UK’s Burnham risks Trump anger with new sanctions on Israel

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government is expected to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday as he seeks to adopt a stronger policy on an issue that is important to his governing Labour Party but may anger US President Donald Trump.

A new sanctions regime targeting Israel but limited to Jewish settlements in the West Bank will be announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, according to people familiar with the matter.

Burnham and Trump spoke by phone on Monday, according to a readout from 10 Downing Street, which said the two leaders discussed a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian territories. That suggests Burnham used the call to notify Trump that the sanctions on Israel were coming.

Downing Street and the Foreign Office declined to comment.

Bloomberg first reported that Britain was drafting the sanctions package last month as it sought to raise pressure on Israel over its decision to advance home-building in a strategically important part of the West Bank.

Proposals under consideration included a new sanctions regime including measures to prevent the exchange of goods and services with Israeli settlements.

Miliband has also looked at expanding existing human-rights sanctions to cover the obstruction of aid, which has been blamed for exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The foreign secretary has also been looking at explicitly endorsing the International Court of Justice’s non-binding 2024 opinion that Israel’s occupation of territory that Britain now recognises as the state of Palestine is unlawful.