Labour sanctions on Israeli settlements draw fury from Chief Rabbi and Opposition

The Government has imposed sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, drawing immediate condemnation from the Chief Rabbi and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch. The Daily Mail reports the Chief Rabbi described the move as a "frightening and callous greeting for Jews in the UK", noting its timing days before the Jewish New Year.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been accused of putting British Jews in danger through the policy. According to the Daily Express, Badenoch held crisis talks with an Israeli minister after the announcement. Israel responded by banning Jeremy Corbyn and several left-wing figures from entering the country, the Sun reports. Novara Media describes Israel as "furious" over the sanctions on what it terms "illegal settlements".

The Guardian asks whether UK sanctions will have any practical impact on what it calls "settler terrorists" in the West Bank. The question is whether financial restrictions on individuals and entities operating in the settlements change behaviour on the ground, or whether the policy is primarily symbolic - a marker of where the Government now stands.

The timing matters as much as the substance. A measure announced just before a major religious festival reads as careless at best, calculated at worst. Whether that was oversight or intent, the perception now exists. The Chief Rabbi's intervention puts the question on the record: does this policy make British Jews less safe? The answer to that determines whether this was statecraft or gesture politics.