‘Rhetoric differs’: How the UK’s relationship with Israel took a downturn

The UK is planning to take new steps against illegal Israeli settlements as Palestinians suffer more violence.

A banner and cutout photographs depicting faces of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in bed together, that reads 'To the 2030 UK-Israel Road Map-A Partnership in Genocide, End the UK's Love affair with Israel' at Parliament Square in London, Britain, March 11, 2026 [Jaimi Joy/Reuters]

The United Kingdom is expected to announce trade restrictions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latest sign, some analysts say, that UK-Israeli relations have taken another downturn.

Britain is one of Israel’s strongest allies in the West, but since the Labour Party came back to power after more than a decade in opposition, some of the government’s policies and rhetoric have shifted.

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On the one hand, the UK still maintains diplomatic ties and supplies F-35 parts through the global pool programme that Israel can access. On the other, it has suspended some arms-export licences and more regularly condemns the conduct of the Israeli military and settlers.

While campaigning ahead of the 2024 general election, then-Labour leader Keir Starmer said Israel “has the right” to withhold power and water from Gaza, during an interview with the UK’s LBC radio station. His comment upset many and he later backtracked, saying he believed Israel had a right to “self-defence”.

A funeral for 100 members of the Malaka, Araheem and Al-Balawi families from the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, who died during the Israeli war on Gaza and whose remains were recently recovered, on September 6, 2026 in Gaza City [Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images]

In May 2025, he wrote that he “strongly” opposed the “expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza”, in a joint letter with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian premier Mark Carney.

Last week, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, appointed under new premier Andy Burnham, told the House of Commons that he would set out measures to prevent the UK’s involvement in projects such as the E1 settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory. It comes at a time of increasing violence towards Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank .

“Obviously, the rhetoric differs between them [UK prime ministers], but materially, the Israeli regime operates just as it did, irrespective of whether Andy Burnham or [former Conservative Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak was at the helm,” Zena Agha, a policy analyst with the British Palestinian Committee, told Al Jazeera.

“We’re seeing more of a continuation versus a rupture.”

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior figures often mock Britain, where public opinion is increasingly turning against Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

Last month, Netanyahu called the UK the “Islamic Republic of Britain” , according to translated comments published by Israeli media, as he criticised UK media coverage of Israel.

‘We will act’: Labour promises response to illegal settlements

While settlements and outposts are illegal under international law, the E1 project would create a continuous settlement corridor from the large settlement in Ma’ale Adumim and other illegal Israeli settlements to occupied East Jerusalem – effectively cutting the West Bank in half.

Condemning the settlement expansion project, Miliband said: “This government will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution.

“We will act, and I will set out a comprehensive set of measures in the coming weeks.”

Asked if he would ban trading goods and investment in both directions immediately, the foreign secretary said “a comprehensive reset of our approach on these issues” was needed because it is “high time”.

Agha said that while the move to place trade restrictions on settlements was in the right direction, it was the “bare minimum”, especially in the context of the Gaza genocide.

“These are measures we would expect any government to take in accordance with the international legal framework to which it subscribes. So it shouldn’t be celebrated in that regard. Nevertheless, it is something which the previous administration didn’t do, and so it should be welcomed,” Agha told Al Jazeera.

She explained that the main issue is how these sanctions would work in reality, or if they would end up as “lip service and rhetoric of condemnation as opposed to an actual meaningful impact on the way that the Israeli military occupation operates and profits off colonisation of Palestinian land and labour.”

So far, there are few details on how the government will impose these trade restrictions and on which goods more specifically.

But Burnham’s administration, since coming to power in July, is viewed as taking bolder steps on Israel.

Last month, the UK joined 21 countries and the European Commission in condemning the E1 project, calling on Israel to “retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank.”

“Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel’s international standing,” the statement read.

Under Starmer, former Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the UK, France and Canada imposed sanctions on six entities and one individual in June “involved in financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence in the occupied West Bank”, according to a government statement. Australia and New Zealand also imposed coordinated sanctions shortly before the UK announcement.

But those who sympathise with Palestinians believe Starmer did not go far enough.

“It’s clear that Palestine is a decisive issue for the British electorate,” said Agha. “I think Andy Burnham is perceptive to the shifts on the ground and how the British public feel.”

Shamiul Joarder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, a pro-Palestine group in Britain, called for a full trade ban with Israel.

“(Britain) needs to pull the mechanisms, pull the levers where they need to, in order to ensure that we are abiding by international law, that we are indeed standing up for the rights of the Palestinian people, and we’re speaking against oppression and apartheid.

“What comes from that is almost secondary. We need to do what is legally, ethically, and morally correct,” he said.

Israeli officials have condemned the sanctions plan, deepening a diplomatic dispute.

Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned last week that Israel would “act against Britain” if sanctions went ahead.

“If they act, I think they will be making a big mistake,” Saar told the Israeli news outlet Ynet.

Agha said the decision to impose sanctions on goods from illegal settlements is more of a diplomatic dispute than an economic issue.

While it is too early to know how Israel will react, she would not be surprised if Israel “bats this away” once it’s announced.

“I think if the UK or the EU had wanted to do this economically, they could have done it 50 years ago. Israel is not the only state which violates international law, and the international community has figured out how to sanction those states pretty effectively,” she said.

“So the question is not do they have the mechanism to do it, and can they figure out how to do it effectively?

“The question actually is: Do they have the diplomatic belief or ideological conviction in order to do it?”

随着巴勒斯坦人遭受更多暴力侵害，英国正计划采取新措施打击以色列非法定居点。

2026年3月11日，在英国伦敦议会广场，一幅横幅和剪纸照片上印着以色列总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡和英国前首相基尔·斯塔默躺在床上的头像，上面写着“致2030年英以路线图——种族灭绝的伙伴关系，结束英国与以色列的恋情”。[Jaimi Joy/路透社]

英国预计将宣布对以色列在被占领的西岸的非法定居点实施贸易限制，一些分析人士表示，这是英以关系再次恶化的最新迹象。

英国是以色列在西方最坚定的盟友之一，但自从工党在野十多年后重新执政以来，英国政府的一些政策和言论发生了转变。

伯纳姆预计英国将禁止进口以色列定居点商品，此举获得广泛支持（共4条，此为第1条）

据报道，宾夕法尼亚州四名活动人士中的第二名因在特朗普高尔夫度假村抗议活动而面临“恐怖主义”指控。

名单3/4：英国与一些与以色列非法定居点有关联的公司签订了数十亿英镑的合同。

列表 4/4：以色列总理之子亚伊尔·内塔尼亚胡因福克兰群岛问题激怒英国右翼。

一方面，英国仍与以色列保持外交关系，并通过以色列可以使用的全球零部件供应计划向其提供F-35战斗机零部件。另​​一方面，英国暂停了部分武器出口许可证，并更频繁地谴责以色列军方和定居者的行为。

在2024年大选竞选期间，时任工党领袖基尔·斯塔默在接受英国LBC电台采访时表示，以色列“有权”切断加沙的电力和供水。他的言论激怒了许多人，之后他收回了这番言论，称他认为以色列有权“自卫”。

2026年9月6日，在加沙城，为来自加沙城宰图恩社区的马拉卡、阿拉希姆和巴拉维家族的100名成员举行葬礼，他们在以色列对加沙的战争中丧生，遗骸最近被找到。[Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images]

2025 年 5 月，他在与法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙和加拿大总理马克·卡尼的联名信中写道，他“强烈”反对“以色列在加沙扩大军事行动”。

上周，新任首相安迪·伯纳姆任命的外交大臣埃德·米利班德在下议院表示，他将制定措施，阻止英国参与诸如在被占领的巴勒斯坦领土上修建E1定居点等项目。此时正值加沙和被占领的西岸地区针对巴勒斯坦人的暴力事件不断升级之际。

“显然，他们（英国首相）的言辞有所不同，但实际上，无论安迪·伯纳姆还是（前保守党首相）里希·苏纳克执政，以色列政权的运作方式都和以前一样，”英国巴勒斯坦委员会的政策分析师泽娜·阿加告诉半岛电视台。

“我们看到的更多的是一种延续，而不是断裂。”

在以色列，总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡和其他一些高级官员经常嘲讽英国，因为英国公众舆论越来越反对以色列对巴勒斯坦人的压迫。

据以色列媒体发布的翻译评论显示，内塔尼亚胡上个月称英国为“英国伊斯兰共和国”，以此批评英国媒体对以色列的报道。

“我们将采取行动”：工党承诺对非法定居点做出回应

尽管根据国际法，定居点和前哨站都是非法的，但 E1 项目将从马阿勒阿杜明的大型定居点和其他以色列非法定居点到被占领的东耶路撒冷，形成一条连续的定居点走廊——实际上将西岸一分为二。

米利班德谴责了定居点扩张项目，他说：“本届政府绝不会默许破坏两国方案。”

“我们将采取行动，我将在未来几周内公布一套全面的措施。”

当被问及是否会立即禁止双向货物贸易和投资时，外交大臣表示，“我们需要对这些问题采取全面调整的态度”，因为“时机已到”。

阿加表示，虽然对定居点实施贸易限制的举措方向正确，但这只是“最低限度”，尤其是在加沙种族灭绝的背景下。

阿加告诉半岛电视台：“这些都是任何政府根据其所遵守的国际法律框架都会采取的措施。因此，从这个角度来看，不应该为此庆祝。然而，这是前任政府没有做的事情，所以应该予以欢迎。”

她解释说，主要问题是这些制裁在现实中会如何发挥作用，或者它们最终是否会沦为“口头上的谴责和空洞的言辞，而不是对以色列军事占领的运作方式以及从殖民巴勒斯坦土地和劳动力中获利的方式产生实际的、有意义的影响”。

目前，政府将如何实施这些贸易限制以及具体限制哪些商品，尚无太多细节。

但自伯纳姆7月上台以来，他的政府被认为在对以色列问题上采取了更为大胆的措施。

上个月，英国与 21 个国家和欧盟委员会一起谴责了 E1 项目，呼吁以色列“立即撤回这些计划，并停止在西岸扩大定居点”。

声明中写道：“他们不仅会让我们离和平越来越远，还会进一步损害以色列的国际地位。”

根据政府声明，在斯塔默执政期间，前外交大臣伊薇特·库珀宣布，英国、法国和加拿大于6月对六个实体和一名个人实施制裁，理由是“参与资助、支持和实施被占领的西岸地区的定居者暴力活动”。澳大利亚和新西兰也在英国宣布制裁措施前不久实施了协调一致的制裁。

但那些同情巴勒斯坦人的人认为，斯塔默做得还不够。

阿加说：“很明显，巴勒斯坦问题对英国选民来说是一个决定性问题。我认为安迪·伯纳姆敏锐地察觉到了当地局势的变化以及英国公众的感受。”

英国亲巴勒斯坦组织“阿克萨之友”的沙米乌尔·乔德呼吁全面禁止与以色列进行贸易。

“（英国）需要采取必要的措施，在必要时采取行动，以确保我们遵守国际法，确保我们真正捍卫巴勒斯坦人民的权利，并反对压迫和种族隔离。

“由此产生的后果几乎是次要的。我们需要做的是合法、合乎道德和伦理的事情，”他说。

以色列官员谴责了这项制裁计划，加剧了双方的外交争端。

以色列外交部长吉迪恩·萨尔上周警告说，如果制裁继续进行，以色列将“对英国采取行动”。

“如果他们采取行动，我认为他们会犯一个大错误，”萨尔告诉以色列新闻媒体Ynet。

阿加表示，对非法定居点的商品实施制裁的决定更多的是一个外交争端，而不是一个经济问题。

虽然现在判断以色列会作何反应还为时尚早，但她表示，一旦以色列宣布这一消息，如果以色列“对此不予理睬”，她也不会感到惊讶。

“我认为，如果英国或欧盟想从经济上解决这个问题，他们50年前就能做到。以色列并非唯一违反国际法的国家，国际社会已经找到了相当有效的制裁这些国家的方法，”她说。

“所以问题不在于他们是否有能力做到这一点，而在于他们能否找到有效做到这一点的方法？”

“真正的问题是：他们是否具备这样做的外交信念或意识形态信念？”