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My Lords, settlements are illegal under international law. We condemn settlement expansion. In June, the Foreign Secretary updated business risk guidance to explicitly advise against economic and financial activity in illegal settlements. The UK’s citizens and businesses should be aware of the clear evidence of possible human rights abuses associated with Israeli settlements and the risk of involving themselves in Israel’s serious breaches of international law. Anyone contemplating economic or financial involvement in settlements should seek legal advice.
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My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but it really is time to match words with actions. There is evidence of purchasing of homes and property on the West Bank in the Occupied Territories. We cannot have British citizens being complicit in violations of international law, and the purchase of or investment in settlement land and property would be complicity.
In the Public Gallery, sitting behind the Bar, we have Mr Justice Ted Meron, who was the president of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and is one of the world’s most distinguished international lawyers. He was himself a child survivor of the Holocaust; his grandparents and mother were taken out of a Polish ghetto and shot dead by the Nazis, and his brother was killed in the Treblinka concentration camp uprising. Judge Meron became the chief lawyer in Israel’s foreign office before becoming a judge. In 1968—
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In 1968, he advised the Government of Israel that the creation of settlements in the Occupied Territories would be contrary to international law, then and now. If only the Israeli Government had listened.
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I listen to this cabal shouting out. What is happening is unlawful, and we are seeing that it is becoming impossible for the Palestinians ever to have a state of their own because of the actions that are currently taking place.
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The question is this: the UK banned the purchase of land by Russians in the occupied territories of Ukraine; do the Government have the political will to do the same in the West Bank and Gaza?
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It is not a case of political will. This is about what we can do that would make a practical difference and be enforceable and implementable. Our guidance is clear. We are looking at the small number of countries that are exploring going further and implementing such a restriction, and we will continue to do that.
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My Lords, we do not criminalise British citizens for buying property in disputed territories anywhere else in the world. Why should the West Bank be singled out, particularly when such a measure could even extend to Area C, which is under full Israeli control under the Oslo accords, and would criminalise British Jews for purchasing a home in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem? Is not the status of disputed territory ultimately a matter for states and international law rather than something to be determined through domestic criminal law applied to individual purchases?
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I think the implementation of international law in this circumstance would be a very good thing. We are not telling people what they have to do; we are pointing out that there is a risk of engaging in business or financial activity that may well support illegal actions. We are very clear that there should be a two-state solution that includes a secure, viable, prosperous, safe and successful Israel alongside the same for Palestine.
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My Lords, Israel’s “doomsday” settlement project in E1, which would split the West Bank in two and destroy any possibility of a future Palestinian state, is about to pass the point of no return, with tenders for construction in E1 having been issued last month. The Israeli Government have repeatedly stated their intentions to destroy any possibility of a two-state solution. Given that the Government have said they condemn the project and are considering what actions to take, will they do the right thing now and commit to a package of sanctions, including fines for UK businesses that bid for tenders relating to illegal settlement construction?
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As the noble Baroness knows, we do not comment on sanctions pre-emptively, because that would reduce their effect. But her sentiment of discouraging UK individuals and businesses from doing this is one that the Government share.
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My Lords, the Minister referred to the advice that the Government published following the Statement on 9 June warning of the dubious legality of the purchase of property in the West Bank. Will she acknowledge that those most likely to do so are unlikely to heed such advice? Will she ensure that HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority act to inhibit the unlawful use of funds in this way through the UK banking system?
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UK agencies are well aware of the Government’s position on this. The advice we have given is to guide and protect UK businesses and individuals from getting themselves involved—perhaps unwittingly, although the issues around this are fairly well understood—in something that is illegal.
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My Lords, has the Minister considered the global legal implications of this Question? What about British citizens who holiday or buy a property in illegally occupied north Cyprus? Or is the aim simply to target Jews? If this were implemented, which I am sure it will not be, in what way could it possibly contribute to lasting peace?
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The position is that these settlements are illegal, and it is the duty of the Government to make clear that position to UK businesses and others. That is the view of this Government. Having been there and spoken to those who have been forced to move by violent settler activity repeatedly—six, seven or eight times—and have had to rebuild their homes and restart their lives, with the trauma that all of that involves, I do not see this as something that targets Jews at all. I see it as a move that is designed to ensure the preservation of the potential of a two-state solution and viable lives for people on both sides.
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My Lords, we will hear from the Labour Benches next and then from the Conservative Benches.
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My Lords, the Minister told us that the settlements are illegal and that the Government support a two-state solution. How do the Government think they will achieve a two-state solution? Are the settlements, and the purchases by British citizens, fulfilling the UK’s international obligation to recognise the State of Palestine and facilitate that two-state solution? If not, what steps will we take to make that a reality?
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In this Government’s view, the purchases do not help to bring about a two-state solution or peace and stability in the region. That is why we have taken the position that we have, and it is why we ultimately recognised the State of Palestine in the summer of last year. All these issues come about because of a failure by many to understand that, to have a two-state solution, you need safety, security and prosperity on both sides of the fence.
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My Lords, it is the turn of the Conservative Benches. Can they please make up their minds as to who will ask the question?
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I appreciate the noble Baroness, Lady Helic, giving way, because the debate has been one-sided. The noble Baroness, Lady Deech, was right: the double standards on show are staggering. Is it okay for a Brit to purchase property in occupied Northern Cyprus? What useful objective does the Minister consider that this proposal will achieve, other than propagating the deeply antisemitic notion that Judea and Samaria—an area, I remind the House, that remained under Israeli administration throughout the Oslo accords—should be ethnically cleansed of its Jews?
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As the noble Lord knows, for generations communities have lived side by side in the West Bank and throughout Israel, and that is the aspiration that we all share. The reason we have not done this is because of pragmatic issues around implementation and how you enforce it, and what the good of it would be in the end. There is no point to us embarking upon measures that turn us back and move us further away from peace, and which prolong this conflict. But I have to say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold back from some of the things that we are being encouraged to do, because of the behaviour and the settler violence and the increased aggression that we see. I know the noble Lord to be a man of integrity who cares greatly for his fellow human beings, whatever their faith, and I know that some of the things that have been happening—which he will be aware of—will be distasteful to him, as they are to me.
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My Lords, before we move on to the third Question, I remind all noble Lords that questions and answers should be short, sharp, succinct and to the point. That is what the House wants. Please can all Members adhere to that.