SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
A major reset of relations with Israel. That is what the United Kingdom announced today. The U.K. was joined by France, Canada and nine other countries who say they are all banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law. Israel and its closest ally, the United States, condemned the move, and Israel says it is retaliating. NPR's Lauren Frayer joins us now from our London bureau. Hey, Lauren.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Tell us more about this announcement and what's behind it.
FRAYER: So the U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament that the government here has concluded that, quote, "settler terrorists" are responsible for ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. And that's the strongest language U.K. officials have used. He accused Israel of sabotaging the two-state solution. So that's a Palestinian state that would exist side by side with Israel. Here's what Miliband said in parliament today.
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ED MILIBAND: Securing the two-state solution in its fullest form is the North Star of this government's policy and indeed of successive British governments over decades. And it is precisely this belief in the rights and freedoms of the Israeli and Palestinian people that leads many, including me, to a deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the...
FRAYER: Miliband looked shell-shocked when he came out of a recent briefing with doctors who had been to Gaza. And today he said not only is the U.K. banning goods made or manufactured in settlements, so things like fruit and veg or wine, but it's also sanctioning companies that do business in those settlements or help construct them, even companies that advertise real estate in settlements. Now, it's unclear how many companies or businesspeople will be affected by this. While he spoke, the foreign ministers of 12 countries issued a statement saying they're taking similar action.
DETROW: You know, this has all been a global focus for so long now. Why take this step now?
FRAYER: So Miliband and the other foreign ministers say this is in response to Israel's settlement expansion, particularly of the E1 project. Israel has issued tenders for the construction of 1,200 new homes that would basically split the land in half that Palestinians want for their future state.
DETROW: What's been the reaction?
FRAYER: The Palestinian ambassador to the U.K. says this marks a turning point where the U.K. moves from words - you know, recognizing a Palestinian state last year, which was largely symbolic - to actions today. Now, polls show most Brits and most Europeans support this, but the U.K.'s chief rabbi called this a dark day for British Jews.
DETROW: Given that, worth pointing out that Miliband is Jewish himself?
FRAYER: Yes, and his parents were actually Holocaust survivors. And he spoke with real emotion and rare personal detail today about picking oranges on an Israeli kibbutz.
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MILIBAND: So, Madam Deputy Speaker, I'm proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the state of Israel. And there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the state of Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT: Hear, hear.
FRAYER: You know, earlier, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, accused Miliband of what he called Jew hate. And Miliband said, this is not about Jews. This is about the Israeli government.
DETROW: And how is the Israeli government responding to all of this?
FRAYER: It's closing the British consulate in Jerusalem, banning 12 British MPs from visiting Israel. The normally apolitical Israeli president accused the U.K. of being on the wrong side of history. The country's finance minister posted on social media that Israel will not be a, quote, "doormat trampled by an antisemitic government." Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also asked about this on the tarmac today in Miami.
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MARCO RUBIO: Well, they alerted us to it. We don't have any announcements. Obviously, those are decisions that they make. And we - and the president has expressed this in the past. We don't want to see anything destabilizing going on right now on the West Bank with so much...
FRAYER: Now, that's a relatively muted reaction. Israel may have been hoping that the US would really rally to its defense here, but relations between the U.S. and Israel have also been kind of rocky lately.
DETROW: That is NPR's Lauren Frayer joining us from London. Thank you so much.
FRAYER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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