Andy Burnham’s plans to sanction Israel risk jeopardising British national security by making it harder to fight terrorism, the new shadow foreign secretary has said.
Tom Tugendhat, a former Conservative security minister, warned that damaging diplomatic relations with the Jewish state could lead to harm for British citizens.
He said terrorist attacks on British soil had been foiled by the UK’s security services as a direct result of Israeli intelligence sources sharing information with their British counterparts.
Mr Burnham, the Prime Minister, is preparing to announce a ban on trade with settlements in the West Bank as soon as this week.
The move would risk inflaming UK-Israel relations as well as threatening to upset Donald Trump, who has told allies not to impose sanctions on Israel.
Mr Tugendhat also said Argentina should be blocked from joining a free-trade agreement connecting 12 countries across the world after Javier Milei said Argentina would “prevail” in efforts to reclaim the Falkland Islands.
Members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership include the UK, Australia, Japan, Mexico and Canada.
Mr Tugendhat said that while Britain could be “friends” with Argentina again, this could not take place “if we’re being threatened”.
He urged Mr Burnham not to be distracted by “pet projects” such as international aid, and instead focus on promoting and defending the interests of the British people.
Mr Tugendhat told The Telegraph: “It’s worth remembering that Israel is one of our most important intelligence partners, and has been for many, many years.
“I can tell you, as security minister, a lot of incidents did not happen because of co-operation with intelligence sources in Israel, who helped us to protect British people from terror attacks.
“Now, the first job of the British government is the protection of the British people, and one of the things I am absolutely clear on, is that leading Britain’s foreign policy is about protecting our people first.”
He said it was the job of the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister to put “our own national interests and our own national security first, and that means that where we have friends and allies who provide us with intelligence in order to keep our citizens safe, we should work with them”.
He added: “The problem with putting electoral politics before national security is you find yourself in a situation where you risk both.”
Mr Tugendhat went on to say that Labour’s strategy risked “empowering and encouraging” the more extreme elements among both Israeli and Palestinian society, as well as making Britain “a less trusted partner in Israel”.
A fresh round of sanctions would also cause a split in Labour ranks. Backbenchers have been divided on Middle East policy since the October 7 terror attacks and the war in Gaza.
Labour Friends of Israel has claimed that it would be impossible to ban trade from settlements only, making the plans a “de facto boycott of all of Israel”.
Last week, Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, pledged a “comprehensive reset” of relations with Israel as he announced that the Government was looking into stopping British companies “financing, constructing or advertising new settlements”.
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, responded with a warning that his country would retaliate against any further sanctions.
He told the Israeli news website Ynet: “If Britain acts against the state of Israel, the state of Israel will act against Britain. We have tools.”
On Saturday night, the Israeli foreign ministry criticised Mr Miliband again over a video in which he made a series of claims about Israel’s treatment of Gaza.