Ed Miliband rejects notion that Israel sanctions put British Jews at risk

Amid a deepening diplomatic row, Mr Miliband said any person who targets British Jews because of the actions of the Israeli government “is an antisemite”.

Both Israel and the US criticised the UK’s move, which will see a ban on imports from illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and sanctions on individuals and firms providing services to settlers.

Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said people who “use hatred as a weapon against Jews” will be emboldened by the Government’s decision.

Hitting back, Mr Miliband told Jewish News: “There are British Jews going about their lives, there are the actions of the Israeli government, and then there is our relationship with Israel.”

“I want a strong and flourishing relationship with Israel,” the Jewish former Labour leader added.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the sanctions are “the right thing to do”.

He said they are aimed “not at the Israeli people”, but at bringing peace in the region.

“The Israeli people are not responsible for the actions of their government. And nor is the Jewish community in the UK,” the Prime Minister said.

“Blaming British Jews for the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is wrong, plain and simple. And it is antisemitism, plain and simple.

“I met the representatives of the Jewish community just last week. I know the fear they live with day by day. My Government will stop at nothing to ensure they are safe and to stamp out antisemitism in every part of our society.”

He will face MPs over the issue at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar announced that the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem would be closed as part of a package of retaliatory measures.

He also said Israel would ban 11 MPs and a campaigner involved in what he claimed was “antisemitic and anti-Israel activity” from entry to the country.

They include former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott.

Mr Saar said he had spoken to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on Tuesday night and thanked her for her opposition to the “hostile Labour Government’s announcement”.

The Israeli retaliation came after Mr Miliband told the Commons that a “new approach” was necessary because plans for the E1 development in the West Bank would render a two-state solution “unviable” by “cutting through the heart of Palestine”.

He said more settlements had been approved under the four years of Mr Netanyahu’s government than in the previous 20 years and settler terrorism in the West Bank was “rampant”.

A new comprehensive sanctions regime will target companies and individuals providing services such as financing and construction for the settlements.

There will also be a ban on advertising in the UK of illegal settlements.

Legislation for the new regime could take up to nine months to put in place, Mr Miliband said, but he promised immediate sanctions against “extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence”.

Writing in The Sun, Ms Badenoch said sanctions showed the Prime Minister was “putting its own party-political interests ahead of our national interest”, adding that Israel was “an important security and intelligence partner” for the UK.

“These sanctions are performative politics, designed to appease Labour MPs and activists regardless of the consequences for Britain,” she wrote.

“And those consequences could be serious. Israel is an important security and intelligence partner for the United Kingdom.”

France and Canada also moved to ban goods from the settlements as part of a co-ordinated international action.

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the UK’s move an “irrational action”.