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Jerusalem: Israel\u2019s President Isaac Herzog warned against British sanctions on settlements in the occupied West Bank, expected to be announced on Tuesday, saying the decision would \u201cfall on the wrong side of history\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLater today, we expect to see headlines announcing certain British trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria,\u201d Herzog said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this happens – and other nations may join – I believe it will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The expected UK move follows weeks of increasing settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory.<\/p>\n
It also comes as the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramps up settlement construction in the West Bank, which some western governments fear threatens a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
British government minister Pat McFadden said Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband would make a statement to parliament laying out \u201cmeasures specifically targeted at the expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law, in the West Bank\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told Sky News that the changes, on which he provided no further detail, would be motivated by \u201cthe idea of keeping alive this possibility of seeing a Palestinian state alongside Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s also important to say that Israel is an important trading partner for the UK. This isn\u2019t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.\u201d<\/p>\n
UK government ministers have suggested recently that goods coming out of settlements could be subject to trade restrictions as part of the changes.<\/p>\n
Herzog on Tuesday said: \u201cSanctions are not a solution. Dialogue is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI say to all foreign governments: Stop! Step away from the dead-end of sanctions and boycotts. And turn toward constructive dialogue and toward cooperation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Israel has since 1967 occupied the West Bank, where more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements among some three million Palestinians.<\/p>\n
With Israel headed to the polls next month, Herzog said the UK move, if announced, \u201cwould be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will serve no one. It will directly harm – unfortunately – Palestinians, robbing them of business and employment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n