Ed Miliband shrugged off a backlash at sanctions against Israel today as Labour was accused of playing politics with Jewish lives.

The Foreign Secretary insisted he was 'proud' of the Government's ban on trade with West Bank settlements despite a wave of anger.

Israel has announced that the UK consulate in Jerusalem will be shut, while Andy Burnham is waiting to see if Donald Trump will also launch reprisals. 

Britain's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the action was just 'gesture politics' and would 'further embolden those, at home and abroad, who use hatred as a weapon against Jews'.

Kemi Badenoch joined the condemnation, saying the Government risked 'fanning the flames of anti-Semitism at home' in order to appease those deserting Labour for the Greens.

The Tory leader said Labour was 'escalating its campaign against Israel, throwing British interests under the bus to win back Islamist and far left activist votes'.

The move was announced as the party gears up for battle in a by-election for Keir Starmer's old Holborn & St Pancras seat. It is looking like a tough fight with the Greens, who are bidding to put Palestine at the heart of the campaign. 

Countries including France and Canada coordinated their own sanctions with the UK in an effort to revive the push for a two-state solution.  

Asked for his response to Israel's countermeasures, Mr Miliband told Sky News: 'I regret what the Israeli government has announced, but I'm proud of what we did yesterday and it was the right thing to do.'

He said: 'It will be damaging, that's true, but we weighed up the costs and the benefits in advance of this.

'And we did something very important. We talked to the representatives of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian prime minister, the representative here, and they both said to us with a very clear voice, you need to act from our point of view.'

He added: 'I would prefer that Israel hadn't announced what it did, but overall, I strongly believe that what we did, along with other international allies, was absolutely the right thing to do.'

Mr Miliband said he was 'confident' that security cooperation with Israel would continue, despite fears about sharing of intelligence about terrorism.  

Pressed on the chief rabbi's criticism, Mr Miliband said: 'I'm a proud British Jew and I don't agree with the chief rabbi.

'I have great respect for the chief rabbi, but I don't agree with him.

'And I believe that it must be possible to do what we did yesterday, which is to stand up for British values of the rule of law, of dignity for people, of the prevention of injustice, and do so in a way, as I did yesterday, to say to anyone in our country who holds British Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli government: that is anti-Semitism, pure and simple.

'And we all need to do more to tackle anti-Semitism. But I believe we can do that and stand up for British values.'

Andy Burnham - who will face MPs on the issue at PMQs later - insisted the sanctions are 'the right thing to do'.

He said they are aimed 'not at the Israeli people', but at bringing peace in the region.

'The Israeli people are not responsible for the actions of their government. And nor is the Jewish community in the UK,' the PM said.

'Blaming British Jews for the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government is wrong, plain and simple. And it is antisemitism, plain and simple.

'I met the representatives of the Jewish community just last week. I know the fear they live with day by day. My Government will stop at nothing to ensure they are safe and to stamp out antisemitism in every part of our society.'

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar announced that the UK's consulate in Jerusalem would be closed as part of a package of retaliatory measures.

He also said Israel would ban 11 MPs and a campaigner involved in what he claimed was 'antisemitic and anti-Israel activity' from entry to the country.

They include former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott.

Mr Saar said he had spoken to Mrs Badenoch and thanked her for her opposition to the 'hostile Labour Government's announcement'.

The Israeli retaliation came after Mr Miliband told the Commons that a 'new approach' was necessary because plans for the E1 development in the West Bank would render a two-state solution 'unviable' by 'cutting through the heart of Palestine'.

He said more settlements had been approved under the four years of Mr Netanyahu's government than in the previous 20 years and settler terrorism in the West Bank was 'rampant'.

A new comprehensive sanctions regime will target companies and individuals providing services such as financing and construction for the settlements.

There will also be a ban on advertising in the UK of illegal settlements.

Legislation for the new regime could take up to nine months to put in place, Mr Miliband said, but he promised immediate sanctions against 'extremist settlers who have supported or incited acts of violence'.