British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has sharply criticised Israel after it published plans to build more homes for settlers in the West Bank, opening a public diplomatic clash between London and the Israeli government. Miliband demanded that Israel immediately halt the plan, known as the E1 project, and warned that pressing ahead would carry serious consequences for the prospects of peace in the region.
At the heart of the dispute is the E1 project, one of the most contentious settlement building plans in the occupied territory. Miliband said the United Kingdom had been clear in its opposition, arguing that the scheme risks endangering a two-state solution by effectively separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem and cutting through land Palestinians see as central to any future state.
In a statement posted on X, the foreign secretary said he had told his Israeli counterpart directly that the government in Israel must halt the E1 plans immediately, retract the tender, and stop all settlement expansion. He framed the demand as a formal and urgent message, part of a broader British position against the growth of settlements across the West Bank.
The Israeli side pushed back firmly. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar characterised the British intervention as a colonial attitude, saying Israel could not be bossed around by patronising words and that London had no place making such demands. Saar insisted that the land Israel is planning to build on is Israeli land, signalling that the project would go ahead regardless of the criticism.
The timing of the row is politically charged. According to the account of the process, the tender is due to be completed on paper just before the Israeli election at the end of October, meaning the settlement plan is advancing on a tight timetable that overlaps directly with Israel's domestic political calendar.
Opponents of the project are not relying on diplomacy alone. They are urging companies not to engage with the scheme and are pressing governments to introduce sanctions, particularly targeting banks and financial institutions that could provide funding for the construction. In his statement, Miliband also referred to further measures that were still to be enacted, hinting at additional British steps.
The confrontation has thrust a little-known but highly sensitive project into the international spotlight, alongside the hundreds of settlements already spread across the West Bank. The open questions now are how far the British government and other European states are willing to go, whether Washington will respond, and whether any of that pressure can alter the thinking inside the Israeli government before the vote.