Firms tied to West Bank settlements win $15m UK deals despite sanctions

The United Kingdom awarded 10.7 million pounds ($14.4m) in new public contracts to firms with links to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite British government pledges to punish companies that profit from settlement activity, an Al Jazeera investigation reveals.

The contracts were published after the British government announced new powers on September 8 to sanction companies profiting from business with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
An analysis of procurement records, company filings, corporate disclosures and contract data supplied by Tussell, a British public sector market intelligence firm, has found that businesses named by the United Nations over their involvement in illegal Israeli settlements – and companies that those businesses ultimately own or control as subsidiaries – have secured contracts across the British public sector.

The companies “appear to be in breach of their legal obligations under international humanitarian law”, Neve Gordon, a professor at the school of law at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera.

“Any UK company that is involved in the occupation is likely to be in direct breach of the sanctions regime Ed Miliband is putting in place,” Gordon said, referring to the UK foreign secretary.

This follows a previous Al Jazeera investigation in August which revealed at least 17 companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have been awarded UK public-sector contracts worth more than 2.1 billion pounds ($2.85bn).
On September 8, Miliband told the House of Commons the government would now “take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion”.

“To those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this: you will face the full force of UK sanctions … Settlements are illegal.”

Since the announcement, however, UK public bodies have published details of an additional 18 public contracts with companies linked to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Former Labour Party leader and MP Jeremy Corbyn told Al Jazeera: “Britain cannot credibly claim that it is imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements while letting contracts continue through the back door. The fact that public money is still going to firms that could be targeted under the government’s own sanctions regime … is outrageous and frankly insulting to the public.”

Al Jazeera contacted the Cabinet Office for comment about this but received no response. The Cabinet Office previously told Al Jazeera that individual public authorities make decisions to exclude suppliers on a case-by-case basis for each contract they award. It said public procurement in the UK should not be used to boycott suppliers linked to other countries unless formal British sanctions, embargoes or restrictions are in place.