Lobby group publishes briefing urging the Burnham government not to ban settlement goods
A picture taken from Hebron shows the Gush Etzion settlement bloc on 5 March 2017
Imran Mulla reports in Middle East Eye on 4 August 2026:
The Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) lobby group has published a report apparently justifying some illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and urging the British government not to ban goods produced by them.
This comes as Andy Burnham’s Labour government is believed to be considering imposing a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, which according to British policy are all in occupied Palestinian territory.
LFI is a group within the Labour Party which is believed to count more than 70 MPs as affiliates, although it no longer keeps a public list. The group published a policy briefing report late last week titled “Settlements and Solutions: A Guide to the Issues”. The report, reviewed by Middle East Eye, argues against a ban on Israeli settlement goods.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including the major blocs, are illegal under international law. The International Court of Justice also ruled in a 2024 advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is itself illegal and places obligations on countries to take measures to end the occupation.
But LFI’s report says: “While Israel asserts that settlements are legal under international law, much of the international community disputes this position.” It criticises settlement outposts not recognised by the Israeli government which are “established without legal authorisation”, and advocates for adopting a different approach to major blocs from other settlements, tolerating the former but opposing the latter.
The report calls on Britain to urge “the next Israeli government to remove illegal settlement outposts; halt settlement expansion outside the major blocs; issue more building permits for Palestinians in Area C; and expand Palestinian autonomous areas”.
This suggests the government should not object to the major settlement blocs. The report argues that “a boycott of all trade with settlements is practically and politically impossible”.
