Why Has The UK Government Changed Its Approach to Israel?

Why Has The UK Government Changed Its Approach to Israel?. Find out how to listen to other BBC stationsEpisode detailsNews,·08 Sep 2026,·38 minsWhy Has The UK Government Changed Its Approach to Israel?

What happened

In the speech, he said the UK government "agrees" there is ethnic cleansing in areas of the West Bank, and that the Israeli government is turning a “blind eye”. The UK government has announced an import ban on settlement goods and said it planned to take action against companies and individuals who provide services for settlement expansion, as part of what it calls a "comprehensive reset" of policy towards Israel following similar moves by several other European countries.

"Image caption, Settler farmer Avigdor Arbel does not believe Israel will ever give up the Jordan ValleyWest Bank settlements have expanded rapidly under the current Israeli government, whose ministers say they want "to bury the idea" of an independent Palestinian state – part of the long-standing international formula for peace in the region known as the two-state solution. Quoting a former Israeli minister of health and retired brigadier general, Ephraim Sneh, he said the UK government "agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank perpetrated by settler terrorists", to which the Israeli government had "turned a blind eye" or actually supported.

In a significant change of UK policy, he said the government now agreed with the 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion that Israel's continued occupation "is unlawful". Within years of Israel's capture of the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East War, the Israeli government began encouraging its citizens to move to this area to counter what it saw as the security risk along the border. There are 340 settler outposts in the Palestinian territory along with 146 settlements, formally recognised by the Israeli government, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.

The wider picture

"The message to every government that harms us is clear: whoever acts against Israel, Israel will act against them, and they will lose their influence and relevance in the region," Saar warned. UK imposes sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. NewscastPlayBookmarkBookmarkSubscribeSubscribeAvailable for over a yearToday, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has told Parliament the UK would ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank. Israel has responded by closing the British consulate in Jerusalem and banning 11 left-wing MPs from entering the country.

How much is this a change in UK policy toward Israel? Image caption, Dates are among the agricultural products commonly exported from Israeli settlements in the West BankByYolande KnellMiddle East correspondentPublished8 September 2026, 16:03 BSTUpdated 6 hours agoJuicy brown and ripening yellow dates dangle down from the branches of each palm tree at Israeli settler farms in the Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank. This year, as Israeli growers get ready for a good harvest, they are also preparing for the impact of new Western sanctions against settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Palestinians strongly back such a move, but Israel's foreign minister called it "hostile" and announced a series of counter measures, including the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem.

What has been reported

Israeli date farmer Avigdor Arbel, from the settlement of Mesua, calls such boycotts "really disgusting". With new settler outposts – which are also illegal under Israeli law – now dotting the barren hilltops of the Jordan Valley, there have been repeated attacks on local Palestinians, particularly Bedouin and herding communities. In January, the last of some 600 villagers fled their homes in Ras Ein al-Ouja after intense harassment by hardline settlers, often backed by Israeli security forces.

Further north, in March, Israeli settlers brutally beat and sexually assaulted a Palestinian shepherd during a night raid on Khirbet Humsa. "Image caption, The Jordan Valley is a fertile strip of land that comprises nearly 30% of the West BankMedjool dates are the main export crop from both Israeli settler farms and Palestinian farms in the Jordan Valley. Interim peace agreements from the 1990s have left a water disparity between Israelis and Palestinians, and Israeli authorities typically prioritise water for settlers over Palestinians' needs.

Recently, in rural areas of the Jordan Valley, almost all of which is under Israeli security and civilian control, extremist settlers have also taken over several freshwater springs. The Israeli Civil Administration told the BBC that it keeps "continuous contact" with the Palestinian Water Authority and assists in carrying out repairs to water infrastructure.

What happens next

"Settlers are very active in the Jordan Valley. . . and they are not obeying any laws or rules or anything even from the Israeli army itself," he says. "Image caption, Palestinian farmer Abdul Halim says half his date farms have no fruit because of a water shortageIsraeli-state support for settlements, as well as their relatively easy access to global markets, means that Palestinian farmers struggle to compete. Palestinian businesses face greater restrictions and costs to export across Israeli-controlled borders.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, not including Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, alongside three million Palestinians. Image caption, Israeli settlers diverted a Palestinian village's water to fill a pool in the Jordan Valley this summerThere have been questions raised about how a ban on settlement goods would be enforced. A recent report by the legal advocacy group Global Echo found that some settlement fruits and vegetables sold in Europe were inaccurately identified as coming from Israel – or mingled with produce from inside Israel's internationally-recognised borders.

"I would also say that a whole new set of measures become available to the UK government under a sanctions regime, under a ban, including civil and criminal penalties that make compliance much more likely.

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across bbc.co.uk. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.