Why did Cameron plan to sanction Israeli ministers?

In a remarkably candid interview, David Cameron revealed that, as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government, he was preparing to place sanctions on two members of the Israeli cabinet in protest at the conduct of the war in Gaza.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, represent the more extreme nationalist end of opinion within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and air opinions not obviously compatible with the accepted rules of war, the sanctity of human rights, and United Nations resolutions.

Smotrich appeared to suggest it might be “just and moral” to withhold food aid from Gaza, while Ben-Gvir supported the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, illegal under international law, and deeply provocative to Arab opinion. Cameron suggested that personal sanctions would be the best way to put pressure on Netanyahu to abide by international law and move towards a ceasefire. It highlights the dilemmas over Middle East policy that have confronted successive British foreign secretaries.

Why didn’t the Sunak government apply sanctions?

This isn’t clear from Cameron’s public comments. Presumably, he judged that such personal sanctions were symbolically powerful – and directed at the more militant elements of Israeli opinion – but not as provocative and destabilising as, say, the partial arms embargo to which the incoming Labour government eventually agreed. Presumably the general election intervened and, very likely, American opinion was sought.

Would it have made a difference?