EXCLUSIVE: Miliband: Why I rejected UK Jewish leaders’ pleas over Israel sanctions

Ed Miliband has firmly rejected allegations that he is putting the security of British Jews at risk with his announcement of tough new sanctions against Israel.

The foreign secretary also revealed he disregarded pleas from Jewish communal leaders, including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the Board of Deputies, and the Jewish Leadership Council, not to announce West Bank trade sanctions, after deciding that “a strategy of passivity in the face of what is happening is not a strategy”.

In an exclusive interview with Jewish News in his office in central London on Tuesday afternoon, the Jewish former Labour Party leader rejected allegations that he was putting the security of British Jews at risk . “I don’t accept that,” Miliband said. “Any person who targets British Jews because of the actions of the Israeli government is an antisemite in my view. That’s very, very important, and I couldn’t have said it more plainly. Indeed, I think that view is shared across the House of Commons, and I believe we all have a responsibility to protect British Jews as a government, as a society. I say that loudly and clearly.”

He added: “I don’t think anyone should be conflating these two sets of questions. There are British Jews going about their lives, there are the actions of the Israeli government, and then there is our relationship with Israel. I want a strong and flourishing relationship with Israel.”

Miliband strongly disputed claims that sanctions could now jeopardise the right of Jews, including those from the UK, to pray in the Old City, part of East Jerusalem. “They’re not going to be. I can absolutely assure you of that. There’s no inhibition on the right to pray, people to visit the Old City, people to visit relatives and so on. I really want to give that reassurance to you, readers and viewers.”

He added: “It’s so important to distinguish between our view of green line Israel—an absolutely central part of a two-state solution—and our view of the occupation.

“Once you take the view that the occupation is unlawful, I do believe that you then have to look at your economic relationships as we would with any territory where we thought that there was unlawfulness.”

Sweeping sanctions include an import ban on goods and services from the territories and a stricter block on weapons exports linked to the occupation. Critics said the move “does nothing to advance peace, risks harming Jewish life in Britain, and damages the UK’s relationship with a vital ally.”

Asked directly if he had decided to ignore the advice of many of the main Jewish organisations in this country, Miliband responded: “Well, there are different views in the Jewish community, truthfully, about what we should do if you talk to people from Yachad and other organisations.”

He added: “I think there’s a diversity of viewpoints, but I accept what you say about the Board of Deputies and the JLC and the Chief Rabbi, all of whom are people and organisations I deeply respect. I think all of us are committed to the two-state solution. All of us, I think, are appalled by the tragedy that has unfolded in the region. I think all of us are appalled by the Hamas attack of 7 October and I hope we’re all appalled by what we’ve also seen in Gaza and the death and destruction in Gaza. I think our disagreement is what should be done.

“Now I believe, and the Prime Minister believes, that a strategy of passivity in the face of what is happening is not a strategy and that we can’t see what is unfolding; we can’t see the destruction of the policy to which we are all ostensibly committed and just stand by.”

Miliband was also quick to counter earlier suggestions that Britain was acting alone, and in a colonial fashion, without support from other international allies.

He said: “That’s why we’ve decided to act in concert with others, and I would emphasise that it’s not just Britain today, it’s France, it’s Canada, it’s a whole range of countries. It’s a big international coalition, and I think that does send a message that our quarrel is not with the Israeli people. Our quarrel is with, our disagreement is with the policies of the Netanyahu government.”

Miliband also rejected another widely shared claim that announcing sanctions ahead of next month’s Israel election was wrongful interference by a foreign power, and could even serve to help Netanyahu and far-right ministers, who would revel in the latest assault by the UK.

He said: “On the question of timing, and obviously I’ve thought a lot about this and talked to many members of the community on the timing.

“If we’re frank with each other, people will always say there’s no good time to take these measures. Imagine a world where a new government was elected; people will be saying well now is not the time.

“With the greatest sort of humility I’d say we as a British government can’t outsource our political moral responsibilities to the Israeli opposition or to the Israeli electorate.

“We have to make our own decisions about legality, values and the actions that follow from that and then the Israeli people make their own decisions, and I’ve been very, very careful to say this: for the Israeli people to determine who they want their government to be, we have to do what we think is right.

“I do make this point also, and I make this point to the community here, and I think many members of the community agree. I don’t believe that the actions of the current government in Israel are making the Israeli people safer or more secure; I think the opposite is sadly true.”

While the interview was underway, the Israeli government issued its sharp response. It responded to the UK’s announcement of sanctions against the West Bank by stating that it will close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, as well as removing British representatives from the International Gaza Support Centre.

Other measures announced by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar included the termination of British training for Palestinian Authority security forces, and the intention of denying entry into Israel to 12 MPs and anti-Israel activists. The dozen individuals in question included former Labour and currently independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, Labour MPs Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon and Naz Shah and all five Green Party MPs.

Miliband, who had just completed a lengthy stint behind the Commons despatch box having delivered his statement in the Commons spoke, said: “Well, look, I do think it’s deeply regrettable, the Israeli Foreign Minister’s response on this issue, but we have to do what we believe is the right thing based on our values, and that’s what I was doing today.

“We are deeply committed to the two-state solution. We’re deeply committed to security for the Israeli people, security for Israel alongside a viable and secure Palestinian state and actually I believe that the only route, the only durable route to security for Israel, is with a two-state solution, and we see the two-state solution being destroyed by the facts on the ground.

“The facts on the ground, unfortunately, were in part created by the actions of this Israeli government, and so the urgency, including with E1 and the tenders, meant that we felt we had to act today. So look, we’re going to do what I announced today, and you know the Israeli government will have to make it; the current Israeli government will have to make its own decisions on what they do.”

On suggestions the sanctions would make little difference to the lives of Palestinians or Israelis, he said: “I believe we can make a difference because of the sanctions regime and what I’ve said today about the financing, construction, and infrastructure for new settlements. Sanctions can have significant implications, and so I hope, in addition to acting with others, that we can have an effect. And look, this is about the practical effects we want to have—the practical effects we want to have are to stop this endless settlement expansion, which is destroying the possibility of a two-state solution.”

During his statement in the Commons, Miliband had referred to his own family connections to the state of Israel, as he stressed his liberal Zionist credentials. He also mentioned his mother, who sadly passed away in May, and his father and their family experience at the hands of the Nazis.

Asked if his mother’s memory was in his mind as he delivered the major foreign policy announcement, Miliband said: “I mean, you know, I take responsibility myself for what I said today, but I have thought a lot about what my mother would have thought in the last few weeks. I think her story is interesting—you know, here was someone who went through the most traumatic childhood because of the Nazis, lost her father, separated from her sister, separated from her mother in hiding, incredibly fortunate to survive the war, unlike 60 of her relatives.

“And in the last 20 years of her life before she became unwell, she spent much of her time campaigning for the rights of Palestinians. I think that tells us something, and it’s probably shared by a lot of your readers: we can be the strongest advocates, as I feel I am, for the security of Israel, for Israel to prosper, and for the rights of the Palestinian state.

“And so, in a sense, what I channel from her is that spirit and that concern about suffering—whoever is suffering: Jews, Palestinians, or anyone across the world. She was somebody who deeply cared and was moved by that, and I’m sure she’d have had a bone to pick with one or two aspects of my statement—no doubt. She wouldn’t have been my mum without that. But her influence on me, and her commitment to justice, is very important in what I do.”