Politics Home | UK To Officially Recognise Israel’s Occupation Of West Bank As Unlawful

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the UK government’s “new approach” to Israel in the House of Commons on Tuesday. (Alamy

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In a House of Commons statement on Tuesday, Miliband said there was a “deeply painful contrast” between the UK government’s commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East, and “the reality on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank” as he announced a major reset in the UK’s relationship with Israel. 

The most significant elements of Miliband’s announcements included the UK government recognising that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful; an import ban from illegal settlements in the West Bank; and a ban on arms licenses that “materially contribute” to Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank. 

Other announcements included sanctions against those those financing or building illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank; a ban on advertising illegal settlement properties; and further sanctions for individuals involved in promoting settler violence in the West Bank. 

The decision to end the trade of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank joins similiar action from around a dozen Western countries including France, Spain and Ireland. 

Miliband said it was the position of the British government that “there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank” and that it was being “perpetrated by settler terrorists”. He stopped short of calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, stating “we support legal processes to determine this”. 

Miliband, who Prime Minister Andy Burnham appointed Foreign Secretary when he entered No 10 in July, said was “no contradiction” between his support of an Israeli state, a Palestinian state, and his own Jewishness as the son of Holocaust survivors.

He added that the Labour government’s disagreement is with the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and not with the people of Israel. 

“My parents came here as Jewish refugees and found sanctuary and a country that stood up for the rule of law, freedom, and self-determination,” Miliband told MPs.

“Those are the values this government is standing up for today, and I truly believe that the vast majority of the British people, including in our communities with ties to the region, are united in their desire to see humanitarian suffering end and all sides commit to a durable peace process.

“And just as we want Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side, so… we have to live out those values in Britain.”

He added that there will never be “stability in the Middle East without a two-state solution”, and that if the UK fails to “stand up for the values that this country has long held and fought for, we lose credibility and influence in the world”.