The historian Niall Ferguson, sometimes of this parish, said: ‘The law of unintended consequences is the only real law of history.’ Andy Burnham’s government is getting a lesson in that with its new sanctions on goods from Israeli settlements. The sanctions are meant to help the cause of a Palestinian state but may have the opposite effect. As an added bonus, they could hit British exports to the US.
Ben-Gvir demanded international sanctions against Britain as long as we remain in possession of territory ‘violently stolen from the Argentine people’
The ‘comprehensive reset’ of British policy towards Israel comes in the middle of a rancorous Israeli general election campaign. Almost everyone with a chance of forming the next government opposes a Palestinian state. But the far-right parties are open in their desire to expel the Palestinians – ‘voluntary resettlement’ – starting with Gaza. They have been looking for a foreign government to pick a fight with. Britain has obliged them.
The response from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, was to call on the government of which he is a part to recognise the Falklands as ‘Argentine territory under occupation’. Ben-Gvir is a seasoned provocateur, and he posted that message on X in Spanish, tagging the Argentine President Javier Milei (who promptly reposted it). Ben-Gvir demanded international sanctions against Britain as long as we remain in possession of territory ‘violently stolen from the Argentine people’.
