Israel offers cash to firms hit by trade ban; Europe dithers on new rules

Israel hopes to redirect goods from illegal Israeli settlements towards markets in Asia and South America. But the effect of European bans on trade itself is under question, with many nations yet to implement them.

A view over the Israeli settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank on September 8, 2026 in Kedumim, West Bank [File: Amir Levy/Getty Images]

The Israeli government plans to pay companies in illegal settlements up to 200,000 shekels ($54,000) following a commitment by European countries to ban their goods amid escalating human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Roey Fisher, head of Israel’s Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, told Israeli media outlet Calcalist that it has set up a “dedicated team” to help companies operating in illegal settlements find “alternative markets”, including the Philippines, India, the United Arab Emirates, Chile and Argentina. The assistance also covers exporters of fresh produce, and more than 25 applications for assistance have already been submitted by companies expected to be affected, the report added.

list 1 of 4 Far-right UK activist Daniel Thomas arrested after slashing dinghy

list 2 of 4 Morocco’s elections: Fragmentation, disengagement and PJD’s major comeback

list 3 of 4 Tyson Fury to face British rival Anthony Joshua in Cardiff on December 11

list 4 of 4 Tunisia fuel strike highlights growing economic and political anger

Fisher, however, played down the immediate reach of the bans. “Not everyone is boycotting us,” he told Calcalist, pointing to differences between European countries. “Right now, Spain and the Netherlands are among the only places in Europe where there is an effective boycott,” he said. “The countries that have announced boycotts, including England, have not applied them to all Israeli exports.”

Julie Norman, an associate fellow at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera the grants would provide a “significant lift” for exporters seeking new markets, but said the financial impact of the bans remained “uncertain”. She said the grants were unlikely to fully offset lost sales in the short term, with the UK and EU together accounting for “over a third of Israel’s exports”.

But Norman said the government support highlighted a broader challenge for countries seeking to economically target settlements. “The question of the grants highlights the challenge for states like the UK or European states when trying to target the settlements, when the settlements themselves are still supported by the Israeli government,” she said.

Shamiul Joarder, director at Friends of Al-Aqsa, a UK-based nonprofit, told Al Jazeera that government support helping exporters find alternative markets could “cushion the commercial impact” of the bans. “This demonstrates why targeting settlement goods alone is insufficient, as the settlement economy can simply redirect its trade elsewhere,” he added.

Which import bans are actually in force?

While a growing number of countries have pledged to restrict trade with Israeli settlements, far fewer have actually put those measures into force. On September 8, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement saying they intended to introduce national restrictions, support restrictions at the European level or were considering such measures.

But among those countries, only a handful have enacted restrictions. Spain and Ireland have introduced measures targeting imports of settlement goods, while the Netherlands brought its ban into force on September 22.

The Dutch measure goes further than some others. It prohibits the import, purchase and sale of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, as well as services facilitating that trade and attempts to circumvent the restrictions. Its significance also extends beyond the Dutch market, with the Netherlands serving as a major gateway for goods entering the rest of Europe.

Elsewhere, measures remain at various stages and are not yet operational. Belgium’s cabinet approved a draft measure on July 18 that would systematically refuse import permits for goods identified as coming from Israeli settlements. But the proposal includes a 120-day transition period and was sent to the Council of State for an opinion, meaning cabinet approval alone did not bring it into force.

Norway has put forward draft legislation that would go further than an import ban, prohibiting both imports from and exports to illegal Israeli settlements. But the legislation has yet to enter into force, with the Norwegian government listing it as still under consideration.

France and Canada have pledged national measures that have yet to take effect. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden signed the joint statement, but none has announced that a national ban on settlement goods has entered into force. Sweden has instead proposed restrictions at the EU level, including higher tariffs on settlement goods and new export-certificate requirements.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the legislation would be introduced within six to nine months, leaving a gap between the government’s pledge and any ban taking legal effect.

Norman said the UK’s six-to-nine-month timetable could give officials time to work through the practical details of implementing the ban. “I think that is to just work out logistics, and for UK firms to adapt so they don’t hurt their own domestic businesses,” she said.

The delay could also allow the government to wait for Israel’s elections, she added, “and see what the outcome is there, and how a new government approaches settlement expansion”.

Even in the United States, Israel’s closest ally, a group of senators has introduced a separate bill seeking sanctions against people involved in constructing Israel’s E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. It remains a proposal rather than a trade restriction in force.

But Israeli media reports suggest the country also sees the US as a potential avenue for relief should the import bans come into force, with lobbyists reportedly pushing for sanctions relief. There have also been warnings that the bans could trigger sanctions from US states under anti-boycott legislation.

以色列希望将来自非法以色列定居点的货物转向亚洲和南美市场。但欧洲贸易禁令本身的效果尚存疑问，因为许多国家尚未执行这些禁令。

2026年9月8日，从约旦河西岸的以色列定居点凯杜明眺望。[图片：Amir Levy/Getty Images]

在欧洲各国承诺禁止向非法定居点的公司出售商品之后，以色列政府计划向这些公司支付高达 20 万谢克尔（5.4 万美元）的赔偿金，原因是占领的西岸地区针对巴勒斯坦人的人权侵犯行为不断升级。

以色列经济产业部外贸管理局局长罗伊·费舍尔告诉以色列媒体Calcalist，该局已成立一个“专门团队”，帮助在非法定居点运营的公司寻找“替代市场”，包括菲律宾、印度、阿联酋、智利和阿根廷。报道还指出，援助范围也涵盖新鲜农产品出口商，预计受影响的公司已提交了25多份援助申请。

列表 1/4：英国极右翼活动人士丹尼尔·托马斯因割破小艇被捕

摩洛哥大选（共四部分，此为第二部分）：分裂、脱节与正义与发展党（PJD）的强势回归

泰森·富里将于12月11日在卡迪夫迎战英国对手安东尼·约书亚，这是四场比赛中的第三场。

突尼斯燃料罢工凸显日益增长的经济和政治愤怒情绪（共4项，此为第4项）

然而，费舍尔淡化了禁令的直接影响。他告诉《Calcalist》报：“并非所有人都在抵制我们”，并指出欧洲各国之间存在差异。“目前，西班牙和荷兰是欧洲仅有的几个真正实施抵制的国家，”他说。“包括英国在内的已宣布抵制的国家，并没有将所有以色列出口产品都纳入抵制范围。”

查塔姆研究所副研究员朱莉·诺曼告诉半岛电视台，这些补助金将为寻求新市场的出口商提供“显著的提振”，但她表示，禁令的财务影响仍然“不确定”。她指出，这些补助金不太可能在短期内完全弥补销售损失，因为英国和欧盟合计占以色列出口总额的“三分之一以上”。

但诺曼表示，政府的支持凸显了各国在试图通过经济手段打击定居点时面临的一个更广泛的挑战。“这些拨款问题凸显了像英国或欧洲国家这样的国家在试图打击定居点时所面临的挑战，因为定居点本身仍然得到以色列政府的支持，”她说。

英国非营利组织“阿克萨之友”主任沙米乌尔·乔德尔告诉半岛电视台，政府支持出口商寻找替代市场可以“缓解禁令带来的商业冲击”。他补充说：“这表明，仅仅针对定居点商品是不够的，因为定居点经济可以轻易地将贸易转移到其他地方。”

哪些进口禁令目前实际生效？

尽管越来越多的国家承诺限制与以色列定居点的贸易，但真正落实这些措施的国家却少得多。9月8日，加拿大、丹麦、芬兰、法国、冰岛、爱尔兰、挪威、波兰、葡萄牙、西班牙、瑞典和英国发表联合声明，表示它们打算在国内实施限制措施，支持欧洲层面的限制措施，或正在考虑采取此类措施。

但在这些国家中，只有少数几个国家实施了限制措施。西班牙和爱尔兰已出台针对定居点物资进口的措施，而荷兰的禁令则于9月22日生效。

荷兰的这项措施比其他一些措施更为严格。它禁止从被占领巴勒斯坦领土上的以色列非法定居点进口、购买和销售商品，以及为这类贸易提供便利的服务和规避限制的企图。其意义远不止于荷兰市场，因为荷兰是商品进入欧洲其他地区的重要门户。

其他地区的措施仍处于不同阶段，尚未生效。比利时内阁于7月18日批准了一项草案，该草案将系统性地拒绝向被认定为来自以色列定居点的货物发放进口许可证。但该提案包含120天的过渡期，并已提交至最高行政法院征求意见，这意味着仅凭内阁批准并不能使其生效。

挪威已提出一项立法草案，其力度将超过进口禁令，禁止从以色列非法定居点进口商品以及向这些定居点出口商品。但该立法尚未生效，挪威政府仍将其列为审议中事项。

法国和加拿大已承诺采取国家层面的措施，但这些措施尚未生效。丹麦、芬兰、冰岛、波兰、葡萄牙和瑞典签署了联合声明，但这些国家均未宣布已生效针对定居点货物的国家禁令。瑞典则提议在欧盟层面实施限制措施，包括提高定居点货物的关税和新的出口证书要求。

与此同时，英国外交大臣埃德·米利班德表示，相关立法将在六到九个月内出台，这意味着政府的承诺与任何禁令生效之间将存在一段空白期。

诺曼表示，英国六到九个月的时间表可以让官员们有时间敲定实施禁令的具体细节。“我认为这只是为了解决后勤问题，并让英国企业做出调整，以免损害本国业务，”她说。

她补充说，推迟选举还可以让政府等待以色列大选，“看看选举结果如何，以及新政府如何处理定居点扩张问题”。

即使在以色列最亲密的盟友美国，也有一群参议员提出了一项单独的法案，寻求对参与在被占领的西岸地区建设以色列E1定居点项目的人员实施制裁。该法案目前仍处于提案阶段，尚未成为生效的贸易限制措施。

但以色列媒体报道显示，如果进口禁令生效，该国也将美国视为潜在的援助渠道，据称游说团体正在推动解除制裁。此外，也有警告称，这些禁令可能会根据反抵制法引发美国各州的制裁。