Hastings Jewish Group welcomes UK trade ban on Israeli settlements as a 'necessary' first step but says it is not nearly enough

Statement following the announcement by UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on 8 September 2026 of a range of new bans and sanctions on Israeli settlement trade.

'A stain on the conscience of the world.' Foreign Secretary Ed Milliband describes Israel's destruction of Gaza as he announces a package of sanctions against Israeli settlements in the House of Commons

Hastings Jews for Justice welcomes the necessary first steps of the UK government towards ending Israel's impunity and holding the state to account for the unlawful occupation of Palestinian land and the crimes of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people.

These trade bans and sanctions are very long overdue.

For decades, the UK government has failed to act against the State of Israel’s violations of international law which is how we have arrived at a point where Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza for three years and still today continues its siege and slaughter there.

Meanwhile, Israel's ethnic cleansing in the West Bank has accelerated and intensified.

It is illegally occupying Palestine, parts of Lebanon and Syria and plans further annexation and settlement building.

Ordinary people around the world have not been blind or deaf to the horrific crimes of the occupation. We are changed forever by witnessing Israeli atrocities live-streamed on our phones, crimes that are continuing today.

Now, after years of sustained protest from all parts of society, governments in the West, our own at last included, are finally starting to act against the rogue terrorist state.

Like thousands of Jews of conscience in this country and around the world we stand with the Palestinians in their struggle against colonisation, war crimes and genocide.

We have raised our voices repeatedly to make clear that criticism of Israel is not antisemitic and that there is nothing intrinsically Jewish about occupation, oppression or genocide. To suggest that there is is itself antisemitic.

Standing up for an oppressed people is always the right thing to do so we are pleased to see the UK government finally taking concrete steps against Israel’s crimes when it has spent so long supporting them.

However, this will not address years of British complicity, nor indeed its active participation in the Gaza genocide in the form of intelligence sharing, arms exports and diplomatic support.

For this, we seek real justice and accountability.

Neither will it be enough to curb Israel's expansionist ambitions, nor dismantle the apartheid system which deprives all Palestinians of their rights.

We say there must be an immediate end to all diplomatic, military, intelligence and trade ties with Israel and the 2030 Roadmap for UK-Israel Bilateral Relations must be abandoned.

There must be full support of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court and an immediate end to the absurd ban on Palestine Action.

Until then, we will keep up the pressure, keep boycotting Israeli apartheid and the companies profiting from the occupation, keep demonstrating our support and solidarity for the Palestinian people and advocating for their rights to live in freedom, safety and dignity on their own land.

Read the Foreign Secretary's Full Statement here