The UK's decision to impose sanctions on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, announced on 8 September, has been met with a range of reactions. Jonathan Tebble, a religious Jew, expressed disappointment at the response of some communal leaders and bodies to these sanctions. He noted that many Jews in the UK are horrified by the Israeli government's actions, which include promises from some ministers to abandon the idea of a Palestinian state, and a perceived tolerance of unchecked settlement expansion and escalating settler violence.
Mr Tebble highlighted that organisations like Yachad and Na’amod offer an alternative anti-occupation perspective. He also pointed out that there are rabbis in the UK who support these sanctions, having witnessed what they describe as injustice and violence in the West Bank.
Conversely, Robin Newell, from Kibbutz Sde Nehemia in Israel, suggested that the timing of the sanctions could be detrimental. Mr Newell stated that the announcement, made six weeks before an Israeli election on 27 October, might inadvertently strengthen the very political forces the British government aims to undermine, such as Benjamin Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich.
Dr Vivienne Jackson, who spent time in the West Bank village of Yanoun 22 years ago, recounted witnessing settler harassment of Palestinian villagers and what she described as the indulgent favour of state forces towards settlers. Dr Jackson noted that Yanoun's villagers have reportedly left their village for a second time in the last year.