It is hard to understand Labour/leftwing politics in the UK at the moment without reference to Israel and Gaza. Keir Starmer’s popularity with some progressive voters slumped in part because he was seen as unwilling to do enough to channel the anger they feel about how Israel is treating Palestinians – even though last year he took the historic step of formally recognising the state of Palestine. Quite a lot of what Andy Burnham has done in his early days as PM has had a “continuity Starmer” flavour, but today the new government will take a bold step that will recast the UK/Israel relationship, acting where the Starmer administration just dragged its feet.
In a statement to MPs, Ed Miliband, the new foreign secretary, will announce that Britain is banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Patrick Wintour has the story here. For years, successive governments – Labour and Conservative – have condemned the decades-long expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land on the West Bank – while doing precious little about it.
But with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government escalating the process, Miliband will tell MPs that action is necessary now to stop the prospect of a two-state solution (Israel living alongside a viable Palestinian state) being killed off for good. As Patrick reports in his story, Miliband is not giving pro-Palestinian supporters everything they are asking for. Quite what impact the measures will have on Israel remains to be seen.
But it is still a big shift in policy. And, conveniently for Labour, it is coming just a day after the party moved the writ for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, where what was a safe Labour seat is under threat from the pro-Palestinian Green party. But the move isn’t without risks.
The Conservatives argue that anything that jeopardises Israeli security cooperation with the UK could increase the terrorism risk to Britons. There are concerns that any government policy that stigmatises Israel is likely to heighten antisemitism. And there have been warnings that Israel and its allies – particularly the US – could retaliate.
This morning Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, has said exactly that. In an interview, he told the Today programme: I don’t know if [the British government is] really aware of the implications and how it’s going to affect Brits. For example, 25% of pharmaceuticals that are used in the UK are made in Israel.
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