of opposition from countries including \u2060Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n Miliband said the \u200bnew legislation would be in place in six to nine months, but he said he was also immediately sanctioning a number of \u200bextremist settlers whom he said had supported acts of violence.<\/span><\/p>\nTRADE MEASURES<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u201cFRENZIED \u200bEXPANSION\u201d OF SETTLEMENTS<\/span><\/h2>\n
ISRAEL-UK RELATIONS \u200bINCREASINGLY STRAINED<\/span><\/h2>\n