UK pauses free trade talks with Israel; Foreign Ministry says move ‘will not divert’ Israel in the ‘struggle for its existence’

Following British Foreign Minister David Lammy’s announcement earlier today of the United Kingdom’s suspension of free trade agreement negotiations with Israel and other punitive measures including the imposition of sanctions on West Bank settlers, the Foreign Ministry says London’s actions “will not divert” Jerusalem from defending itself militarily.

Britain paused the free trade talks after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was horrified by the military escalation in Gaza.

Lammy told Parliament: “We cannot stand by in the face of this new deterioration. It is incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship.”

He added: “Frankly, it’s an affront to the values of the British people. Therefore, today, I’m announcing that we have suspended negotiations with this Israeli government on a new free trade agreement.”

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem retorts: “The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago. External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in the struggle for its existence and security against enemies seeking its destruction.”

The UK’s moves, which included summoning Israel’s ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely, to address the war in Gaza, come amid mounting international outrage leveled at Israel over its conduct during its war against the Hamas terror group.

“The Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions,” Lammy says. “Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril.”

Yesterday, the leaders of the UK, France, and Canada threatened “concrete actions” if Israel did not halt its military campaign and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier today that Paris supports a review of economic ties between Israel and the European Union in response to the war.

“Even before today’s announcement, the matter had not been advanced at all by the current British government,” says Israel’s Foreign Ministry about the UK’s actions, adding that the trade agreement “is mutually beneficial” and if, “due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its decision.”

The ministry also calls sanctions on settlers announced earlier today “puzzling, unjustified, and regrettable,” pointing to last week’s murder of Tzeela Gez by a Palestinian terrorist in the northern West Bank as evidence of the sanctions’ absurdity “at a time when Israel is mourning yet another victim of Palestinian terror.”

Gez was pregnant and on her way to the delivery room at the time of the shooting attack, and “doctors are still fighting for the life of her newborn in the hospital,” the statement adds.

AP contributed to this report.