The UK-Israel Row Is a Black Moment for the West

"The lowest point of UK-Israel relations since the birth of the Jewish state." That was how Britain's Daily Telegraph described Tuesday, 8 September, the day Israel responded to a string of British measures and provocations by announcing the closure of a British consulate in the West Bank.

The Israelis are not, of course, entirely blameless in this latest diplomatic spat. Last week, Itamar Ben-Gvir, an Israeli minister and something of an international liability, suggested that Israel should consider recognizing Argentinian sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in response to the hostility of the British Labour government, a remark that left Israel's beleaguered band of British friends in a horribly awkward position.

But make no mistake: the primary instigator of the current spat has been the British themselves. The Labour government, under pressure to retain support from Muslim voters and pressured by the far-left Green Party, has decided that it must be seen to get tough with the Israelis.

Sanctions Designed to Inflame

Trade sanctions have followed on goods from Jewish settlements in the West Bank of the Jordan River, an area Israelis call Judea and Samaria and which is nominally Palestinian territory. The UK is also restricting arms sales to Israel, banning the advertising of homes and property in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and sanctioning a number of individuals the UK government describes as "settler activists," whom it holds responsible for advocating the theft of Palestinian land and property.

For Labour, Muslim Votes Matter

Critics of the UK government have plenty to work with here. First and foremost, they can make the rather undeniable case that the UK is singling out Israel, applying measures over claimed human-rights abuses it would never dream of imposing on other countries with equally poor records, China among them.

Critics could also point out that the UK's measures, since they do not apply to Israel proper, carry limited economic weight, yet remain diplomatically explosive with little hope of changing Israeli policy. On the arms embargo, for instance, the embarrassing truth for European governments is that Israel exports far more weapons systems to Europe and Britain than it imports from them.

But central to the criticism of the Labour government is a hard-to-dispel suspicion: that its actions, while nominally critical of antisemitism, have in fact been driven by movements in which antisemitism is itself a real animating force.

At the last UK election, Labour suffered more than any other party from the phenomenon of the "Gaza independents", despite winning a landslide overall. These were a series of Muslim candidates who stood in seats with large Muslim populations and campaigned on a single issue: hostility to Israel and a demand for a shift in UK policy on the Middle East. Four of them won their seats, and several others came close.

Are British Jews Safer? Probably Not

The Green Party, too, is now dominated by the UK left's formidable Gaza movement, which threatens to siphon crucial votes and seats from Labour in urban and ethnic-minority areas. Labour itself has long been divided on the issue: former leader Jeremy Corbyn was expelled, along with several others, after an inquiry found widespread antisemitism within the party.

There is a real risk here. In a country where violent antisemitic attacks on Jews have become a feature of national life in 2026, the government's actions are more likely to encourage domestic anti-Jewish sentiment than to discourage it, while doing little to nothing to change Israeli policy. It is British Jews, as the chief rabbi has warned, who may end up paying a far higher price for the government's decision than the "settler terrorists" it was meant to punish.

Israel Must Share the Blame, Like It Or Not

Yet amid all this, British Jews have also been made victims of Israeli policy. For, undeniably, the Israeli state's conduct towards the Palestinian population in the West Bank has been oppressive and discriminatory, and far too tolerant of radical elements whose rhetoric borders on support for ethnic cleansing. That Israel faces severe security problems and daily threats cannot be denied. But the relentless expansion of Jewish settlements, which often involves the violent displacement of Palestinian families, is something not even the Jewish state's most ardent allies can reliably defend. Even in Washington, the Trump administration struggles to muster one.

A Row That Will Gladden Illiberal Hearts

So, in this latest spat, there is much to be concerned about on both sides. In Britain, the growing influence of a politically radicalized Muslim voting bloc on the Labour government is, and should be, a matter of grave concern to anyone who cares about the security of the West. In Israel, the destabilizing effect of the settlers and their activities on the country's international reputation and security should concern all its friends.

And the fracturing of the alliance and friendship between two of the West's pre-eminent powers should certainly concern all those grateful to live in free democracies. This is a development that will be celebrated in Tehran, Moscow and Beijing, just as it ought to be mourned in London, Washington and Paris.