Three people described a meeting with the foreign secretary before the sanctions announcement, in which he was urged to wait until after the Israeli elections because of concern Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would weaponize the move. They said Miliband was intransigent and kept repeating that it was a “moral emergency.”

The same people, who were granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said his refusal to wait forced them to conclude that his decision was partly influenced by the desire to announce the change in policy in time for the Labour conference and the by-election. 

Burnham has stood firmly behind the West Bank sanctions since they were announced, but it’s clear that they have been driven to a large extent by Miliband. The prime minister heaped praise on his foreign secretary in his own address to the conference Tuesday, insisting Britain would be “principled in our leadership in securing a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, as Ed Miliband has shown.”

A one-time Labour leader who carries more political clout than most on the government front-benches, Miliband has indeed chosen to make this fight intensely personal, describing himself as a “proud British Jew,” with the “deepest gratitude” to the state of Israel for giving refuge to his grandmother who lost her husband, Miliband’s grandfather, and 60 other family members at the hands of the Nazis.

Miliband’s sanctions move was followed by allies in fellow middle powers, Canada and France, making similar moves, and one U.K. minister argued Britain had opened international conversations at the United Nations General Assembly that had been impossible before.

For now, the British government is relieved that the feared blowback from Israel has been reasonably restrained. While Israel announced that the British consulate in Jerusalem will be closed as part of a retaliation, ministers were assured that intelligence cooperation will continue. Donald Trump, whose relationship with Netanyahu has wavered during their war in Iran, has appeared uncharacteristically calm about the sanctions.