Sanctions against Israeli settlements: France, the United Kingdom and Canada toughen their position

They denounce “systematic expansion of settlements in the West Bank” and “the considerable increase in settler violence”. In a joint statement, French President Emmanuel Macron, British and Canadian Prime Ministers, Andy Burnham and Mark Carney, reaffirmed, Tuesday, September 8, the intention of their three countries to prohibit "the importation of products from the colonies and apply targeted sanctions against the colonies".

In this text, the three heads of state denounce "a direct and urgent threat" to the "two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and announce "a new turning point" in their "approach" to "protect" this perspective. They "will co-chair a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly this month" on the subject, the three leaders added.

Earlier in the day, France, the United Kingdom and Canada declared themselves part of a group of 12 countries pledging to sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. In the process, Israeli diplomacy immediately announced retaliatory measures, targeting for the moment only the United Kingdom, with the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, as well as a ban on entry into Israel for 12 British personalities described as “anti-Semitic”. Among them, the former leader of Labor, now an independent MP, Jeremy Corbyn, and the five British Green MPs.

No sanctions for the United States

The American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, deplored on Tuesday the "tensions in the occupied West Bank" between Israeli settlers and the Palestinian population, but ruled out that the United States would take sanctions comparable to those announced by this group of countries. "Obviously we're not going to do like them," he said at Miami airport, leaving for a tour of Latin America, when questioned about British sanctions.

“But we share the goal of stability. We do not want to see an increase in violence or conflict or tensions in the West Bank at a very sensitive time in the region,” he nevertheless added. “We think this also has implications for our ability to make progress on Gaza and the 20-point plan and peace on the border to which we are very attached,” explained the head of American diplomacy.

Monday evening, the high representative for Gaza of the "Peace Council" set up by Donald Trump, Nikolai Mladenov, declared that the lack of progress in Gaza, combined with the increase in violence in the West Bank, threatened to make the two-state solution "impossible". “If the situation in Gaza continues or if we do not move forward with the implementation of the peace plan (...), the two-state solution will become practically impossible,” declared the Bulgarian diplomat from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.