Outrage in Judea and Samaria Over UK Trade Restrictions on Regional Products
Settlements in Judea and Samaria expressed fierce outrage on Tuesday over UK trade restrictions on local products. Local leaders condemned the move as antisemitic interference, demanding severe economic retaliation and strengthened sovereignty.
A fierce outcry erupted on Tuesday across the settlements in Judea and Samaria following the decision by the United Kingdom and several other nations to advance trade restrictions on products originating from the region. The Regavim movement and local municipal authorities in Judea and Samaria accused the London administration of gross and blatant interference in Israeli sovereignty, demanding that the Israeli government respond with decisive measures and the reinforcement of settlement activity on the ground.
Condemnation of British Policy and Historical Parallels
Regavim launched a scathing attack, stating that instead of dealing with its internal collapse and street chaos, Britain has the audacity to interfere in Israeli sovereignty, noting that the days of the White Paper are long gone. The movement pointed out that the British declaration continues an antisemitic and hostile policy nearly a century old, recalling the closure of the country's gates to Jews on the eve of World War II. Regavim also criticized long-standing British funding for Palestinian activities in Judea and Samaria, demanding that the government immediately halt all foreign and heavy-handed intervention in the ancestral homeland.
«The British Mandate ended back in May 1948, but it seems there are those in London who still have not grasped this, at a time when even back then the British administration placed difficulties on the Jewish Yishuv while Arab terror ran rampant.»
Efrat Regional Council Head, Colonel (Res.) Dovi Shefler, added that while the Mandate officially concluded decades ago, the interventionist mindset persists. Shefler made it clear that the residents of Efrat and Judea and Samaria do not require approval from the British government to live, build, and develop their homes in their land. He stated that boycotts and sanctions will not weaken the settlement enterprise but will merely underscore the importance of continuing to strengthen it. The head of the Efrat Council called on the government of Israel to respond to the move by passing an urgent resolution returning the Solomon's Pools heritage site to full Israeli control, thereby rectifying the historical injustice of the Oslo Accords.
Call for Economic Retaliation and Sovereignty
Binyamin Regional Council Head and Yesha Council Chairman, Israel Gantz, defined the decision as a disgraceful antisemitic step, emphasizing that the days when London dictated where Jews could live in the Land of Israel are over and will not return. Gantz noted that Britain is recruiting a coalition of pro-Palestinian nations to wage an economic war against Jews in Binyamin and Judea and Samaria, and called for offsetting and confiscating any damages caused to the State of Israel and its residents from Palestinian Authority funds. Gantz concluded by declaring that no attempt to harm the settlement movement will succeed, and that every blow will be met with a response of increased construction, the establishment of new communities, and the application of Israeli sovereignty.
