Occupied West Bank: The settlements are coming, but so are the sanctions

On Tuesday, the Israeli judiciary rejected an urgent application against the controversial E1 settlement project in the West Bank. With the urgent application, several human rights organizations wanted to have a tender for the construction of more than 1,200 residential units for the so-called E1 project east of Jerusalem suspended.

The E1 project was approved last year. Critics warn that it threatens to further sever the territorial connection between the north and south of the West Bank and would thereby further diminish the prospects of a viable Palestinian state. Last month, Germany, France, Britain and Italy called on the Israeli government to end the project.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the end of the Six-Day War in 1967. Around three million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements there. They are committing more and more violence against Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Israeli government also includes several far-right ministers who openly support annexation of the West Bank. Before the Israeli parliamentary elections on October 27th, the government is pushing ahead with further construction projects.

Britain is reportedly imposing sanctions on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. This is part of a larger realignment of relations with Israel, reported the British news agency PA, among others. Foreign Minister Ed Miliband wants to announce the measures in the House of Commons this afternoon. It's about keeping the possibility of a two-state solution alive, Labor Minister Pat McFadden told Sky News.

Clear criticism came from Israel and the US ambassador to the country. According to his office, Israeli President Izchak Herzog criticized the move as a “serious misjudgment” and at the same time accused Great Britain of interfering in the upcoming elections in Israel.

Israel's right-wing extremist Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already called on X for his country to recognize Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused the British government of “discrimination against the Jewish people” in a BBC interview. And this despite the fact that British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband himself comes from a Jewish family. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham reportedly informed US President Donald Trump of the plans in a phone call on Monday.

The move had been expected for a long time in Great Britain. The new Prime Minister Burnham is likely to try to appease the left wing of his social democratic Labor Party. The course of his predecessor Keir Starmer had angered many Labor members.

The Israeli political scientist Jonathan Rynhold also sees the sanctions as more than just a foreign policy decision. “I do not doubt the sincerity of Great Britain when it comes to the fact that an expansion of settlements is damaging to the peace process, and I also do not doubt the sincerity of the criticism of E1,” he said in an interview with the German Press Agency. The driving force, however, is the attempt to win back parts of the Labor core electorate.

Several European countries have already decided on sanctions against goods from settlements in the West Bank, including Ireland and Spain. They are pushing for common action in the EU. There has been a debate in Brussels for months about how to deal with Israel's settlement policy. The member states agree that it violates international law, but have not yet been able to agree on far-reaching sanctions.

Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had sharply criticized the plans for the E1 area. “The federal government rejects this step, which violates international law, and any annexation plans,” he said. However, when it comes to the question of sanctions, the federal government has so far put the brakes on. (dpa/afp/taz)