In a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Tuesday, the legal experts welcomed the UK’s decision to act alongside its allies but said the measures “fall far short” of what they described as Britain’s responsibilities regarding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, Anadolu Agency reported.
The letter called on the government to expand the sanctions to cover services including insurance, accountancy and digital infrastructure. It also urged the UK to publicly confirm that no government body, pension scheme or sovereign wealth fund holds investments in Israeli settlements.
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The experts further called for a full arms embargo on Israel.
The letter said findings by the International Court of Justice had not resulted in changes to what it described as Israel’s “apartheid practice.” It characterized the UK’s sanctions as a “necessary corrective” but said they were too narrow compared with measures imposed on Russia.
“We ask it to commit to further and more rigorous measures to ensure that no part of the UK’s economic relationship with Israel continues to sustain the illegal occupation itself, and the settlements and other serious violations of fundamental rules of international law perpetrated through its conduct,” the letter said.
Ralph Wilde, a professor of international law at University College London, said the legal consequences of the occupation for the UK and other states extend beyond sanctions targeting settlements and settlers.
“The consequences of this illegality (occupation) for the UK and other states – special legal duties to take comprehensive action to bring this and other illegal actions by Israel, including its genocide in Gaza, to an end – are far more wide-ranging than the important but limited actions against settlements and settlers announced,” Wilde said.
Nimer Sultany, a professor of law at SOAS University of London, said the occupation itself needed to be addressed.
“The elephant in the room is that the occupation is not a bug, it’s a feature,” Sultany said.
The criticism follows measures announced last week by UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, including a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, sanctions against companies and individuals involved in settlement expansion, and additional sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians.
