LONDON, United Kingdom | British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is facing a deepening political controversy after Hamas publicly welcomed the United Kingdom’s new sanctions against Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, describing the measures as a “step in the right direction.”
The reaction from Hamas came only days after Miliband rejected a warning from Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis that the British policy could embolden extremists and make British Jews less safe.
The development has given Miliband’s critics a new argument: that a policy introduced by Britain’s Jewish foreign secretary and opposed by much of the country’s mainstream Jewish leadership is now being publicly praised by Hamas.
Hamas’s endorsement does not establish that the British policy was designed to benefit the terrorist organization or that the measures are antisemitic. It does, however, add a politically potent dimension to an already bitter dispute over Britain’s approach to Israel.
Hamas Calls Measures a ‘Step in the Right Direction’
Hamas welcomed the British sanctions after Miliband announced a broad package of measures on Sept. 8 targeting Israeli settlements and settlement-related activity in Judea and Samaria, commonly referred to internationally as the West Bank.
According to British reporting, Hamas described the move as a “step in the right direction,” while arguing that further action against Israel was still required.
The UK measures include a planned ban on imports from Israeli communities beyond the Green Line, restrictions on services connected to settlement expansion, sanctions against additional individuals accused of involvement in violence and prohibitions on advertising settlement property in Britain.
Miliband told the House of Commons the measures were directed at what the British government considers illegal settlement activity and not at Israel itself.
“The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel,” Miliband said.
He also said he opposed the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and wanted Britain to continue maintaining trade with Israel within the Green Line.
Mirvis Had Warned Policy Could Strengthen Extremism
Chief Rabbi Mirvis issued one of the strongest Jewish communal responses to the announcement.
He described the sanctions as a “dark day for British Jews” and warned that they would “succeed only in bolstering the very extremism they seek to target.”
Mirvis argued that the government had ignored warnings from senior Jewish organizations and had adopted measures that risked strengthening anti-Israel extremism inside Britain.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council had also urged the government to reconsider or delay the measures.
Miliband rejected Mirvis’s assessment.
“I don’t agree with the chief rabbi,” Miliband told the BBC.
He argued that Jews in Britain should never be held responsible for decisions taken by Israel’s government and said antisemitism must be confronted directly rather than used as a reason to avoid criticizing Israeli policy.
Miliband Emphasizes His Jewish Identity
Miliband has repeatedly invoked his own Jewish background while defending the policy.
Opening his Sept. 8 statement to Parliament, he described himself as “a proud British Jew” and spoke about his grandmother finding refuge in Israel after her husband and 60 other family members were murdered by the Nazis.
He said some of his happiest childhood memories involved visiting relatives in Israel.
Miliband nevertheless argued that his personal connection to Israel did not require silence over policies he believes undermine a two-state solution.
The foreign secretary said the British government considers the occupation unlawful and believes that position should be reflected in Britain’s economic relationships with communities beyond the Green Line.
The UK government also emphasized that its policy recognizes Israel’s legitimate security interests and condemns the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack as “the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust.”
That context makes Hamas’s subsequent praise especially politically uncomfortable for Miliband.
Conservatives Seize on Hamas Endorsement
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued that Hamas’s response demonstrated that Miliband had made the wrong decision.
She said the terrorist organization’s praise should force the government to reconsider whether its sanctions would encourage rather than weaken extremists.
The criticism echoes Mirvis’s original warning.
The Chief Rabbi did not argue that the sanctions were coordinated with extremists. His concern was that anti-Israel movements would interpret the British government’s actions as vindication and use them to advance more radical demands.
Hamas’s description of the policy as a positive development now gives critics a concrete example of exactly that kind of reaction.
Supporters of the sanctions reject the argument.
Several progressive British rabbis publicly backed the measures, saying action against settlement expansion and violence was necessary and consistent with Jewish values.
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Rabbi Alexandra Wright and Rabbi Lev Taylor were among the Jewish religious figures who supported the government’s approach.
The British Jewish community is therefore not unanimous on the policy.
Israel Retaliates Against Britain
The diplomatic fallout has extended well beyond Britain’s domestic Jewish debate.
Israel responded to the sanctions by ordering the closure of Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem and taking additional measures against British diplomatic and security involvement.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Britain’s actions were hostile and amounted to interference in Israeli affairs.
British personnel were also removed from a U.S.-led Gaza coordination mission, and Israel ended British participation in training Palestinian Authority security forces.
Miliband called Israel’s response “regrettable and damaging.”
He said Britain’s security and intelligence relationship with Israel would continue despite the dispute.
Debate Now Extends Beyond Policy Details
The controversy is no longer simply about trade restrictions or settlement policy.
For Mirvis and other critics, the issue is increasingly about the message Britain sends to anti-Israel movements and what effect that message could have on Jewish communities already confronting elevated antisemitism.
For Miliband, the principle is different.
He argues that Britain must be able to criticize and sanction Israeli government policies without allowing antisemites to dictate what foreign policy decisions the country can make.
Hamas’s intervention sharpens that conflict.
Its praise does not prove Mirvis’s prediction that British Jews will become less safe.
Nor does it demonstrate that Miliband shares Hamas’s objectives.
But politically, the optics are difficult to ignore.
A terrorist organization responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre has publicly welcomed measures introduced by Britain’s Jewish foreign secretary at precisely the moment that Britain’s Chief Rabbi is warning those same measures could strengthen extremism.
That juxtaposition will likely ensure the controversy over Miliband’s Israel policy continues well beyond the sanctions announcement itself.
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