U.K. to ban trade with Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank

0:00A major reset of relations with Israel. That is what the United Kingdom announced today. The UK was joined by France, Canada, and nine other countries who say they are all banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law. Israel and its closest ally, the United States, condemned the move and Israel says it is retaliating. And Pairs Lauren Freyr joins us now from our London Bureau. Hey Lauren. Hi Scott. How about this announcement and what's behind it? So the UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that the government here is concluded that, quote, settler terrorists are responsible for ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. And that's the strongest language UK officials have used. He accused Israel of sabotaging the two-state solution. So that's a Palestinian state that would exist side by side with Israel. Here's what Miliband said in Parliament today. Securing the two-state solution in its fullest form is the north star of this government's policy and indeed of successive British governments over decades.

1:02And it is precisely this belief in the rights and freedoms of the Israeli and Palestinian people that leads many, including me, to a deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the... Miliband looked shell-shocked when he came out of a recent briefing with doctors who had been to Gaza. And today he said, not only is the UK banning goods made or manufactured in settlements, so things like fruit and veg or wine, but it's also sanctioning companies that do business in those settlements or help construct them, even companies that advertise real estate in settlements. Now it's unclear how many companies or business people will be affected by this while he spoke the foreign ministers of 12 countries issued a statement saying they're taking similar action. You know, this has all been a global focus for so long now. Why take this step now? So Miliband and the other foreign ministers say this is in response to Israel's settlement expansion, particularly of the E1 project. Israel has issued tenders for the construction of 1200 new homes that would basically split the land in half that Palestinians want for their future state. What's been the reaction?

2:03The Palestinian ambassador to the UK says this marks a turning point where the UK moves from words, you know, recognizing a Palestinian state last year, which was largely symbolic, to actions today. Now, Poland should most bridge and most Europeans support this, but the UK's chief rabbi called this a dark day for British Jews. Given that worth pointing out that Miliband is Jewish himself? Yes, and his parents were actually Holocaust survivors. And he spoke with real emotion and rare personal detail today about picking oranges on an Israeli kebuts. So my name is Depp Kispeker. I'm proud of my Jewishness and I'm wavering in my support for the state of Israel. And there's absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the state of Palestine. You know, earlier, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee accused Miliband of what he called Jew hate. And Miliband said, this is not about Jews. This is about the Israeli government. And how is the Israeli government responding to all of this? It's closing the British consulate in Jerusalem banning 12 British MPs from visiting Israel.

3:04The normally A political Israeli president accused the UK of being on the wrong side of history. The country's finance minister posted on social media that Israel will not be a quote doormat trampled by an anti-Semitic government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also asked about this on the tarmac today in Miami. Well, they alerted us to it. We don't have any announcements. Obviously, there's a decision that they make and we and the president has expressed this in the past. We don't want to see anything destabilizing going on right now in the West Bank with so much. And that's a relatively muted reaction. Israel may have been hoping that the US would really rally to its defense here, but relations between the US and Israel have also been kind of rockulately. That is in pairs. Lauren Fraer joining us from London. Thank you so much. You're welcome.