The governments of 12 countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, announced coordinated sanctions on Tuesday (Sept 8) in retaliation for the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a territory Israel has held since the 1967 war. The sharpest words came from London: in a speech to Parliament, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said "ethnic cleansing" is being carried out by "terrorist settlers" in parts of the territory and that the Israeli government has too often turned a blind eye, according to the BBC and Folha de S.Paulo, which cite the Reuters and AFP news agencies. The group also includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Britain's first measure is a ban on imports of goods made in the settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. London will also refuse weapons and other export licenses that "materially contribute" to the occupation, and it threatened companies and individuals that finance or build in the settlements. "You will face the full weight of UK sanctions," Miliband told lawmakers. The BBC reports that Israel plans to build 1,200 new homes in the occupied territory and that data from the UN (United Nations) show settler attacks on Palestinians rising this year. In a joint statement, the 12 governments said settler violence has reached "unprecedented" levels and that Israeli actions are "undermining the possibility of a two-state solution".
"Today I announce that the official position of the British government is that the occupation is illegal," Miliband declared.
What it means for Brazil
Brazil is not part of the group, and none of the 12 governments called on others to join. Even so, the package lands at a delicate moment for Brasília. Brazil recognized the State of Palestine in 2010, has defended a two-state solution for decades and its diplomats regularly condemn settlement expansion in multilateral forums. On the economic side, the main trade channel between Brazil and Israel is the free trade agreement between Israel and Mercosur (the South American customs union) in force since 2010. Because the sanctions target settlement goods, a small share of total trade, any effect on Brazilian companies would depend on a decision by the Brazilian government itself, something that has not been publicly considered so far.
European pressure and swift pushback
The make-up of the group shows the interests at play. France had pressed for weeks for a joint European Union (EU) response but ran into resistance from some members of the bloc, Folha reported. Ireland and Spain had already adopted their own measures against trade with the settlements, and the BBC says the Netherlands and Belgium have banned or are banning imports of these goods without signing the joint statement. The 12 countries said they will adopt national restrictions or back measures at EU level. Miliband balanced the message: he repeated that the target is the illegal settlements, not the state of Israel, urged Israel to stop withholding revenues that keep basic services running in the West Bank, and called on Hamas to give up its weapons. "Hamas cannot play any role in the future governance of Gaza," he said.
The reaction was immediate. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the country will close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, which maintains ties with the Palestinian Authority. President Isaac Herzog called the measures a "grave miscalculation". From Washington, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the BBC that the United States will "without doubt" respond and warned that British companies could be barred from doing business in several American states. In Britain, opposition Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat said "innocent Palestinians and Israelis will suffer" and warned that turning Israel into a "pariah" risks a new wave of antisemitic violence on British streets. The BBC reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke by phone with President Donald Trump on Monday (Sept 7); the official readout did not say whether the sanctions came up.
The immediate economic impact should be small. Annual trade between the UK and Israel stands at around £6 billion (roughly R$41 billion), with settlement goods a tiny fraction of that total, according to Folha. The weight of the announcement is political. The BBC described the British measures as unprecedented, and Miliband presented the package as a message to the Israeli government, to Palestinians and to the world that the UK "will not be complicit in the destruction of the two-state solution".