Questions for UK embassy in Tel Aviv over employee who owns home in illegal settlement | Israel
The British embassy in Tel Aviv may have breached both UK sanctions law and the UK government’s security policies by hiring an Israeli citizen who owns a home in an illegal settlement in occupied Palestine, legal experts said.
Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips, the embassy’s vice president of corporate services and HR, moved to Kerem Reim in 2022. At that time, he stated a house he bought from Kerem Reim as his home address in financial documents.
He later shared posts on social media about the community, including advertising youth programs and subsidized housing for child care workers.
The settlement north of Ramallah was built by construction company Amana, which was subject to sanctions last year for supporting, promoting and promoting violence against Palestinians.
“Amana has overseen the establishment of illegal outposts and provides funds and other economic resources to Israeli settlers who threaten and carry out attacks and acts of violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank,” Britain said at the time.
Ben-Yakov Phillips purchased the house not directly from Amana but from the previous occupants, and the purchase was made before sanctions were imposed against the company.
But residents of Amana projects are charged a monthly fee by the company, which is outlined in a financial statement seen by the Guardian.
“If you live there, you pay,” said Dror Etkes, director of Kerem Navot, which researches West Bank settlements and land use.
Sara Segneri, a sanctions law expert and partner at Confinium Strategies, said the size of any given payment was not important when assessing a possible breach of UK law. “United Kingdom sanctions law de minimis exceptional. “Any funds or economic resources, no matter how small, will be considered a violation of sanctions.”
Ben-Yakov Phillips’ property ownership status in Kerem Reim, First announced by NationalWhen the Amana sanctions were imposed, he should have asked the UK embassy in Tel Aviv serious questions about the vetting and his own legal responsibilities under the law.
As he is not a British citizen, he is not directly subject to sanctions laws. However, foreign citizens working in embassies abroad must comply with UK sanctions law to obtain a security clearance.
Candidates for an HR role that requires financial oversight and handling of sensitive personal data will often need to be subject to scrutiny.
The British embassy in Peru is seeking applicants for the position of vice president of corporate services, used by Ben-Yakov Phillips at LinkedIn. The job posting states that “the successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance.”
Segneri said the embassy itself may have violated the sanctions law if Ben-Yakov Phillips’ salary contributed to the payment of Amana’s fees at Kerem Reim. “If I own a company and I pay an employee knowing that employee is sending money to Vladimir Putin, that is potentially a sanctions violation,” Segneri said. “If it is paying into one of the sanctioned settlements, then I think there could potentially be a violation. [by the embassy].
“I hope the embassy [investigated]He is investigating or is in the process of investigating the money they paid to this employee and whether he has money to go to settlements later.
“Allowing UK government employees worldwide to ignore sanctions or potentially use their personal income from the UK government to pay sanctioned entities is contrary to the meaning and purpose of sanctions programmes.”
The UK government’s sanctions advice page states: “Due diligence (investigation) involves not only checking sanctions lists, but also examining an organisation’s ownership structure or an individual’s contact environment.”
Kerem Reim was established as an outpost contrary to both Israeli and international law. It was retroactively authorized by the Israeli government in 2017 but remains illegal under international law.
This is a selective community where potential residents must be reviewed by a committee for compatibility before being allowed to move in. In the last elections in 2022, more than 85% of Kerem Reim voters supported the far-right party of Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also under UK sanctions.
Whatever his personal legal position, the embassy should have been mindful of the reputational, legal and political risks of giving a senior role to someone who chose to move to the Amana compound.
The settlement is being built on land that the international community expects will form part of the future Palestinian state, which the UK recognized this year. Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza was illegal and ordered the country to end this occupation as soon as possible.
Prof Philippe Sands KC, a professor of law at University College London and a member of the Palestinian legal team in the International Court of Justice case over Israel’s occupation, said: “I would have thought that the government would take steps to ensure that neither it nor any of its employees breached UK sanctions or its obligations under international law. Otherwise it would face charges of being complicit in any breach of law.”
Palestinian citizens of Israel working at the embassy are unlikely to feel comfortable taking HR issues to a manager whose home was built by a company under UK sanctions for supporting violent extremism and whose community overwhelmingly supports a politician sanctioned for violent extremism.
The Guardian put a series of questions to the Foreign Office about possible breaches of sanctions, international law and due diligence on employee activities, but the department refused to comment.
The Guardian also tried to reach Ben-Yakov Phillips for comment.
