NEWS
“Israel Has Nothing Against the British People” — Israel Bans Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, 10 Others Over UK Sanctions
Israel has announced a series of retaliatory measures against the United Kingdom, including banning 12 British politicians and activists from entering the country, after London imposed sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the measures, which include barring former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana and 10 other British elected representatives and nationals from entering Israel.
The Israeli government also announced plans to shut down the British consulate in East Jerusalem and expel British representatives working at the Kiryat Gat Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), escalating an already tense diplomatic confrontation between the two countries.
The retaliatory measures came after the UK announced sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a move that Israel strongly condemned as political interference.
Among the additional Israeli countermeasures is the termination of training provided by British forces to Palestinian Authority security personnel in Ramallah.
According to Sa’ar, Israel would also prohibit the entry of British elected representatives and other nationals whom Israeli authorities accuse of engaging in antisemitic or anti-Israel activities, as well as individuals who deny the existence of the State of Israel.
The 12 British officials and activists affected by the entry ban are MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, Naz Shah, Diane Abbott, Hannah Spencer, Carla Denyer, Sian Berry, Ellie Chowns, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon and Adrian Ramsay, alongside Riverway to the Sea director Fahad Ansari.
Sa’ar described the British sanctions as a “blatant” election interference, arguing that the measures would make efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more difficult.
He said the British government’s declarations, alongside similar measures announced by other countries, “only pushed the possibility to find a solution [to the conflict] further away, rather than bringing it closer.”
The Israeli foreign minister insisted that the measures were directed at the British government’s policies rather than the British population.
“Israel has nothing against the British people. We know that we have many friends in Britain.
“Unfortunately, a hostile Labour Government is in office, systematically acting against the State of Israel, and it has left us with no choice but to finally respond to its hostile actions,“ Sa’ar said.
The diplomatic confrontation has also drawn strong criticism from Israel’s political leadership.
President Isaac Herzog described Britain’s sanctions as a “grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation, and a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.“
Herzog urged foreign governments to abandon sanctions and instead pursue diplomatic engagement.
“Sanctions are not a solution – dialogue is.
“I say to all foreign governments: Stop! Step away from the dead-end of sanctions and boycotts, and turn toward constructive dialogue and toward cooperation,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid also condemned Britain’s decision, describing the sanctions as a dangerous policy that could have political consequences inside Israel ahead of the country’s Knesset elections.
“The British government’s decision to impose boycotts and sanctions on Israel is a serious mistake. It is a wrong and dangerous policy, at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons,“ Lapid said.
He further warned that the British action could strengthen hardline political forces and benefit Hamas.
“The decision made today will strengthen the extremist voices in Israel just before the Knesset elections and is a shot of encouragement to Hamas and the terrorist organizations,“ he warned.
However, the British sanctions received support from Peace Now, one of the few Israeli groups to openly welcome London’s decision.
The movement argued that Israeli settlements beyond the Green Line posed a threat to Israel’s future and said foreign governments should distinguish between Israel proper and the settlement enterprise.
“Settlements are a danger to the future of the State of Israel, and it is good that Britain and other countries are making the necessary distinction between sovereign Israel and the settlement enterprise and outposts beyond the Green Line,“ Peace Now said.
The organisation also rejected the argument that sanctions targeting settlements amounted to sanctions against Israel as a whole.
“Sanctions against the settlements are not sanctions against Israel, quite the opposite. The distinction between them is an Israeli security, political and economic interest,“ the movement claimed.
Peace Now called on Israel’s opposition to present an alternative approach to the government’s settlement policies, saying: “Instead of competing with the settler right with automatic condemnations, the opposition should present an alternative: stop annexation, isolate the settlements instead of Israel, and return the country to a path of security, political order and a better future.“
The dispute has meanwhile triggered calls within Israel for even stronger measures against Britain.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to close Britain’s diplomatic mission in East Jerusalem, accusing the consulate of openly working on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
“This must be Israel’s resolute response to British audacity,“ Ben-Gvir said.
In an additional demand that broadened the dispute beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories, Ben-Gvir urged Israel to recognize Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas.
“It’s time for the State of Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people,“ he said.
Ben-Gvir also accused Britain of exploiting resources in the disputed territory.
“The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people.
“I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues,“ he added.
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King also demanded that Israel enforce the closure of Britain’s diplomatic presence at locations on Nablus Road and Rajeib Nashashibi Street in Jerusalem.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, meanwhile, called for the expulsion of the British ambassador, further underlining the growing pressure within Israel for a tougher response to London’s policies.
The British sanctions have also provoked anger among leaders of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Israel Ganz, head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, criticised Britain’s intervention in the dispute and invoked the history of the British Mandate in Palestine.
“It is time for Britain to wake up: the British Mandate ended almost 80 years ago. The days when London determined where Jews could live in the Land of Israel are over and will not return,“ Ganz said.
He accused the British government of focusing its attention on Israeli settlers instead of addressing domestic problems.
“Instead of addressing the difficult problems at home, the British government is mobilizing a coalition of pro-Palestinian countries to wage an economic war on Jews in Binyamin, Judea and Samaria. This is a moral disgrace.
“Our message to Britain and everyone who joins the boycott is clear: you will not succeed in getting the Jews out of Judea and Samaria,“ he concluded.
Efrat Mayor Col. (res.) Dovi Shefler similarly criticised London’s decision, arguing that Britain was repeating what he described as a historical pattern of pressure on Jewish communities.
“The British Mandate ended in May 1948, but it seems that someone in London has not yet internalized this.
“Even then, the British heaped hardships on the Jewish settlement while Arab terror raged, and even today they choose to punish Israel and the Jewish settlement, instead of directing the pressure on those who attack it and seek its destruction,“ Shefler said.
He subsequently called on the Israeli government to take action concerning the Oslo Accords and the administration of a Jewish heritage site.
“In response to the British move, I call on the Israeli government to urgently pass a resolution that will correct the historical injustice of the Oslo Accords, and return the Jewish heritage site of Solomon’s Pools to Israeli control, as it should have been in the first place,“ he added.
The latest measures mark a sharp deterioration in relations between Israel and Britain, with the dispute now extending beyond the question of West Bank settlements to diplomatic representation, military cooperation and the movement of British politicians and activists.
With both governments defending their positions and senior Israeli officials demanding further retaliation, the confrontation threatens to deepen an already widening divide between London and Jerusalem over Israel’s policies in the West Bank and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.