Andy Burnham is expected to announce ‘robust’ sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the coming weeks as he looks to head off a Labour revolt.
The Prime Minister is said to want to strengthen the Government’s position in response to Israel pushing ahead with plans for a controversial settlement project.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband last week vowed to set out ‘comprehensive’ measures in response to the Israeli government publishing a tender for the E1 scheme.
He said the long-planned project risks endangering a two-state solution by separating the West Bank – widely considered to be occupied territory – from East Jerusalem.
More than 140 Labour MPs – almost one-third of the parliamentary party – have signed a letter calling on the Government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
Mr Burnham will also face fresh pressure at Labour’s conference in Liverpool next month, with party members set to table a motion demanding sanctions on Israel.
However, the PM will reportedly make an announcement before then as he looks to avoid the issue overshadowing his first party conference as leader – despite warnings that a trade ban on settlements could turn into a ‘de facto boycott’ of the whole of Israel.
A senior Government source told The Times that Mr Burnham is expected to approve plans for a trade ban on Israeli settlements and the sanctioning of individuals.
Andy Burnham, who visited a Sainsbury’s supermarket in London on Wednesday, is expected to announce ‘robust’ sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the coming weeks
The separation wall next to the Palestinia neighborhood of Al-Eizariya, near where the Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement development
They said Mr Burnham wanted to take a far more ‘robust’ position than his predecessor Keir Starmer.
Settlement development in E1, a tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades.
This is despite Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank being widely considered as illegal among the international community and an obstacle to peace.
There are warnings that a ban on trade with Israeli settlements would be difficult in practice, as it would be challenging to distinguish between goods from the settlements and goods from Israel.
There is a risk that legitimate Israeli businesses and even Palestinian businesses in occupied territories could be hit by the sanctions.
Labour Friends of Israel, which includes senior Labour MPs and peers, said it ‘strongly opposes’ the Israeli settlements and supported ‘calibrated steps against extremist settlers and extremist settler groups’.
But it added: ‘A boycott of trade with settlements is practically impossible and will become a de facto boycott of all of Israel, which would be deeply damaging to the UK national interest, the British Jewish community and Palestinian workers.
‘Moreover, with a general election on October 27, there is a real risk that untargeted action feeds the ‘siege mentality’ of the Israeli right and is thus politically damaging to Israel’s opposition, which is leading in the polls and will bring about a substantive change in direction.’
Senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said: ‘Now is the time to act. We can’t put it off any longer. We have to stop saying, ‘Oh, isn’t it difficult?’ and just get on with it.
‘They’re about to put out tenders on the E1, which is the final piece of the jigsaw. It will cut the nation of Palestine in half and cut it away from access to Jerusalem.
‘They are trying to get these contracts signed before the elections which they may not win. They have said they want to obliterate any chance of a Palestinian state. We have to stop it.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on speculation.
‘The Foreign Secretary has been clear that illegal settlements threaten the viability of a Palestinian state and undermine security for both Israelis and Palestinians.’
Mr Burnham last month criticised Sir Keir’s initial response to Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying Labour ‘didn’t get it right and I am sorry about that’ as he pledged to ‘strengthen our approach’.
He added the UK was too slow to call for a ceasefire and should look at further sanctions.
In a video posted on social media, Mr Burnham called for ‘measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements’.
But he stopped short of accusing Israel of perpetrating a genocide against Palestinians, as some Labour MPs have.
