Tel Aviv [Israel], September 8(ANI): Israel has announced a series of countermeasures against the United Kingdom, including the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem and the expulsion of British representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, following London’s sanctions against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, The Jerusalem Post reported.
As per the news report, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the measures, which also include ending British military training for Palestinian Authority security forces in Ramallah and barring 12 British elected representatives and other nationals from entering Israel over what Israeli authorities termed antisemitic and anti-Israel activity.
The 12 individuals include British MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, Naz Shah, Diane Abbott, Hannah Spencer, Carla Denyer, Sian Berry, Ellie Chowns, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon and Adrian Ramsay, as well as Riverway to the Sea director Fahad Ansari.
Sa’ar termed the British sanctions “blatant” election interference and said the measures taken by Britain and other countries “only pushed the possibility to find a solution [to the conflict] further away, rather than bringing it closer.”
“Israel has nothing against the British people. We know that we have many friends in Britain. Unfortunately, a hostile Labour Government is in office, systematically acting against the State of Israel, and it has left us with no choice but to finally respond to its hostile actions,” Sa’ar said.
Earlier, Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticised the British sanctions as a “grave miscalculation” and “a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation.”
Sanctions on Israel from the UK - or any other nation - will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation, and a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.
Sanctions are not a solution – dialogue is. I say… pic.twitter.com/ZKjLENRQtG
“Sanctions are not a solution – dialogue is. I say to all foreign governments: Stop! Step away from the dead-end of sanctions and boycotts, and turn toward constructive dialogue and toward cooperation,” Herzog said.
The UK had announced sanctions against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemning Israel’s actions in the territory and saying the measures represented a reset in relations between the two countries, according to CNN.
The British move was accompanied by a joint letter from 11 Western nations, which said they would introduce similar restrictions on trade with settlements considered illegal under international law or support European restrictions.
Meanwhile, the United States said it would not follow Britain in imposing sanctions over Israeli settlements. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington did not want to see an increase in violence, conflict or tensions in the West Bank at a “very tenuous time for the region,” according to Al Jazeera. (ANI)
