Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has warned the United Kingdom that Israel will take retaliatory measures if London takes action against the country.
“If the United Kingdom takes action against the State of Israel, Israel will respond to the United Kingdom. The era when actions could be taken against Israel without fear of a response is over. We are preparing. If they make a mistake, there will be a response,” Sa’ar noted.
The warning comes after UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said that Britain would introduce a comprehensive package of measures against Israel in the coming weeks over its plans to expand settlements in the West Bank.
“We will act, and I will present a comprehensive set of measures in the coming weeks,” Miliband told lawmakers.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that his government is considering measures to ban trade in goods produced by Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
A source with knowledge of the matter told The Times of Israel last week that Sa’ar warned Miliband that Israel would respond to British sanctions with punitive measures of its own.
Those could include the expulsion of British officials from the International Gaza Support Center, as well as more extreme steps, the source said.