FM Sa’ar rejects ‘patronizing’ UK condemnation of E1 settlement tender

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hits back at British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband after the UK diplomat condemned Israel’s launch of a tender for the E1 settlement project and summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires.

In a lengthy post on X, Sa’ar says he “reject[s] outright” Miliband’s “patronizing” statement, asserting that “the Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom.”

I reject outright the statement of the UK Foreign Secretary and the patronising tone of his words.

The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom. More than a century… https://t.co/eCazg1CU7A

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 20, 2026

“The UK Government’s systematic policy of blaming only Israel while ignoring Palestinian extremism has already contributed to a massive wave of antisemitic hatred and attacks against the British Jewish community,” Sa’ar charges, saying London’s “decision to damage the relationship between our countries is deeply unfortunate.”

The E1 settlement project, which first received formal structural approval last August, is a widely condemned Israeli settlement plan that would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state.

Miliband said in his statement that he made clear to Sa’ar that “the Israeli government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion.”

The Israeli Government’s launch of tenders for the E1 settlement project is unacceptable and destructive. Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two state solution. My statement: pic.twitter.com/j2bEmk13pl

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) August 19, 2026