Israeli FM slams UK 'obsession' with Jewish state over E1 sanctions threat

(Oct. 20, 2026 / JNS)

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday hit back at Britain’s Labour government, after U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband threatened sanctions against companies bidding to build in the E1 area near Jerusalem.

“Judea and Samaria are not foreign lands to the Jewish people,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “Our historical rights are not subject to approval from London.”

He said the days when Jerusalem would “quietly accept threats, sanctions and attempts to dictate its policies are over.”

Sa’ar urged London to address “the serious challenges facing its own country” instead of pursuing a “relentless campaign against the Jewish state.”

Bidding on the E1 (“East 1") project, which closes on Monday, covers 1,234 housing units. The area lies in an undeveloped area within the municipal boundaries of Ma’ale Adumim, located between Jerusalem and the developed area of Ma’ale Adumim.

Miliband said earlier on Monday that his government had created new powers to sanction individuals and companies involved in “illegal settlements” and urged Israeli companies not to bid.

The foreign secretary called the E1 plan a “direct threat” to a two-state solution and warned of “legal and reputational consequences.”

The latest exchange follows an Oct. 8 agreement under which Britain’s Jerusalem consulate became the UK Mission, Jerusalem, with a reduced staff. Sa’ar said 20 diplomats, including the consul general, would leave Israel, while seven would remain with a limited scope of activity.

Israel announced the consulate’s closure on Sept. 8 in response to a British ban on imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Other Israeli countermeasures included ending British training for Palestinian Authority forces and barring British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat.

Under the October understandings, the two governments agreed to continue dialogue. Miliband said Britain would not take reciprocal action while those discussions remained “underway and credible,” but reaffirmed London’s commitment to its Sept. 8 measures.

“I cannot promise that there will not be further crises in the future. If there are, we will face them on the basis of our core principles,” Sa’ar said on Oct. 8.