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Tel Aviv has warned it will retaliate on any sanctions placed by the UK
Andy Burnham has been warned that sanctions on Israel will risk British security by the new Shadow Foreign Secretary.
Tom Tugendhat, a former Tory security minister, has told the Prime Minister that damaging diplomatic relations with the Jewish state could lead to harm for British citizens.
He said that terror attacks on British soil had been avoided thanks to Israeli intelligence sharing information with UK security services.
Mr Burnham is set to announce a ban on trade with settlements in the West Bank as soon as this week.
Mr Tugendhat told The Telegraph: “It’s worth remembering that Israel is one of our most important intelligence partners, and has been for many, many years.
“I can tell you, as security minister, a lot of incidents did not happen because of co-operation with intelligence sources in Israel, who helped us to protect British people from terror attacks.
“Now, the first job of the British government is the protection of the British people, and one of the things I am absolutely clear on, is that leading Britain’s foreign policy is about protecting our people first.”
Mr Burnham’s plan has the potential to damage UK-Israel relations and hurt relations with Donald Trump.
The Shadow Foreign Minister said it was the job of the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister to put “our own national interests and our own national security first, and that means that where we have friends and allies who provide us with intelligence in order to keep our citizens safe, we should work with them."
“The problem with putting electoral politics before national security is you find yourself in a situation where you risk both.”
He also said Argentina should be blocked from joining a free-trade agreement connecting 12 countries across the world after Javier Milei said Argentina would “prevail” and reclaim the Falklands Islands.
Last week, Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, pledged a “comprehensive reset” of relations with Israel as he announced that the Government would stop British companies “financing, constructing or advertising new settlements.
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, responded, warning that his country would retaliate against any further sanctions.
He told the Israeli news website Ynet: “If Britain acts against the state of Israel, the state of Israel will act against Britain. We have tools.”
The Israeli foreign ministry criticised Mr Miliband over a video released on Saturday night in which he made a series of claims about Israel’s treatment of Gaza.
In response, Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, wrote on X: “The Brits have lost it. The Jew hate of their Government knows no boundaries and knows no facts.”
Jewish leaders met with the PM last week to “press” him to “avoid steps that may cause harm to the Jewish community, including measures that would place a profound strain on the Jewish people’s deep connection to places of great religious and cultural significance, including the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site.”
They added that “broad, untargeted measures may also give legitimacy to a wider boycott movement that marginalises and stigmatises British Jews.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Israel is an important strategic partner for the UK.
“Our relationship is built on decades of cooperation, and we continue to engage regularly with the government of Israel at multiple levels across a broad range of issues.”
