The Trump administration warns Andy Burnham, who is slated to become Britain’s next premier, not to move forward with plans to impose new sanctions on Israel. 

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration has warned that measures intended to economically isolate Israel would harm American interests and obstruct peace efforts, setting up a potential dispute with incoming British Prime Minister Andy Burnham over his plans for a tougher policy toward Israel.

The warning followed Burnham’s announcement that Britain could impose additional sanctions on Israel over the Jewish state’s policies in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, including a ban on the import of goods produced in Israeli communities beyond the Green Line.

Asked about legislation recently approved in Ireland banning such imports, a US State Department spokesperson said Washington “firmly opposes this effort” and rejects attempts to economically isolate or discriminate against Israel.

The spokesperson said such measures “subvert US interests” and “undermine the prospects for peace.”

Although the statement was issued in response to a question about Ireland, it places the Trump administration in direct opposition to a policy Burnham has said his government will consider after he enters Downing Street.

Burnham is expected to be confirmed as Labour leader on Friday and appointed prime minister by King Charles III on Monday, July 20. He effectively secured the leadership after receiving nominations from 322 of Labour’s 403 members of Parliament, leaving potential rivals without a realistic path to challenge him.

The former Greater Manchester mayor has promised broad continuity in Britain’s alliances with the United States, NATO and Ukraine, but has indicated that his approach to Israel and the Palestinians will differ substantially in tone from that of outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Burnham last week apologized for Labour’s initial response to the war that followed the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

“I know many people feel that at the start of Israel’s military action in Gaza my party didn’t get it right, and I am sorry about that,” Burnham said.

He accused the British government of waiting too long to call for a ceasefire and said more pressure should now be placed on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“We need to do more, which includes looking at further sanctions,” Burnham said, while also proposing measures against trade in goods produced in Israeli settlements.

He has not explained precisely who or what entities would be covered by the planned additional sanctions. His comments suggested that measures could target individuals accused of involvement in violence in Gaza as well as those linked to alleged incidents of violence in Judea and Samaria.

Burnham stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, saying that judgment should be left to international courts. He nevertheless said there was increasing evidence that war crimes may have been committed and called the destruction in Gaza a “scar on our collective conscience.”

Britain has already imposed financial sanctions and travel restrictions on several Israelis accused of violence or incitement against Palestinians, along with several Israeli government officials.

In June 2025, the UK joined Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in sanctioning Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The British government said the measures were imposed over repeated statements that it considered incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians.

Israel strongly condemned those sanctions, accusing the participating governments of rewarding Hamas and interfering in Israeli domestic affairs.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said discussions of Gaza must recognize Hamas’s responsibility for beginning and prolonging the war, including its continued possession of weapons and use of civilian areas for military operations.

The organizations also urged Burnham to confront antisemitism emerging from Islamist and far-left movements as firmly as he has condemned hostility from the far right.

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Burnham added that he supported further sanctions on Israelis involved in the violence in Gaza, measures to ban trade with Israeli settlements and restrictions on arms licenses to Israel.

By Kelly Hartog, JTA

Andy Burnham, who is on track to become Britain’s next prime minister following Keir Starmer’s resignation last month, apologized for his party’s handling of the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas mass killings in Israel, saying that it should have done more to push for a ceasefire and called for exerting greater pressure on the Jewish state today.

His comments prompted a joint response from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council, which said they had contacted his team to express “significant concerns” about his remarks.

Burnham made his comments in a video statement on Thursday in response to questions from the public.

Burnham is likely to become the next prime minister after gaining the overwhelming support of sitting Labour members of Parliament.

To date no one has challenged him for the party’s leadership ahead of a July 17 deadline.

“I know many people feel that at the start of Israel’s military action in Gaza, my party didn’t get it right, and I am sorry about that,” he said.

He added that he supported further sanctions on Israelis involved in the violence in Gaza, measures to ban trade with Israeli settlements and restrictions on arms licenses to Israel, saying there was “increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed.”

He also condemned increased antisemitism in Britain and said that tackling antisemitism did not contradict holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to account.

His comments came as lawmakers across the political spectrum have pushed for increased condemnation of Israel and sanctions on the country.

“The unbearable suffering in Gaza is a scar on our collective conscience,” Burnham said.

“The killing of innocent Palestinians, including children,” was “completely unacceptable,” he added, declaring that Britain had to do more to “put pressure on the Israeli government.”

He described the country as “too slow to call for a ceasefire” and said that “we must now do more to strengthen our approach” as “Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement, killing innocent Palestinians.”

In their response, the Board and JLC said they shared “concern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip” but stated that the conflict “cannot be understood without reference to the role of Hamas not only in launching the conflict but also in perpetuating the war through the holding of hostages, war-fighting entirely from within the civilian population, and [their] ongoing refusal to cede power and disarm, in line with the 20 point peace plan.”

They added that the conflict also could not be understood without reference to Hamas’ regional backers and allies, including Iran and Hezbollah. Burnham addressed none of this in his comments.

Burnham did, however, reiterate his condemnation of Hamas, describing the Oct. 7 attacks as “monstrous,” stressing that he denounced them “as strongly today as I did in the immediate aftermath.”

He said that he also condemned “the increase in appalling antisemitic attacks here in the U.K. and those who seek to divide our communities by targeting Jewish people.”

“I felt first-hand the anxiety in our Jewish community and the very real threat they face,” the former mayor of Greater Manchester said, referring to the Yom Kippur 2025 attack on the city’s Heaton Park synagogue in which two people were killed.

The Board and JLC welcomed Burnham’s “zero tolerance approach to antisemitism” and affirmed his assertion that “there is no contradiction between fighting antisemitism and disagreeing with the actions of the Israeli government.”

However, they said, “Antisemitism cannot be confronted without addressing all its drivers,” arguing that in Britain that includes “Islamist, far-left, and far-right extremists who go beyond criticism of the Israeli government to a place of hatred directed at Jews and Israelis.”

Their joint statement pointed out that Burnham knew “firsthand the links between hatred of Israel, antisemitic extremism, and deadly violence against British Jews,” adding that, “in a country in which antisemitism has become more normalized, more extreme, and more violent, we call on our leaders to show the utmost care in their rhetoric in relation to the conflict.”

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