Updated September 8, 2026 at 9:48 AM CDT
LONDON — British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a ban on imports of goods produced in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday. He called Israeli settlers "terrorists" and accused them of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians, in a strong escalation of British rhetoric.
The measures are intended to put pressure on Israel over settlement expansion, which the U.K. says is undermining prospects for establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel, known as the two-state solution to the conflict.
In a joint statement Canada and France announced similar bans on goods from Israeli settlements, with France also pushing for a European Union-wide ban.
They added their names to Ireland, Spain, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, which have already taken steps to restrict trade in settlement goods, or are in the process of doing so.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Miliband said, "Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the U.K. has unshakeable bonds, our argument is with the conduct of its government."
"The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists," Miliband told members of Parliament. He said there had been "houses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes."
Miliband opened his remarks describing himself as "a proud British Jew, someone with the deepest gratitude to the state of Israel for giving a home to my grandmother after she lost her husband, my grandfather, and 60 other family members at the hands of the Nazis."
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, warned of possible repercussions for British businesses in the U.S., while describing the U.K.'s move as "irrational."
"I don't understand what it's supposed to achieve," Huckabee told the BBC Radio 4's Today show. "If the U.K. is really interested in dealing with issues they feel like are wrong, where are the sanctions against North Korea, China, Russia?"
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to President Trump on Monday ahead of today's statement. In a readout of the call, the British government said Burnham stressed the U.K.'s commitment to peace and security in the region, as well as the importance of a two-state solution.
The measures announced on Tuesday are understood to be limited but symbolically significant, and will note take effect immediately. The government said it will target goods originating specifically from settlements, rather than imposing a wider ban on Israeli products. Miliband said he opposes the movement for broad boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel.
Opponents including Britain's opposition Conservative Party warned the move could isolate Israel. Turning Israel into a "pariah" will risk a "further rise in antisemitic violence on our own streets," said the Conservatives' shadow foreign secretary, Tom Tugendhat.
The move marks a significant deterioration in U.K.-Israel relations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has threatened consequences, while far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the British ambassador to Israel to be expelled.
Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem," accusing it of operating "openly on behalf of the Palestinian Authority."
This is a developing story, which may be updated.
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