Israeli isolation grows as Britain spearheads new ban on trade with settlements

Israel’s international isolation is growing this week after the United Kingdom, Canada and France all announced they would move to restrict trade with settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Tellingly, it’s not yet clear how hard the Trump administration will fight back on Israel’s behalf. 

The British government, helmed by newly installed Prime Minister Andy Burnham, led the charge on the settlements issue. 

The U.K. is moving to ban imports of goods and some services from the settlements — though of course this does not apply to Israel itself, as defined by its pre-1967 borders.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has accused some Israeli settlers of “ethnic cleansing” because of efforts to drive Palestinians from their homes in the territory, which was seized by Israel in the Six-Day War almost 60 years ago. 

A United Nations report in late July noted that 18 Palestinians had lost their lives so far this year in attacks by settlers. 

The U.N. also stated, “The number of settler attacks has increased each year since 2023 following the brutal Hamas attacks on southern Israeli communities, rising to 1,835 last year.”

The government of Israel has reacted with fury to the British move, with Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar calling it “despicable.” Israel has also ordered the closing of the British Consulate in east Jerusalem, among other countermeasures.

But the reaction from the Trump administration has been more muted than some observers expected. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Tuesday that “obviously” the United States would not replicate Britain’s actions, but he stopped well short of outright condemnation.

Of course, that could change at any moment — including with a blast from President Trump’s social media accounts or during the Republican midterm convention underway in Dallas.

But the cautious reaction so far appears indicative of a........

© The Hill