UK embassy in Tel Aviv employing homeowner from illegal settlement

The British embassy in Tel Aviv may have broken UK sanctions law and security policies by employing an Israeli citizen who owns a home in an illegal settlement in occupied Palestine, legal experts have said.

- Emma Graham-Harrison Haroon Siddique

The embassy's deputy head of corporate services and HR, Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips, moved to Kerem Reim in 2022. She listed a house she bought there as her home address on financial documents at the time. She later shared posts about the community on social media.

The settlement, north of Ramallah, was built by Amana, a construction company hit with sanctions last year for supporting, promoting and inciting violence against Palestinians.

The UK said at the time: “Amana has overseen the establishment of illegal outposts and provides funding and other economic resources for settlers involved in threatening and perpetrating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.”