UK Labour calls to ban settlement imports in response to annexation

By LAHAV HARKOV

UK Labour’s leadership called for a ban on imported goods from settlements if Israel applies its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank.

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy called for “concrete action” in response to sovereignty moves in an interview with The Observer published Saturday, with the reported support of Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Nandy, a former head of Labour Friends of Palestine, called Israel’s plans “a shameful proposition to which the UK cannot be a silent witness.” She accused the UK government of being “conspicuously absent from [the] global response,” though its Ambassador to the UN has spoken out repeatedly and the took part in a demarche by 11 countries against the plan.

“This is now urgent,” she said. “The government must be clear with the Israeli coalition government that concrete action will follow, including a ban on goods entering Britain from the illegal settlements in the West Bank.”

Referring to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which supports Israel extending its laws to the Jordan Valley, all settlements and beyond, Nandy said: “The proposal to unilaterally annex nearly a third of the West Bank is an illegal act, which will undermine the prospect of a peaceful two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and has serious implications for the stability of the Middle East.”

Banning settlement products is a “major step,” Nandy added, but said that “such a blatant breach of international law must have consequences.”

Nandy expressed doubts that the Conservative-led UK government’s ministers have the “level of courage” to enact her proposal.

Irish lawmakers have attempted to legislate a ban on Israeli goods from the West Bank in recent years, but European Union trade policy was one of the obstacles to the proposal becoming law.

The UK is no longer part of the EU, and sets its own trade policies, but Israel was one of the first countries with which the UK – Israel’s third-largest trading partner after the EU and US – signed an agreement to ensure continued trade in case of a no-deal Brexit.

A UK diplomatic source said earlier this month that formal sanctions on Israel in response to annexation are unlikely, and in fact the UK seeks to increase scientific cooperation with Israel. However, the source said, there remains a concern that there will be private boycott initiatives from UK companies and universities.

Last week, Starmer fired his party’s shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an article that claimed Israel trained US police in the methods that resulted in the killing of George Floyd, which is false.

Starmer demoted Long-Bailey, saying “the article contained antisemitic conspiracy theories.”

“I’ve made it my first priority to tackle antisemitism, and rebuilding trust with the Jewish community is a No. 1 priority for me,” Starmer said.