Israeli diplomats see little prospect of a near-term thaw with Emmanuel Macron’s government after France moved to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The immediate economic impact may be limited, but the geopolitical signal is far larger: Paris is shifting from diplomatic criticism to economic pressure, raising the question of whether other European governments will follow.
Washington did not endorse the sanctions — but it also did not try to stop them. That unusual restraint is a clear signal of growing White House frustration with Netanyahu’s West Bank policy, especially the E1 settlement plan, which Western governments see as a direct threat to a future two-state solution.
London is not boycotting Israel. It is drawing a commercial line around West Bank settlements — a move with limited direct economic impact but potentially significant consequences for the two-state solution, UK-US ties and Europe’s broader approach to settlement-linked trade.
