Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback

Miliband was blunt about the reasoning: "We're witnessing unprecedented settler terrorism in the West Bank," he said, accusing Israel of carrying out "ethnic cleansing of Palestinians" in the territory.

The joint statement — also signed by the foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden — said the countries "firmly oppose actions tantamount to the annexation of Palestinian land and forcible displacement of the Palestinian population," and demanded Israel halt settlement expansion and ensure accountability for settler violence. The same statement condemned the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 as "the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust."

Herzog argued the ban would backfire on the people it claims to help: it "will directly harm, unfortunately, Palestinians, robbing them of business and employment," he said, adding that it amounts to "a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation."

Huckabee predicted the policy "is probably going to have a very negative effect that does not meet whatever goal … that the Brits have."

Pearl, writing in the New York Post, disputed the factual basis for the boycott, citing a 2025 study by Israeli security expert Gabi Siboni that compared the UN's count of roughly 1,800 settler-related incidents with Israeli police figures showing 967 investigations opened and 61 indictments. He also pointed to Palestinian attacks in the territory, writing that in 2024 alone there were more than 6,300 attacks in which 27 Israelis were killed and more than 300 wounded. The Frank has not independently verified those figures.

The Jerusalem Post, in two opinion pieces, argued the sanctions expose a double standard in Britain's occupation policy and that decades of boycotts have failed to change Israeli policy while pushing Americans to strengthen economic ties with the settlements.