Burnham Under Pressure Over Rosebank Oil Field's Alleged Links to Israeli Settlements

The prime minister has been urged to clarify whether approving Britain's largest untapped oil field would contradict his own sanctions regime targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The warning centres on Rosebank, a controversial development located off the coast of Shetland, which is now awaiting a long-delayed government decision.

At the heart of the dispute is the involvement of Delek Group, an Israeli conglomerate that controls Ithaca Energy. Ithaca holds a 20% stake in the Rosebank project. Last year, Delek Group was named in a United Nations database listing companies accused of providing services or utilities that support settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

A spokesman for Delek Group told the Daily Telegraph that the company no longer has any involvement in Israeli settlements and insisted it was wrongly included in the UN database. The firm said it intends to formally challenge its listing alongside legal advisers and has requested the immediate removal of its name.

The concerns have been raised in separate letters to Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. Environmental campaigners from Stop Rosebank and Greenpeace, with support from the campaign group Uplift, have asked the government to confirm whether Delek would be caught by sanctions announced last month. Uplift's legal challenge against the Rosebank project in 2023 triggered the ongoing delay over a decision on exploration.

In their letter, seen by BBC News, the campaigners pressed Burnham to state "unequivocally" whether Delek would fall under the new measures. They further asked that if the company is not covered, the government should explain how that position is consistent with its stated intention to sanction those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has also written to Miliband, seeking clarity on what steps the government would take to ensure revenue from UK oil and gas production does not finance illegal settlements. He described Rosebank as a test of whether Labour's proposed sanctions regime is fit for purpose, arguing that companies blacklisted by the UN for operating in illegal settlements should not be financed by North Sea oil and gas revenues.

Last month, Miliband signalled a hardening of the UK's position when he announced action against companies and individuals providing services such as infrastructure to settlement expansion. The measures will also ban imports of goods from illegal settlements. The sanctions prompted a furious response from Israel, which accused the British government of pursuing "anti-Israel policies."

The question of whether to approve Rosebank, along with the Jackdaw gas field east of Aberdeen, has become hugely politically significant. Rosebank was originally approved by the previous Conservative government in 2023, but that decision was successfully challenged in the courts by campaigners including Uplift. The final decision now rests with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, though it will be widely viewed as an indication of Burnham's broader thinking on oil and gas policy.

Miliband was widely thought to have opposed Rosebank when he served as Sir Keir Starmer's energy secretary. Burnham, by contrast, has spoken repeatedly about the need for a "flexible" approach to energy and is believed to favour drilling more where licences already exist in the North Sea.

The decision could also carry implications for the UK's relationship with the United States. President Trump has placed pressure on successive British prime ministers to expand North Sea drilling. While Downing Street is relieved that Trump has not lashed out at the government's recent West Bank sanctions, his administration has made clear the US will not take the same course of action.

Ithaca Energy defended its record in a statement to the BBC, describing itself as a London Stock Exchange-listed company and a member of the FTSE 100 governed by the highest standards of corporate governance. It said it is 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.

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." The Foreign Office declined to comment on the matter.

The broader context is significant. Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. Settlements are illegal under international law, and there has been a rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers in recent months.

The forthcoming decision on Rosebank therefore places the government at the intersection of energy policy, environmental litigation, and foreign policy. Approving the field could expose ministers to accusations of inconsistency over their own sanctions, while blocking it would invite criticism from industry and allies pressing for greater North Sea production. The outcome will be closely watched both domestically and internationally.