The already difficult relations between Britain and Israel have further deteriorated over what the British consider illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.
The trigger for the outburst was news that British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband would impose a ban on trade in goods and services from Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday, September 8. The sanctions were expected to affect economic ties with territories that the UN recognizes as occupied. London prepared this decision despite the fact that British companies, according to Al Jazeera, had signed contracts with the settlement sector worth over £2.1 billion.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded to these plans immediately and without diplomatic equivocation. His social media post became the harshest reaction from an Israeli official to London’s actions in recent years. He not only criticized the British government but demanded the ambassador’s expulsion — and to do it “this evening.”
“Expel the British ambassador tonight! We will not be a doormat for the antisemitic government of a country conquered by radical Islam, trying to save itself from economic and social decline by attacking Jews and the State of Israel. The British Mandate over the Land of Israel is over,” Smotrich declared.
The minister’s statements, according to the New York Times, i24, and The Telegraph, came on the eve of the announced British sanctions. Smotrich accused the UK of antisemitism and called it a “country conquered by radical Islam.” According to his logic, London is seeking a way out of its economic and social crisis by attacking the Jewish state, and Israel will not tolerate such treatment.
“We will not be subjects of an antisemitic government in a country that has been conquered by radical Islam and is trying to save itself from economic and social crisis by attacking Jews and the State of Israel. The British Mandate in Palestine is over,” the minister wrote.
The Times of Palestine noted that Smotrich’s demand sharply intensified tensions between the countries, which were already smoldering amid settlement expansion and Israeli activity in the Palestinian territories. British sanctions are rare — London seldom resorts to economic pressure on Israel, and this is precisely what provoked such an emotional response from Tel Aviv.
“This inflammatory demand preceded London’s announcement of economic sanctions against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Smotrich’s statement escalated the already strained relations between the Israeli government and the United Kingdom over settlement expansion and Israeli activity in the Palestinian territories,” the article states.
But Smotrich was not the only one to strike at British pride. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went even further. He called on the Israeli government to officially recognize the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands as “occupied Argentine territory.” According to him, the British forcibly took the archipelago from Argentina and are now illegally extracting oil there, profiting at the expense of the Argentine people.
“The time has come for Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands are occupied Argentine territory that the British forcibly took,” Ben-Gvir wrote in his post.
He addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a demand to support Argentina’s claims to the archipelago. This move looks like a mirror response to British criticism of Israeli settlements: since you call our territories occupied, we will do the same to yours.
The UN, by the way, has previously recognized Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories as illegal. But Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are representatives of the right wing of Israeli politics, who have repeatedly proven that they are ready to go all the way in their statements, even at the risk of diplomatic scandal.
At the end of August, Al Jazeera published an investigation showing that British companies linked to the public sector had actively collaborated with Israeli settlement structures to the tune of more than £2.1 billion. This contrast — on the one hand, multi-billion dollar ties, on the other, readiness to impose sanctions — made London’s position vulnerable to criticism.
Judging by the reaction of Israeli ministers, the United Kingdom received not just a diplomatic note but an outright ultimatum. Whether British sanctions will be imposed within the announced timeframe and how Miliband will respond remains unknown. But one thing is clear: old allies, despite historical disagreements over Palestine, have entered a phase of open confrontation, where not only settlements but also the status of diplomatic missions are at stake.
