At the Labour Party conference on September 28, 2026, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a major reset of the UK's foreign policy toward Israel and Palestine under Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Miliband told critics of the government's previous stance on Gaza that they "were right," acknowledging past shortcomings. The UK is implementing sweeping trade sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements, a move that has spurred similar actions from France and Canada while drawing fierce diplomatic retaliation from Israel.
Reset of UK foreign policy
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband acknowledged that the previous Labour government's approach under Keir Starmer to the Israel-Palestine conflict had fallen short
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the Labour Party conference on September 28, 2026, that critics who were outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people "were right."
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband declared a reset of the United Kingdom's foreign policy toward Israel and Palestine under Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister.
Sanctions on West Bank settlements
- ▪The United Kingdom government announced a ban on the import of all goods produced by illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
- ▪The United Kingdom government pledged to disrupt the supply lines of British finance, construction, and services for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Condemnation of West Bank settler violence
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband denounced "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians in the West Bank perpetrated by extremist "settler terrorists."
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stated that the Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu has too often turned a blind eye to settler violence in the West Bank.
Statements on the conflict in Gaza
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called the suffering inflicted by the Benjamin Netanyahu government in Gaza "a stain on the conscience of the world."
- ▪British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stated there is increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed in Gaza.
International settlement sanctions
- ▪A total of 12 countries announced they would also impose sanctions on Israeli settlements following the United Kingdom's ban on trade with West Bank settlements
- ▪Following the United Kingdom's decision to sanction Israeli settlements, France and Canada also announced they would impose similar trade sanctions.
Israel's retaliatory measures
- ▪Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar ordered the expulsion of United Kingdom representatives from an international Gaza support center.
- ▪In response to the United Kingdom's ban on trade with West Bank settlements, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced retaliatory measures, including closing the British consulate in Jerusalem
Debatable claims
- ▪The UK's ban on imports from Israeli settlements is justified
- ▪Israel's retaliatory measures against the UK are a proportionate response
- ▪Ed Miliband's public accusations of Israeli war crimes are justified
- ▪The UK's foreign policy reset on Israel prioritizes progressive values over strategic alliances
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