MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Israel reacted with anger and defiance to yesterday's announcement that the United Kingdom would impose trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Britain's foreign minister called the ban necessary to stop settlement expansion and Israeli settler violence against Palestinians there. He accused what he called settler terrorists of ethnic cleansing. Canada and France joined the effort and imposed their own sanctions, intensifying international pressure on Israel from longtime allies.
MARTIN: For more on Israeli and Palestinian reactions we go now to NPR's Carrie Kahn, who is in Tel Aviv. Carrie, good morning.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So I understand that Israeli officials were rather indignant and retaliated quickly after the U.K. announcement. What did they say?
KAHN: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the U.K.'s statements about Israel's conduct in the West Bank outrageous lies. He said they were morally distorted and antisemitic. Here he is.
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GIDEON SA'AR: I say to the Labour government, and to every government in the world that thinks it can force Israel to act against our national and security interests, you have no chance of succeeding.
KAHN: Retaliation, too, was quick. They announced the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem. That office mainly deals with Palestinian affairs. And they had a list ready of British representatives that are now barred and expelled from Israel.
MARTIN: And what about the reaction from Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank?
KAHN: The Palestinian Authority's president put out a statement yesterday welcoming the sanctions. In the West Bank, we spoke with Suleiman Dawabsha, the chairman of Duma, a Palestinian village. He said he wished the sanctions had been firmer.
SULEIMAN DAWABSHA: (Speaking Arabic).
KAHN: "These decisions," he says, "for us will have an impact, and that means a lot for Palestinians in the West Bank." But he said he doubts Israel will make any changes because, he says, the government does not respect international law. His town has been hit extremely hard by settler violence. Several residents have been killed by settlers since October 7, and cars and homes have been burned.
The U.N. says there have been more than 3,000 attacks by settlers in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. And in this year alone, Michel, the U.N. says at least 79 Palestinians have been killed by settlers and Israeli troops.
MARTIN: But apart from the political fallout that you're just telling us about, will this trading ban actually affect Israel economically?
KAHN: The short answer - no. Most exports from the West Bank are agricultural, and Israel's total agricultural exports to the U.K. are very low. And that's according to Eran Yashiv. He's an economist at Tel Aviv University. But he did tell me that sanctions could be damaging if the entire European Union, Israel's overall top trading partner, were to join in.
ERAN YASHIV: If this becomes a big, wide sanctions move, which is not the case right now, then it will make a difference, not what's being imposed right now.
KAHN: And sanctions won't take effect for months, he said. Israelis go to the polls in late October and could elect a new government, which could trigger sanctions relief. But I have to tell you that none of the leading candidates are discussing settlement expansion or the rising West Bank violence, and they especially are not discussing a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Carrie Kahn joining us from Tel Aviv. Carrie, thank you.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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