Steve Winston, managing director of the National Jewish Assembly in the United Kingdom, told JNS on Wednesday that Britain, Canada and France declaring a ban on trade with Judea and Samaria “is not the end of this issue,” as legislation is yet to be passed.
“It marks the beginning of the next phase,” he said.
The announcement, issued jointly on Tuesday, called for Israel to “halt the expansion of settlements” and committed to introducing “national measures to ban trade in settlement goods.”
Winston told JNS that any potential legislation faces proper parliamentary and legal scrutiny, adding that NJA will be working with lawmakers to “challenge the policy, the double standards underpinning it, and the attempt to erase the historical and legal case for Jewish rights in Judea and Samaria.”
He noted the British government’s uneven targeting of Israel while looking the other way regarding the Palestinians, whose leaders “appear repeatedly to be given a free pass for incitement, the glorification and financial rewarding of terrorism, decades without democratic elections and the rejectionism that has helped bring the peace process to where it is today.”
“The government has made its announcement,” Winston said. “The argument is far from over.”
Yigal Dilmoni, CEO and co-founder of American Friends of Judea and Samaria, told JNS that “such measures do not advance peace.”
Instead, he said, “they reward terrorism and send a dangerous message to Hamas and other terrorist organizations that violence and international pressure can produce political gains. Truth is stronger than sanctions. The Jewish people will continue to build, grow and thrive throughout the land of Israel.”
