Top UK Jewish body expresses ‘deep regret’ over settlement sanctions

The main representative group of British Jewry expresses “deep regret” after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a sweeping sanctions package targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank earlier today.

“Before the Jewish New Year festival of Rosh Hashanah, with concerns for communal security at their highest levels, this will be felt particularly acutely by British Jews,” the Board of Deputies of British Jews says in a statement. “The deteriorating relationship between the UK and Israel has the potential to negatively impact the two countries’ security and their economies, and further inflame community tensions here too.”

In a scathing criticism of the settlement enterprise in the House of Commons, Miliband, who is Jewish, denounced Israel’s entirely “unlawful occupation” of the West Bank and decried spiraling instances of settler violence against Palestinians, saying “settler terrorism is rampant.”

Miliband said London will impose an import ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, sanction companies and individuals that facilitate settlement expansion, and refuse licenses for arms and other exports deemed to materially support Israel’s “occupation.”

The UK will continue trading with Israel inside the Green Line and opposing the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, he noted.

“Announcing such measures during an already heated Israeli election – which has the potential to lead to considerable change to the situation in the West Bank and Gaza – risks perverse consequences which go against the UK’s stated objectives,” the Board of Deputies says. “We urge both governments to avoid pursuing what appear to be party interests over national interests.”

Board of Deputies expresses ‘deep regret’ at Government announcement of sanctions on settlement goods. pic.twitter.com/OAJGqtt5ce

— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) September 8, 2026