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Tensions between Britain and Israel have escalated to what is described as their lowest point in decades following the UK's imposition of trade sanctions on Israeli settlement goods in the West Bank, which London says is a response to Israel turning a blind eye to settler violence it characterizes as 'ethnic cleansing.' The muted US response to the UK move reportedly reflects simmering Washington frustration, while UK Foreign Secretary Miliband rejected the chief rabbi's claim that the sanctions endanger British Jews. On the ground, Palestinian date farmers and residents of communities like Khan al Ahmar in the West Bank's E1 area—living under Israeli demolition orders and near the settlement of Maale Adumim—are weighing the sanctions' potential impact, with Palestinians broadly supportive of the settlement goods ban while Israel's government calls it a 'big mistake.'