The UK and Israel have clashed publicly after Israel moved to seek bidders for 1,200 homes as part of the controversial E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned the move as an "unacceptable and destructive act", warning it threatens the viability of a two-state solution by cutting off the West Bank from East Jerusalem, while Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar accused Britain of a "patronising" and "absurd" stance towards Jewish settlement in the region.

Miliband said he had personally told his Israeli counterpart the government must halt the E1 plans, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion, and the Foreign Office summoned Israel's charge d'affaires to lodge a formal objection. He added that the UK would set out further measures in the coming weeks, including targeted sanctions against those involved in illegal settlement expansion, to protect the prospect of a Palestinian state. Sa'ar rejected the criticism as one-sided, insisted the tender process had been under way for months following a 2025 decision, and claimed UK policy was fuelling antisemitism, warning that Israel would "defend its rights, its interests and its people".