Israeli opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv and opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government Tuesday over its response to Britain's ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing it of diplomatic failure and prioritizing political interests over Israel's needs.
Kariv, a member of the Democrats party, criticized measures announced by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar against the UK.
"Saar's retaliatory measures are childish and populist, and serve a political campaign rather than the real needs of the State of Israel," he wrote on the US social media platform X.
Kariv accused Saar of failing to manage Israeli foreign policy and becoming subordinate to the nationalist and extremist agenda of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
He said Saar had joined the government's conduct in the Palestinian territories rather than working to restrain it in an effort to secure a place on Likud's electoral list.
Kariv also criticized the absence of an Israeli ambassador in London for months, calling it evidence of the government's negligence and lack of professionalism.
Saar's announced measures include the closure of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, the expulsion of British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat and the termination of British activities to train Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank as well as the denial of entry to 12 British elected officials and nationals.
Lapid said the British decision was a "grave mistake" but blamed Netanyahu's government for failing to prevent it.
"The responsibility lies with another enormous diplomatic failure of the Netanyahu government," he said on X.
"This government is leading us into unprecedented diplomatic isolation, and does nothing but issue threats that no one takes seriously," he added.
Lapid said the government's role is to prevent such decisions before they were made, rather than confront the international community.
"They do not know how to handle foreign relations," he said.
In a separate statement, Lapid argued that Britain's boycott and sanctions policy is wrong and dangerous and warned that it will strengthen extremist voices in Israel ahead of Oct. 27 Knesset elections.
He also claimed the decision is driven by domestic political considerations in Britain and will encourage Hamas and other groups.
Earlier Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced in the House of Commons that the UK will ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Miliband said the measures target illegal settlements and their expansion, not Israel itself.
He also announced sanctions against companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing and real estate services that facilitate illegal settlement expansion, along with additional sanctions on extremist Israeli occupiers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians.
The UK will reject applications for arms export licenses and other items that materially contribute to the occupation while maintaining the suspension of 30 existing arms export licenses, he said.
Miliband said the British government agrees that there is "ethnic cleansing of Palestinians" in the occupied West Bank perpetrated by Israeli "settler terrorists."
-Escalating illegal settlement activity.
The Israeli opposition has repeatedly accused Netanyahu of driving the country toward international isolation through his government's policies and the genocide in Gaza. Netanyahu himself acknowledged about a year ago that Israel is entering a form of isolation.
Since taking office in late 2022, Netanyahu's government has approved 104 new illegal settlements, while 160 agricultural outposts have been established in the West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.
During the first half of 2026, Israeli occupiers carried out 3,488 attacks in the occupied West Bank, killing 17 Palestinians and fully or partially displacing 26 Bedouin and pastoral communities, according to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. The commission also documented the establishment of 42 new illegal outposts.
Around 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 194 illegal settlements and 400 illegal outposts across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the occupied territories illegal under international law, a position Israel rejects.
