Fresh off a decisive electoral triumph that handed Democrats full control of the US Congress in Tuesday’s midterm contests, party leaders and progressive lawmakers are openly aligning their upcoming West Bank settlement policy with a groundbreaking recent measure rolled out by the UK’s current progressive Labour government, according to exclusive interviews with Middle East Eye. The sweeping election results marked a sharp rebuke to former President Donald Trump’s political agenda, leaving his allied factions reeling from widespread losses across key battleground districts. Democratic insiders confirmed to MEE that their top legislative priority related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the new congressional session will be drafting targeted sanctions against extremist settler groups operating in the occupied West Bank, directly mirroring punitive measures the UK implemented just one month prior. The shift represents a deliberate break from decades of unwavering Washington alignment with successive Israeli governments, as well as a departure from the late Joe Biden administration’s long-standing unflinching support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign in Gaza. Multiple high-profile Democratic legislators have already publicly voiced their backing for adopting the UK’s policy framework. Texas Representative Joaquin Castro described the British sanctions announcement as a critical “step in the right direction,” condemning ongoing settlement expansion as a violent, terror-fueled land grab that demands urgent US pushback. Ro Khanna, the California congressman who survived a 2023 incident where he was held at gunpoint by West Bank settlers, praised the UK’s move as a “historic moral stand” that Washington can no longer afford to ignore. Freshman progressive lawmakers sweeping into Congress on Tuesday’s coattails are overwhelmingly supportive of centering Palestinian human rights in US foreign policy, noted Matt Duss, a leading Washington-based Middle East analyst with deep ties to the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. Even before Tuesday’s landslide midterm wins, 19 Senate Democrats had already tabled bipartisan legislation in late September that would impose financial and travel sanctions on any individuals or corporations involved in advancing the Israeli government’s controversial E1 settlement plan. The E1 initiative, which proposes constructing thousands of new residential units on the corridor between Jerusalem and the existing Maale Adumim settlement seven kilometers east of the city, would geographically bisect the West Bank and permanently eliminate the territorial feasibility of a sovereign, contiguous Palestinian state. Pennsylvania Representative Madeleine Dean, a co-sponsor of that bill, emphasized at its unveiling that the US could no longer stand idly by while its closest allies including the UK, France, and Canada took proactive steps to safeguard Palestinian dignity and self-determination, a core prerequisite for any long-term negotiated peace. The policy break from prior transatlantic norms traces back to the recent leadership transition in the UK: after years of successive Conservative Sunak governments and Keir Starmer’s early Labour administration prioritizing automatic alignment with US foreign policy, newly installed progressive Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband orchestrated a landmark split from Trump-era Washington orthodoxy, leading a coalition of mid-sized democratic nations to roll out targeted settlement sanctions earlier this fall. Data from recent public opinion surveys confirms the UK’s policy enjoys broad cross-partisan support, even drawing backing from a narrow majority of traditionally pro-Israel Conservative voters. Democratic strategists say this widespread public approval in the UK has further emboldened their caucus to pursue similar action, particularly as rising progressive stars such as Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed — who secured a high-profile endorsement from former President Barack Obama despite relentless attack ads from the Trump campaign — won decisive midterm victories. Lawmakers are also framing the policy shift as a safeguard against potential unilateral military action against Iran that Trump has threatened to greenlight in partnership with hardline Israeli factions, a move that exit polls confirm a clear majority of American voters reject. Behind closed doors, informal bilateral talks are already underway between Democratic congressional leadership and the Burnham administration to rebuild the historic long-standing progressive political alliance between the US Democratic Party and UK Labour Party, in anticipation of the 2028 US presidential election cycle. Observers have drawn direct parallels to the close collaborative partnerships of past eras, including the close diplomatic alignment between former US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the late 1990s, and the working relationship between Lyndon B. Johnson and Harold Wilson in the 1960s. Emily Thornberry, chair of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told MEE that empowering principled, progressive US legislators such as Khanna, Castro and Greg Casar to shape American Middle East policy could unlock unprecedented tangible progress for the region. “I would hold up our domestic settlement sanctions framework as a proven model, and I am deeply hopeful we can formalize this joint working relationship in the very near future,” Thornberry added.