Miliband defends sanctions on Israeli settlements and pushes back against chief rabbi’s criticism – UK politics live

Published September 9, 2026 · Category: News

Overview

UK foreign secretary ‘regrets’ Israel’s response to ban on trade with illegal settlements but ‘proud’ of his actions

• UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing

In his interview with Sky News this morning, Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, said that he regretted the fact that Israel is ordering the UK to close its consulate in Jerusalem in response to the UK sanctions. But he said the government had weighed up “the costs and benefits” of its move in advance.

He said:

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.

Details

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

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.

Source

Originally published at www.theguardian.com.

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