Miliband’s West Bank sanctions will ‘drive business away from UK’

Israel launched 16 new foreign investment projects in Britain in 2024-2025, making it a top-20 investor, according to Department for Business & Trade figures.

Mr Tobias said British businesses looking to borrow from Israeli financiers would have to “go through compliance to find out whether or not the Israeli bank is actually banking some small olive orchard or candle maker on the West Bank”.

“Then it becomes quite complicated and difficult, and lots of companies will just say it’s not worth the effort, and will look elsewhere,” he said.

Mr Miliband’s sanctions regime is planning to target companies and individuals “who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion”.

Israel responded to the proposals by closing the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, banning several Left-wing MPs from Israel, and cancelling UK involvement in several support programmes for the Palestinian territories.

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Israel’s special envoy for trade, said the sanctions regime would be “logistically difficult to enforce”.

She criticised Britain for announcing the move during the Israeli election campaign, and accused Labour of chasing votes in the by-election for Sir Keir Starmer’s north London seat of Holborn & St Pancras, scheduled for Oct 8.

“To us, it smacks of being completely politically performative – to try and win an election, trying to see who’s more anti-Israel, Labour or the Greens,” Mrs Hassan-Nahoum said. 

Mr Kessler said: “Putting new barriers between British businesses and one of the world’s leading technology economies risks British jobs and British interests. The question is, how is this good for Britain?”

A spokesman from the Department for Business and Trade said: “The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel.

“We will continue to support important and valued trade with green line Israel precisely because we support the two state solution, including security and prosperity for Israel.”