UK Prime Minister Under Pressure Over Rosebank Oil Field's Alleged Links to Israeli Settlement Financing

Andy Burnham is facing urgent calls to block development of Britain's largest untapped oil field amid warnings that approving it could undermine the government's own sanctions regime targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The long-awaited decision on Rosebank, located off the coast of Shetland, has become entangled in a complex web of geopolitical, legal, and environmental concerns that stretch far beyond the North Sea.

At the centre of the controversy is Delek Group, an Israeli conglomerate that controls Ithaca Energy, which holds a 20% stake in the Rosebank project. Last year, Delek Group was included in a United Nations database listing companies allegedly providing services or utilities supporting settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. The company has firmly denied any ongoing involvement in such activities, with a spokesman telling the Daily Telegraph that it no longer had any connection to Israeli settlements and had been wrongly included in the UN list.

Environmental campaigners and Green Party leader Zack Polanski have separately written to Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, seeking clarification on whether Delek would be caught by sanctions announced last month. The campaign group Uplift, whose legal challenge against Rosebank in 2023 triggered the current delay, helped organise one of the letters. In correspondence seen by BBC News, activists from Stop Rosebank and Greenpeace have asked the government to confirm unequivocally whether Delek will fall foul of the new measures, and if not, to explain how that would be consistent with stated intentions to sanction those financing or facilitating illegal settlements.

Polanski framed the decision as a critical test of Labour's proposed sanctions regime. He argued that companies blacklisted by the UN for operating in illegal settlements should not be financed by oil and gas revenues from the North Sea, describing Rosebank as a litmus test for whether the government's approach is fit for purpose.

The sanctions announced by Miliband last month signalled a hardening of the UK's position, targeting companies and individuals providing services such as infrastructure to settlement expansion, alongside a ban on imports of goods from illegal settlements. The timing of these measures has intensified scrutiny of the Rosebank decision, which now lies with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh but will be widely interpreted as an indication of Burnham's broader thinking on oil and gas policy.

The political significance of approving Rosebank and the Jackdaw gas field east of Aberdeen extends beyond environmental concerns. Rosebank was originally approved by the previous Conservative government in 2023, but that decision was successfully challenged in court by campaigners including Uplift, leading to the current impasse. Miliband was widely believed to have opposed Rosebank during his tenure as Sir Keir Starmer's energy secretary, while Burnham has repeatedly spoken of the need for a "flexible" approach to energy and is thought to favour drilling more where licences already exist in the North Sea.

The decision also carries implications for UK-US relations. President Trump has pressured successive British prime ministers to expand North Sea drilling, and while Downing Street is relieved that Trump has not attacked the government's recent West Bank sanctions, his administration has made clear the US will not follow the same course of action. This divergence adds another layer of complexity to an already delicate diplomatic balancing act.

Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, said "not one penny of North Sea oil profits" should go to a company which "itself now risks being sanctioned by the UK." Her comments underscore the moral and legal arguments at the heart of the campaign against Rosebank, which opponents say would lock Britain into decades of fossil fuel production incompatible with climate commitments.

Ithaca Energy has defended its position robustly. A spokesperson described the company as a London Stock Exchange-listed member of the FTSE 100, governed by the highest standards of corporate governance. They emphasised Ithaca's role as one of the biggest investors in the North Sea and Scotland, a responsible employer, and a major contributor to both the UK Treasury through tax payments and to the UK's energy security. Delek Group, meanwhile, indicated it intends to formally challenge its inclusion in the UN database and request immediate removal of its name.

The Foreign Office declined to comment on the matter, leaving questions about the sanctions' scope unanswered for now. The backdrop to these debates is the broader context of Israeli settlement expansion. Israel has built approximately 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war, with an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians living alongside them. Settlements are illegal under international law, and recent months have seen a rise in violence towards Palestinians by settlers. Israel has criticised the UK sanctions, accusing the government of pursuing "anti-Israel policies."

As the government prepares to announce its decision on Rosebank, the outcome will resonate far beyond the shores of Shetland. It will signal whether Labour's commitment to holding companies accountable for settlement financing carries real weight, or whether economic and energy security considerations will take precedence. For campaigners, the question is stark: can a company with alleged links to illegal settlements be permitted to profit from British oil revenues? For the government, the challenge is balancing legal obligations, diplomatic sensitivities, and domestic energy needs. The decision, expected soon, will be scrutinised as a defining moment for the UK's approach to both climate policy and international law.