Arab News | Ex-Israeli PM backs British ban on settlement trade

LONDON: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has voiced support for the UK’s new ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

He told The Guardian that the decision, announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, “became unavoidable as a result of a continuous effort of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by a large group of Jewish terrorists in the West Bank.”

Olmert added: “The crimes of these terrorists are actively assisted by police and military units over a long period of time.

“The highest levels of government led by Minister of Defence (Israel) Katz and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu are actively supporting these terrorists and avoid taking the necessary measures to stop it.”

Olmert’s comments come as Israelis prepare to go to the polls late next month. “Millions of Israelis are appalled by this terror and are actively resisting the terrorists,” he said.

“Sanctions are directed against the terrorists not against Israel, and as such they are unavoidable.”

In announcing the new UK policy, Miliband referenced earlier comments by Olmert, saying: “Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, has described what is happening as, I quote, ‘a violent and criminal effort to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank.’”