Britain today imposed fresh sanctions in response to continued violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The Government said strict financial restrictions would target three settler outposts and four groups that have supported or incited violence against Palestinians.
But Foreign Secretary David Lammy came under pressure to also impose sanctions on ‘extremist’ ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government.
He was urged to act after David Cameron revealed how he had been poised to slap sanctions on two Israeli ministers during his final days as Mr Lammy’s predecessor.
The Tory peer said he had been ‘working up’ sanctions against Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
This would have put ‘pressure’ on Mr Netanyahu to act in line with international law, Lord Cameron said.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is under pressure to impose sanctions on ‘extremist’ ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government
It came after David Cameron revealed how he was poised to slap sanctions on two Israeli ministers during his final days as foreign secretary
The Tory peer said he had been ‘working up’ sanctions against Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich (pictured) and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir
Mr Ben-Gvir has backed the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank and, in August, was condemned for a ‘deliberately provocative’ visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound
Responding to Lord Cameron’s comments, Labour MP Kim Johnson said the Government now had ‘no excuses’
Lord Cameron, the ex-PM, made a dramatic return to Westminster in November last year when he rejoined the government to take charge of the Foreign Office.
He was foreign secretary until the Tories’ general election loss in July and spearheaded Britain’s response to the Middle East crisis.
Lord Cameron urged Labour to ‘look again’ at sanctions, as he claimed the new Government made a ‘mistake’ in suspending some arms sales to Israel last month.
Speaking to the BBC, Lord Cameron described Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben-Gvir as ‘extremists’ and pointed to their comments about Gaza and the West Bank.
‘When you look at what they say, they have said things like encouraging people to stop aid convoys going into Gaza, they have encouraged extreme settlers in the West Bank with the appalling things they have been carrying out,’ he said.
Asked why sanctions against the two men had not been imposed, Lord Cameron said he had been advised the move would have been too ‘political’ during an election.
Mr Smotrich was recently criticised for appearing to suggest it might be ‘just and moral’ to withhold food aid from Gaza, while Mr Ben-Gvir has backed the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
In August, Mr Ben-Gvir was condemned for a ‘deliberately provocative’ visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound – known to Jews as Temple Mount – which is viewed as Jerusalem’s most-contested holy site.
Mr Lammy criticised both men but declined to commit to sanctioning them when urged to do so during a House of Commons debate last month.
Lord Cameron told the Government to ‘look again at the sanctions issue’, arguing that his was a better way of pressuring Mr Netanyahu than suspending arms exports to Israel.
He said: ‘I thought the Government made a mistake over the arms embargo because, fundamentally, if you are, on the one hand, protecting, helping to protect Israel from a state-on-state attack by Iran, but at the same time you are withholding the export of weapons, that policy makes no sense.’
Arguing that it was ‘right to back Israel’s right to self-defence’, Lord Cameron said that support was not ‘unconditional’ and the Government should be prepared to use its sanctions regime against ‘extremist’ ministers ‘to say this is not good enough and has to stop’.
Responding to Lord Cameron’s comments, Labour MP Kim Johnson said the Government now had ‘no excuses’.
She asked: ‘Has our Government considered plans left by the previous government and will they press ahead with implementing sanctions and travel bans?’
Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller, his party’s foreign affairs spokesman, welcomed the Government’s announcement of sanctions on settlers in the West Bank.
But he urged ministers to ‘go further’ and warned Britain was ‘lagging behind our allies’.
‘The Government must expand the scope of sanctions to include far-right Israeli government ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, as I asked them to do in the House of Commons today,’ Mr Miller added.
Downing Street would not be drawn into saying whether the UK would consider sanctioning the two Israeli ministers.
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘As you would appreciate, I can’t get into any commentary around future sanctions designations.
‘As you know, the UK has already sanctioned a number of people responsible for settler violence in the West Bank and we will obviously continue to take action to challenge those who undermine a two-state solution.’
Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost and Shuvi Eretz Outpost are the three settlements targeted in the latest wave of UK sanctions targeting those involved in settler violence in the West Bank.
The four organisations sanctioned are Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, a religious school known to promote violence against non-Jewish people; Hashomer Yosh, a group which provides volunteers for illegal outposts; Torat Lechima, a registered charity which provides financial support to the settlements; and construction company Amana.
There has been a huge rise in settler violence in the West Bank over the last year, with the UN recording more than 1,400 attacks by the illegal settlers since October 2023.
Mr Lammy said: ‘When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as Foreign Secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers.
‘The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked. Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children.’
The Foreign Secretary said the latest measures will ‘help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights’.
He added: ‘The Israeli government must crack down on settler violence and stop settler expansion on Palestinian land.
‘As long as violent extremists remain unaccountable, the UK and the international community will continue to act.’