US state threatens Britain boycott over Miliband sanctions

A major US state is threatening to boycott Britain in retaliation for trade sanctions imposed on Israeli settlements by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, GB News reports. The sanctions, announced days before the Jewish New Year, have drawn criticism from the Chief Rabbi and the Conservative opposition.

The Guardian reports Miliband is defending the measures and pushing back against the Chief Rabbi's criticism. The Daily Mail carries accusations from the Chief Rabbi and Opposition Leader that the policy puts Jews in the UK in danger, describing it as a "frightening and callous greeting" for the community. GB News quotes claims that Miliband is "creating an atmosphere for violence against Jews".

The sanctions target settlements in the West Bank that the Mail describes as "controversial" and which "risk killing off any hope of a two-state solution for Palestine". Israel has responded by closing the UK consulate in Jerusalem, barring a dozen British MPs from entry, and expelling British military personnel, according to the Mail.

The timing is the machinery. A US state-level boycott would operate through procurement bans - state agencies forbidden from buying British goods or services - a mechanism several American states deploy on Israel-related questions. The threat suggests the sanctions have created a second-order problem: retaliation not from Jerusalem but from a US state legislature, which answers to a domestic constituency watching the UK move and drawing its own conclusions. Whether that threat materialises will test how far sub-national governments in America are willing to go in defence of Israeli settlement policy.

Watch the state legislatures. If one passes a boycott resolution, others may follow the pattern.