Time for Europe including the UK to ban trade with Israeli settlements - Article by Chris Doyle in Arab News, 15 June 2026
For decades, one of the most blatant contradictions in European foreign policy has been over Israeli settlements. Every European government considers these settlements to be illegal and an obstacle to peace. They claim to oppose them.
But one thing most European governments continue to allow is trade with these illegal entities. If you go to rental websites such as Booking.com or Airbnb, you can still rent properties in illegal settlements, on occupied Palestinian land. Spain has at least stopped this, showing it can be done. Banks in European countries still offer mortgages for settlement properties. Insurers still provide insurance cover. A scandal broke out in London last week because of an Israeli property fair that was reportedly marketing settlement properties.
European states are permitting economic activity that sustains the ever-expanding settlement industry. This is not a benign piece of economic activity — it is linked to the seizure of land from Palestinians and Syrians, the taking of water resources and the forced displacement of entire communities. All this was reaffirmed in the authoritative International Court of Justice advisory opinion of July 2024, which explicitly outlines the obligations of third-party states not to engage in any activity that entrenches the unlawful occupation.
This position became even more untenable last week. The UK, Canada, France and Norway issued a joint statement imposing further sanctions on six settler entities and one individual involved in “financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence.” They also declared they would advise companies that they should not do business with settlements. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated in Parliament: “We do not want trade with illegal settlements and we want to deter support for those settlements.”
The EU imposed additional sanctions on settler groups in May. Added to that, France has just imposed a travel ban on the two most extreme Israeli ministers, but by no means the only ones, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Cynics are entitled to ask if these measures add up to much. Would such measures deter an Israeli government hell-bent on realizing its “Greater Israel” dream?
At best, these new measures veer between awkward and useless. The travel bans are not going to impact ministers who are unlikely to be seen sunning themselves on the French Riviera this summer. How much support these settler groups receive from citizens and entities in these states is hard to determine.
But against that, the prohibition on charities supporting settlements is likely to be more substantial. A British MP cited research indicating that 32 UK charities had been involved in backing settlements to the tune of £28 million ($37 million).
A settlement trade ban would be far more impactful, not least because the settlement economy has grown massively in scale. This is why it is the prime target of most human rights and advocacy groups. A settlement trade ban must include all financial dealings.
A report released last week found that, after examining 30,000 export documents, some 17 percent of shipments to Europe from Israel originated from illegal settlements. This contrasts with a 2011 analysis that estimated that settlement products then accounted for 2.23 percent of all Israeli exports to Europe. Remember, the EU is Israel’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, with about 28 percent of all Israeli exports bound for the EU.
The pressure in most European states is growing. For example, in the UK, 238 Members of Parliament have so far demanded a ban.
Hitherto, the EU and UK have only insisted that settlement products are imported at full tariff rates, not under the preferential rates allowed under trade agreements with Israel. Certain countries have also resorted to insisting on accurate labeling, attempting to ensure that settlement products are not labeled as Israeli. This is supposedly done for consumer choice.
The scale of the settler economy and its dependence on European export markets means Europe has the clout if only its leaders were willing to deploy it. The Israeli settler groups know this, which is why they engage in what this report calls a “supply chain of obfuscation” to hide products’ origins. This includes using fake or proxy addresses within Israel. Another tactic is to mix products, so some parts come from Israel and some from the settlements. European agencies know this is happening but have done nothing to stop it.
Nine EU member states have so far called for a ban: Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Spain has banned all trade with settlements. Slovenia also did so last year but the country’s new government last week lifted the ban. The Netherlands looks as if it will issue a ban by decree. Ireland has draft legislation but has yet to pass it. Opinion polls consistently show European publics back such a ban.
European governments have spent decades calling settlements illegal. They have the legal obligation and the economic leverage to act and, crucially, the public backing to do so.
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