UK sanctions settler leader from Louis Theroux BBC documentary

The UK has announced it will sanction several prominent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, including veteran settler activist and head of the Nachala movement Daniella Weiss.

Weiss appeared in a highly publicised recent BBC documentary on the occupied West Bank, presented by British documentarian Louis Theroux.

In the film, Weiss boasted that she can phone Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides anytime.

She was filmed driving close to the boundary of Gaza in an attempt to reach it before being stopped by Israeli soldiers. 

Weiss also claimed there was "no such thing" as settler violence against Palestinians.

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Theroux, the film's presenter, said her lack of any concern for Palestinian lives "seems sociopathic".

The new UK sanctions also target Eliav Libi and Zohar Sabah, as well as two illegal settler outposts and two organisations "supporting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank".

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned "this Israeli government's egregious actions and rhetoric".

He also announced Britain is summoning the Israeli ambassador in London and suspending its free trade agreement with Israel.

He said: "I am announcing we have suspended negotiations with this Israeli government on a new free trade agreement.

"We will be reviewing cooperation with them under the 2030 bilateral roadmap. The Netanyahu government's actions have made this necessary.

"Today my honourable friend the foreign minister for the Middle East is summoning the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign Office to convey this message."

Lammy added that Palestinians must have their own state and live "free of occupation".

In response to the announcement by the British government, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the suspension of trade negotiations would harm the UK's economy and were motivated by anti-Israel sentiment.

"If due to anti-Israeli obsession and internal political considerations the British government is willing to harm the British economy, that's their decision." The ministry said.

"The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago. External pressures will not divert Israel from its path," it added.

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