UK foreign secretary says he's 'proud British Jew' but disagrees with chief rabbi over sanctions

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis describes 'dark day for British Jews’; Ed Miliband defends government's actions against illegal settlements

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Wednesday that he is a “proud British Jew” but disagrees with the UK's chief rabbi over criticism of government measures targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Speaking to the BBC, Miliband said the UK had to “call out” settlement expansion in the West Bank before it was “too late” to save the two-state solution. The prospect of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is “being destroyed by the facts on the ground,” he added. Speaking to Sky News, Miliband said the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank amounts to “the oppression of the Palestinian people” and that the government is not “willing to stand by in the face of that.” Israel on Tuesday ordered the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem and imposed an entry ban on 11 British lawmakers after Miliband announced measures targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The UK measures include a ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements, sanctions on companies and individuals facilitating settlement expansion and additional sanctions on extremist Israeli occupiers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians. "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," Miliband said. He acknowledged that the closure of the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem would be “damaging” to links with the Palestinian Authority but said: “We weighed up the costs and the benefits in advance of this. And we did something very important.” The measures drew both praise and criticism from Britain's Jewish community. Ephraim Mirvis, the UK's chief rabbi, called it a “dark day for British Jews.” In a statement on US social media platform X, Mirvis claimed the move amounted to “little more than a political flag bearing a mendacious anti-Israel rhetoric, and those who harbour a dangerous obsession with the Jewish state.” However, several British Jewish organizations condemned occupier violence in the West Bank and welcomed the government's announcement.