In the City
Trade punches
BRITAIN, with France and Canada, would be right to be concerned about being on the “wrong side of history” over Gaza – but not as Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed last week. They would not want to be accused of repeating the mistake of doing nothing to stop the mass killings as in Rwanda and Bosnia.
Time and delay are on Netanyahu’s side – as with Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. So with more than 100 dead – including nine siblings – since Keir Starmer called for the killing to stop, what could be the UK’s threatened “concrete action”? Halting negotiations on a free trade agreement, like recognising a Palestinian state, has no immediate impact. Financial and trade measures are likely to have more influence.
The Israeli war machine runs on money. Reducing cash flows to the Netanyahu government and its settler supporters in the occupied West Bank has more potential for changing policies.
Foreign secretary David Lammy has signalled possible sanctioning of the leading extremists: finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Until now, UK sanctions have been limited to UK asset freezes on 22 illegal West Bank settlements, companies and organisations, together with 18 individuals living there.