A long-time employee of the UK’s embassy in Tel Aviv owns property in a settlement considered illegal under international law in the occupied West Bank that was built by an organisation now sanctioned by the British government.
Gila Ben-Yakov Phillips, who has worked at the embassy for 16 years, has owned a property in Kerem Reim since 2022, official records show. The settlement, part of a broader area known as Talmon, is a project of Amana, a settler organisation the UK placed under sanctions in 2024.
Amana’s website advertises properties on Kerem Reim starting from about $550,000, lauding “its excellent location … approximately 50 minutes from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv”.
A 2024 press release announcing the sanctions against Amana said the organisation “has overseen the establishment of illegal outposts and provides funding and other economic resources for Israeli settlers involved in threatening and perpetrating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank”.
Lior Amihai, director of Israeli settlements monitor Peace Now, said Amana "played a key role in establishing" Kerem Reim. "Kerem Reim didn’t just appear on a hilltop – it was established in violation of both international law and, initially, Israeli law," he said. "Like other settlements and outposts, it was placed to fracture Palestinian land and block any realistic path to a viable Palestinian state.”
Dror Etkes, founder of Israeli civil society organisation Kerem Navot, which researches settlements in the West Bank, said: “It seems surprising that the British government is paying the salary of someone who is living in a house that was built by a company that belongs to an association which the ministry is sanctioning.”
A representative for the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said "it is long-standing policy not to comment on the personal details of our staff". Ms Ben-Yakov Phillips did not respond to a request for comment.
More than 85 per cent of Talmon’s residents voted for the far-right Religious Zionist Party in the last Israeli elections. The party is led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has been the subject of UK sanctions since June for “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities”, including a statement in 2024 that “it might be justified and moral” to starve two million people in Gaza.
The ultranationalist minister attended an event in support of Kerem Reim in July. Amana head Ze’ev Hever was also at the event.
Records show that Ms Ben-Yakov Phillips, who serves as the embassy’s deputy head of corporate services and HR manager, according to her LinkedIn profile, also owned property in the Etz Efraim settlement.
The revelation that a long-time employee on the UK government payroll owns properties on occupied Palestinian land raises questions about the seriousness of Britain’s commitment to backing Palestinian territorial rights and the two-state solution. Israel’s vast and ever-expanding settler project in the West Bank is widely viewed as one of the main impediments to creating a Palestinian state, which has long been the preferred framework to end the Israel-Palestine crisis by much of the international community, including the UK.
Ms Ben-Yakov Phillips posted promotional material for Kerem Reim and Etz Ephraim while employed at the embassy. The posts were publicly visible for years but have now been taken down.
One post from 2023 called for childcare workers to take advantage of discounted accommodation in “a young settlement, growing with a warm and loving community”. Another advertised youth programmes. A third post, from 2018, asked for donations for a new synagogue in Etz Ephraim.
Like many western countries, the UK hardened its stance against settlement projects during the Gaza war, which coincided with a massive wave of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The actions of settlers have erased entire communities and continue despite a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas largely holding since October.
West Bank settlements are home to a broad section of Israeli society. More established sites that are closer to Israel’s borders with Palestine, such as Etz Ephraim, claim to offer cheap housing, as well as good facilities. Smaller settlements, often built deeper into the West Bank, such as Kerem Reim, tend to be more ideological.
During a trip to Al Mazra’a Al Qibliya, a Palestinian village near Kerem Reim, The National heard from locals how they are prevented from accessing agricultural land as the settlement expands. The village school also borders an open area into which Kerem Reim is expanding, at a rate that accelerated during the Gaza War, alarming parents. Residents also reported losing access to a park that was a popular gathering spot for the community.
The settlement project began with the construction of a dirt track, the mayor's office said. A caravan was then added, followed by dozens more before the first standard residential units were built, mirroring a pattern widely seen across West Bank outposts.
Mr Etkes told The National that Palestinians face frequent attacks from settlers.
The UK’s embassy in Tel Aviv works on Israeli matters, while the British consulate in East Jerusalem deals with Palestinian concerns. Both organisations employ foreign and local staff. The embassy employs about 50 people.
