The UK banned imports from Israeli settlements. Progressives are urging the US to follow suit.

On September 8, the British government banned the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

Eleven other nations—Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden—signed a joint statement with the UK, saying they too plan to introduce sanctions prohibiting trade in goods with the settlements. 

“The Government of Israel must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces,” the foreign ministers of the twelve countries wrote. 

Since 2023, according to a Human Rights Watch report, Israeli settlers have fully or partially displaced 107 different West Bank communities. With Israeli military backup, settlers frequently attack and kill Palestinians. In July of 2024, the United Nations’ top court declared that settlements in the West Bank—housing over 500,000 Jewish Israelis, buoyed by religious fervor and generous government tax breaks—are illegal under international law. Nonetheless, West Bank settlers are subsidized by millions of dollars from US nonprofit organizations, and are rarely, if ever, condemned by the US government. 

US officials quickly spoke out against the British sanctions. “Obviously we’re not going to do what the UK did,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee threatened pushback. “If the Brits go and put some kind of boycott and sanctions on them, the repercussions are going to be significant,” Huckabee told the BBC. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fl.) said the sanctions could impact British trade with the state of Florida, which currently has a law on the books banning any company that boycotts Israel from doing business in the state. 

“Florida has made it clear.  Any company—or nation—that boycotts Israel is boycotted by Florida,” Fine wrote on social media. This might harm Florida more than it does the UK, though. Great Britain is the single largest foreign investor in the state, which would lose out on billions of dollars if Florida were to boycott UK companies over Israel. 

“ Why are we ruining our relationship with the United Kingdom over Israeli settlements?” asked  Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy, who was previously a foreign policy advisor to Bernie Sanders. “This is something I think that most Americans just find ridiculous.”

Six Democratic legislators have commended the United Kingdom’s choice to ban trade in settlement products. Greg Casar (D-Tx.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a social media post that “the US must do the same.” 

Joaquin Castro (D-Tx.) also applauded the move as a “step in the right direction,” standing against “an ugly land grab carried out through violence and terrorism.” 

“Any American President serious about achieving peace should do the same,” Castro added. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Il.), Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Il.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) also threw their support behind the sanctions. Some analysts want to see the US join in on sanctioning Israel—and even go further. 

“When Democrats take power in the next Congress, and when hopefully Democrats take back the White House, I want to see people talking about what further, more expansive, and even more serious measures they’re willing to take,” said Duss. 

That could include sanctioning any banks that finance mortgages in West Bank settlements, Duss said. “A very key part of sustaining Israeli impunity is the fact that it’s backed by the United States, and the United States is the one that punishes people for imposing consequences on Israel,” he added. “Banning trade with illegal settlements is something we should have done decades ago.” 

“It tells the US and Israel that we’re outliers here,” Duss said. “I think the question will be, how many of America’s historic alliances are we willing to undermine and destroy on behalf of this extremist Israeli settlement project?