Twelve countries announced Tuesday they will impose or actively pursue trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, marking a coordinated diplomatic response to what they describe as escalating settler violence and illegal expansion that threatens a two-state solution.
Britain, France, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden confirmed their intention in a joint statement from their foreign ministers. France, the United Kingdom, and Canada have already taken concrete steps to ban imports from the settlements. Ireland and Spain have previously implemented such measures, while the remaining signatories said they are seriously considering adopting restrictions in accordance with their national procedures.
The joint declaration cited rapid deterioration in the West Bank, marked by what the ministers called "unprecedented violence" from settlers against Palestinians and accelerating settlement expansion. "Israeli government actions in the West Bank undermine the possibility of implementing a two-state solution," the statement said, calling for Israel to immediately halt settlement expansion.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that Britain will ban the trade of goods and some services from Israeli settlements. "Today we refuse to be silent observers of further suffering and destruction of the two-state solution," Miliband said. He stated that the British government "agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank" and said "all too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this." The U.K. will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide support to settlements.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot characterized the West Bank as being "on the brink of explosion" due to settlement expansion and settler violence. France has spent weeks pushing the European Union—Israel's leading trading partner—to adopt similar restrictions, though some EU member states have blocked the effort. Germany did not join the twelve-nation initiative.
The announcement follows Israel's approval last month of plans for 1,200 new homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which the countries had condemned. The joint statement indicated that the twelve nations "confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog previously warned against such trade sanctions, calling them a "serious miscalculation" and arguing that the punitive measures would ultimately harm Palestinians.