Miliband Breaks With Foreign Office Tradition on Israeli Settlements

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has departed from longstanding diplomatic protocols by imposing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements and characterizing Israel’s actions as ethnic cleansing. This decisive move contrasts sharply with the routine, vague statements of concern issued by previous UK Foreign Office ministers regarding settlement expansion—a pattern that has frequently drawn criticism for lacking substantive policy impact.

The shift marks the end of an era defined by diplomatic inertia. Even former Conservative ministers such as Alan Duncan and Alistair Burt, who were part of the tradition of issuing boilerplate condemnations, have acknowledged the weakness of the UK’s previous stance. Duncan specifically described the approach as both naive and feeble, while Burt questioned how the Foreign Office could continually devise new forms of diplomatic reprimand that never translated into concrete action.

Historical records indicate that this lack of effective response is not a new phenomenon. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, despite her natural sympathy for Israel, expressed frustration over the settlements during her tenure. Her concerns were complicated by strategic geopolitical calculations, particularly the desire to prevent Gulf states from falling under Soviet influence during the Cold War era.