A powerful US Senator and top Trump ally has warned Andy Burnham not to implement sanctions against Israel.
Senator Rick Scott told the Prime Minister he needs to be a ‘Churchill, not another Chamberlain’ as expectations grow that the UK will punish goods, services and senior figures linked to planned illegal Israeli settlements.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband pledged yesterday to ‘reset’ Britain’s policy on Israel and called new Israeli expansion efforts ‘the crossing of a red line’.
However, officials will fear that Senator Scott’s public opposition to British sanctions reflects what the Trump administration thinks behind closed doors.
The US State Department has already warned they are ‘tracking [the plans] closely’, with Downing Street reportedly prepared for pushback from Washington.
Senator Scott, chairman of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, told : ‘The U.K. needs a Churchill, not another Chamberlain. Prime Minister Burnham has a chance to either stand with the United States and Israel – or repeat history’s mistakes by appeasing evil regimes and actors.’
The row exploded last month when Israel issued tenders for the construction of some 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area.
The plans have drawn widespread international condemnation because it would in effect divide the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem.
Andy Burnham said yesterday the E1 extension ‘could imperil, if not end, the two-state solution’.
Miliband also told Parliament he would introduce a ‘comprehensive reset’ of policy on Israel ‘in the coming weeks’ and punish British companies involved in the settlements.
The government is reportedly also preparing to announce sanctions against goods and services involving West Bank settlements and target more senior Israeli figures.
A minister also confirmed yesterday they are ‘looking at measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements’.
‘Israel will act against Britain’
The mooted sanctions have sparked outrage from the Israeli government, who has threatened to retailiate.
The country’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told news website Ynet: ‘If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain.’
However concern is also growing that President Trump, a strong supporter of Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu, will be angered by any sanctions.
Senator Scott, described as Trump’s ‘fixer’ in the Senate, has fired the first warning shot over the UK’s plans.
Asked about his reaction to the possible sanctions, Scott told : ”Burnham should do everything he can to strengthen Britain’s historic alliances with America and Israel and reject the disgusting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic radicalization growing across the UK.’
He added: ‘Israel is doing what it must to oppose terror and defend itself, and President Trump is working with them to bring peace to the Middle East through strength.
‘Burnham should do everything he can to strengthen Britain’s historic alliances with America and Israel and reject the disgusting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic radicalization growing across the UK.’
Scott’s intervention is significant because he is seen as closely tied to The White House.
Trump’s officials have reportedly described him as ‘our man in the Senate’ and have brokered meetings between officials and powerful Republicans.
Two of Britain’s largest Jewish organisations, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, have also urged Burnham not to go ahead with the sanctions.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi, told Miliband on Friday that many British Jews would view the proposed measures with ‘deep dismay’.
However a group of former British diplomats said in May that the Israeli settlements were ‘designed to divide the West Bank in two and destroy Palestine’s viability’.
They warned that E1 was part of Israel’s ‘systemic West Bank annexation’.
All settlements are illegal under international law and Israel had previously held off for decades on plans to build in the area due to international pressure.
The UK has already joined a group of 20 other countries, including France, Germany and Italy, as well as the European Union, to issue a joint statement calling E1 ‘unacceptable’.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
MORE: Putin smirks when claiming plot to launch attacks on British soil is a ‘military secret’
MORE: The minutes after Burnham’s first speech showed how different he is to Starmer
MORE: British student, 22, reveals how he was kidnapped at gunpoint by Israeli settlers