The UK is banning the import of goods and services from Israeli settlements. The announcement comes at the eleventh hour, according to Anders Persson, an associate professor of political science at Linnaeus University.
It is a very serious situation in the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are seeing a greatly worsening situation in the West Bank with increased settler violence and increased confiscation of land.
In the middle of an election campaign
The reactions from Israel, which has closed the British consulate in East Jerusalem, among other things, are due to a fear of a "double snowball effect," says Anders Persson.
"There is a fear that other countries will follow suit, and there is every reason to be concerned about that. Some have already followed suit and there are rumors that more will do so," says Persson.
The second part is that Israel is afraid that this is the beginning of various types of sanctions and boycotts against the entire country, and not just the settlements.
The fact that Israel is in the middle of an election campaign further complicates the situation, according to Persson. The country goes to elections on October 27.
This means that the Israeli government and right-wing parties in particular need to show their colours a little more clearly.
“Genuine fear”
There is a risk, according to Anders Persson, that the sanctions will have little effect on the ground - not least because exports from the settlements in the West Bank constitute a very small part of Israel's economy.
But, he emphasizes, Israel's reaction indicates that the country sees today's announcement as more than just empty talk.
They wouldn't have done all this if there wasn't a genuine fear of what it could lead to in the long run.
Sweden also wants to see similar sanctions against Israeli settlers, but at the EU level. Anders Persson says there is logic in that reasoning.
But it is a well-proven phenomenon both in Sweden and in other countries, that a possible EU line is used as an excuse for not doing anything, says Anders Persson.
