Guardian Analysis: UK Foreign Secretary Miliband Marks Shift in Approach to Israeli Settlements
A Guardian commentary piece says Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has departed from decades of what it describes as ineffective British statements on West Bank settlements, citing new sanctions and stronger language from London.
A commentary published by the Guardian argues that UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has broken with a longstanding pattern of British government responses to Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, which the piece describes as largely symbolic over many decades.
According to the article, British Foreign Office ministers have historically issued what it calls "boilerplate statements of concern" about settlement expansion without accompanying action, a pattern the piece says drew criticism even from some former Conservative ministers who held the post.
The commentary cites former Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan as having described the UK's historical stance on settlements as "weak and naive," and quotes former minister Alistair Burt as having questioned the department's capacity to produce new forms of diplomatic condemnation that the piece says never translated into concrete measures.
The article also recalls that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher expressed frustration over settlement expansion during her time in office, while noting she was, according to the piece, torn between sympathy for Israel and concerns about Gulf states aligning with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The commentary states that Miliband has since introduced sanctions and used language describing Israeli government actions as constituting "ethnic cleansing," which it characterizes as a departure from what it terms the UK's previous pattern of "feigned helplessness" on the issue.
The Guardian piece presents this as a broader shift in UK foreign policy tone toward Israeli settlement activity, though it does not specify the scope or legal mechanisms of the sanctions referenced, nor detail the Israeli government's response to the characterization.
Sources
- Ed Miliband has overturned decades of Foreign Office inertia on illegal Israeli settlements — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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