By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson in Mevasseret Zion, Israel
It is not pleasant to wake up and learn that Britain and other European countries are imposing sanctions (as yet unspecified) on so-called ‘illegal settlements in the Occupied West Bank.’ I’m no expert in international law, but to call the region in the west of Israel the ‘occupied West Bank’ is insulting and misleading.
That region was incorporated into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after the British Mandate came to an end in 1948 and the Arab countries surrounding the newly-established State of Israel all sent their armies to destroy it. That plan failed and Israel affirned its existence by repelling the attackers and even expanding the territory granted to it under the terms of the UN Resolutio signaling the end of hostilities.
Jordan did not fully assimilate that part of the country, calling it ‘the West Bank,; i.e., of the River Jordan, and refusing to grant its occupants Jordanian citizenship, preferring to label them ‘refugees’ and preserve that status for them for all eternity. The refugees were granted special humanitarian aid by the UN, and for that purpose UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) was set up. Every vestige of previous Jewish life in the area was expunged, leaving the region ‘Judenrein.’
When Jordan conspired with Egypt and Syria to attack Israel in 1967 their subsequent defeat meant that inter alia all the territory known as the West Bank came under Israel’s control. Initially, opinions in Israel were divided as to what should be done with it, but eventually radical elements in favor of Jewish settlement of the area prevailed, giving the government no choice but to accept that policy. Initially, this involved the return of Jewish settlers to sites that had previously been Jewish, such as Hebron and the Etzion Bloc, but later governments agreed to widen the area permitted to be settled by Jews, though keeping extensive areas reserved for the indigenous population.
Throughout human history wars have been fought over territory, with the ultimate conclusion being determined by who controls what. In my own lifetime parts of Germany have been ceded to Poland and France as a result of wartime gains, and the borders of several countries in Eastern Europe have changed in accordance with military conquest. Nobody seems to be particularly perturbed by this, not to mention the occupation by Turkey of a large part of Cyprus in 1974 under a similar arrangement. Where are all the demonstrators clamoring for the return of Cyprus to its previous Greek status?
It seems to me that there are forces at work behind the scenes inciting sympathy for the former residents of Palestine, most of whom could easily have been absorbed by any of the many Arab countries in the region, just as the newly-established state of Israel absorbed the many thousands of Jewish refugees expelled by Moslem countries where they had lived for generations.
The murderous attempt to invade Israel by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in October 2023 has served as a warning signal to all Israelis not to trust the idea of a Palestinian state. The vast financial resources of Qatar and other Arab countries have been invested in fomenting dissent among the well-intentioned populace of Western Europe directed against Israel and its policies.
I’m no supporter of Israel’s current right-wing government, but I hope it will refuse to be intimidated by threats of sanctions and will continue to pursue a policy of maintaining law and order. There are ways and means of attaining that end, and it is possible that more could and should be done to that end, but whether the imposition of sanctions by outside elements is the best way of achieving it is questionable. My hope is that the upcoming national election will bring into power a government with a firmer grasp of the limits of its power, and as a resident of Israel I will do my best to see that this happens.
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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a British Israeli freelance writer based in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion, Israel.
Background to this column:
(Washington, D.C., Sept. 9, 2026)—B’nai B’rith President Robert Spitzer and CEO Evan R. Bernstein have issued the following statement:
CEO Evan R. Bernstein said: B’nai B’rith International is deeply disappointed by the decision of 12 countries to restrict trade with Israeli communities. Regardless of the problematic actions in the west bank this one-sided measure singles out the Jewish state, will not produce peace and risks inflaming antisemitism when British Jews already face record hostility.”
The countries—the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden—announced a joint plan Sept. 8, to ban settlement goods and sanction individuals and companies, just days before Rosh Hahanah, the Jewish new year. In announcing the sweeping sanctions, U.K. Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband said the U.K. would now consider Israeli settlements unlawful and raised accusations of settler ‘ethnic cleansing’ against Palestinians.
West Bank violence is condemnable, and those responsible must be held accountable. But sweeping economic measures, coupled with such grave and inflammatory language, do little to advance the stated goal of peace. Such measures are unlikely to meaningfully influence Israeli government decision-making while establishing a precedent for increasingly expansive economic restrictions and boycotts.
Israel has longstanding relationships with many of these countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Canada, which together are home to approximately 1.2 million Jews and have large, longstanding Jewish communities. At a time when Jewish communities already face heightened insecurity and antisemitism, policies and rhetoric that further strain these relationships risk further alienating Jews around the world and exacerbating an already highly charged public climate.
A durable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be achieved through broad economic punishment or rhetoric that drives Israelis and Palestinians further apart. It requires sustained diplomacy, accountability for violence wherever it occurs, and practical steps that strengthen security, dialogue and the prospects for lasting peace.
Preceding provided by B’nai B’rith International.