Britain’s Labour government is considering imposing travel bans and freezing the assets of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to sources familiar with the discussions, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The debate within the UK government is conducted against the background of the statement by former Israeli prime minister and released prisoner Ehud Olmert, who announced Wednesday morning that “Israel’s actions in Gaza are very close to a war crime.”
The British government is targeting Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, reflecting its growing discontent with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. No final decision has been made, but the discussions highlight a sharp deterioration in UK-Israel relations, which began with Labor’s July 4, 2024, election victory.
On Tuesday, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that London would halt negotiations on a new trade agreement with Israel and impose sanctions on three Israeli settlers accused of inciting violence in Judea and Samaria.
Lammy failed to note the brutal murder last week of Tzeela Gez, a pregnant Israeli woman in her 9th month, who was on her way to the delivery room.
Speaking in Parliament, Lammy condemned remarks made by Smotrich a day earlier, in which the minister claimed Israel was “cleansing” Gaza and “destroying everything that’s left” of the territory. Lammy described the comments as “extremist,” “dangerous,” and “monstrous,” declaring they were “an affront to the values of the British people.”
Since taking office last year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s administration has marked a significant shift in the UK’s stance toward Israel. The government has suspended certain arms export licenses, restored funding to UNRWA—the United Nations agency supporting “Palestinian refugees,” and abandoned plans to contest the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s bid to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
In parallel, the UK is engaged in talks with France and Saudi Arabia over the potential recognition of a Palestinian state. That move is under consideration ahead of a UN conference on the conflict scheduled to take place in New York next month. While no final decision has been reached, the initiative forms part of a broader diplomatic effort by European and Arab states to forge a lasting resolution to the crisis.
