The UK government’s decision to impose a ban on trade in goods from illegal settlements was not decisive in how Israelis voted in their general election, but a majority think the Israeli government’s settlements policy should change if it is going to lead to further sanctions, a new poll of Israelis shows.
There had been fierce criticism of the UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband’s decision in September to impose a trade ban and wider sanctions on illegal settlements, with some claiming it would drive Israeli voters into the arms of Benjamin Netanyahu.
A survey last month by Israeli social research group aChord shows overall support for foreign sanctions on violent settlers in the West Bank, but there was little support for the UK’s ban on trade with goods from illegal settlements, with many fearing it would end up being extended across Israel.
The survey is unique in showing how much the tougher line on Israel adopted by Britain and some foreign states was affecting the thinking of Israeli voters, and the extent to which Israelis thought it was a response to Israel’s actions or born of hostility to Israel, or even antisemitism.
The survey showed that three-quarters of supporters of the bloc backing Netanyahu said UK sanctions and trade ban policies towards Israel did not affect their vote at all, and to the small extent that they changed anyone’s vote, they shifted voters both ways, leaving no detectable net effect.
Just over three-quarters of all those surveyed (76) – had heard of the UK government announcement on settlements, even if 18 % had only heard the broad headline. Four-fifths of those that were aware of the announcement knew that the policy applied to the West Bank, and not the whole of Israel.
Israel’s relations with the west were “important or very important” to 60% of the supporters of the Change bloc of parties backing Gadi Eisenkot in deciding their vote. But even then these relationships came fifth in importance in a proffered group of six motives for voting. Only 30% of supporters of the Netanyahu bloc said relations with the west mattered in the same way.
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But 71% of voters for the opposition Change bloc said the Israeli government should adapt its settlements policy to avoid an escalation of sanctions. Only 14% of Netanyahu bloc voters agreed, most saying instead that the government should continue the policy “whatever the price”.
A plurality of the public – 50% – said the settlement and construction policy in the West Bank should be adjusted to avoid sanctions escalation and international isolation, with 71% of Eisenkot bloc supporters agreeing to this proposition. Support for a change in the policy is strongest among supporters of the Arab parties.
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The finding prompted Hannah Weisfeld, the director of the British-Jewish organisation Yachad, to claim the research “illustrates that the Israeli public certainly recognises that if there is not a policy shift in relation to settlement enterprise, the international community is likely to try to create an incentive to shift things from the outside. If anything, that highlights the importance of UK and other allies taking action that targets the occupation.”
The survey also showed that concerns about foreign sanctions are highest when voters feel they will suffer a high personal price. Only 36% of all those surveyed agreed that the settlement policy should continue even if sanctions on banks that finance construction in illegal settlements led either to higher interest rates, difficulties in transferring money abroad, or using credit cards abroad. The poll suggests that the more people feel they will be damaged personally, the more they oppose the settlement policy.
A majority of all Israelis surveyed (52%) support sanctions on individual violent settlers, so long as the sanctions are imposed only on those acting violently, but 70% of Netanyahu bloc supporters oppose foreign sanctions in all circumstances.
There is much less widespread support for the policy of banning the import of goods from the illegal settlement, with 63% of all those surveyed opposing the ban and 26% either supporting the measure outright, or saying they would if it were underlined that the ban would not apply to goods from outside settlements.
