Campaign groups have written to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband urging the government to clarify if Delek will be sanctioned.
Dear Foreign Secretary,
We write on behalf of the undersigned organisations for clarification on whether Delek Group Ltd will be designated under the UK’s newly announced regime of sanctions and trade measures relating to illegal Israeli settlements.
The Government is already on notice that a ministerial decision to approve Rosebank risks the UK breaching its international obligations to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Ithaca Energy’s majority shareholder, Delek Group Ltd - a company identified on the UN OHCHR database for settlement linked business - is projected to profit substantially if the ministerial decision allows the Rosebank development to proceed. There is growing public concern, with a petition recently submitted to the government of 41,851 signatories calling for the rejection of Rosebank to prevent profits flowing to Delek Group Ltd.
We welcome the Government’s confirmation that Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful. In Parliament, the situation in Palestine was described as a “moral emergency”, with Government recognition of “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetuated by settler terrorists.” This was said to underscore the imperative to ensure that UK economic relationships neither support nor benefit from settlement entrenchment or the destruction of Palestinian property.
We note the Government’s plans to take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion, and its warning that those who “finance or facilitate illegal settlements…will face the full force of UK sanctions."
As reported in The Times (“Rosebank faces sanctions setback”, 18 September), Delek Group Ltd is expected to fall within the scope of the new regime.
- Will the Government confirm, unequivocally, whether Delek Group Ltd will be caught by the new planned measures?
- If it is not, please explain how that is consistent with the Government’s stated intent to sanction those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements?
We look forward to your urgent response.
Yours faithfully,
Stop Rosebank
Greenpeace UK
War on Want
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestine Solidarity Campaign