West Bank sanctions play 'straight into right-wing's hand', says Baroness Berger

The sanctions announced by the UK government on West Bank settlers this week "played straight into the right-wing coalition's hand" in Israel, a prominent Jewish Labour peer has said.

A statement from the peer was shared with the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the first time Baroness Berger has responded to the sanctions announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.

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It read: "We are now six weeks and five days away from the Israeli election that many have been waiting years for.

"The thing that could make the greatest material difference to changing the facts on the ground in Israel and actually improving prospects for peace - is to see the currently Israeli coalition replaced.

"The opposition leaders - such as Lapid - have come out to say this is deeply unhelpful.

"Israel's opposition parties have clearly indicated a change of direction in respect to the West Bank, including settlement outposts and extremist violence, and across a range of other issues.

"Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot - whose party is leading in the polls - has called the E1 settlement plan a 'mistake' and has condemned extremist settler violence.

"We have played straight into the right-wing coalition's hand. It advances Netanyahu's campaign and makes a potential Netanyahu victory more likely.

"It weakens the chances of the opposition winning."

On Tuesday, Mr Miliband announced that goods originating from illegal settlements in the West Bank would be subject to sanctions in the UK, with the announcement joined by other nations including France and Canada.

The move sparked anger in Israel and saw the British consulate in East Jerusalem closed.

"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," Mr Miliband told Sky News on Wednesday.

Reacting to the action, Harriet Harman told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby that it showed the "confident activism" of Andy Burnham's government.

She said: "I think one of the things that was said by all the cabinet ministers who'd been appointed by Starmer, and then actually called for him to go and wanted Andy Burnham to come in, is that he had the right principles and approach, but he didn't do things, that things got blocked and didn't actually happen."

(c) Sky News 2026: West Bank sanctions play 'straight into right-wing's hand', says Baroness Berger