UK demands Israel cancel plans to build in E1 corridor east of Jerusalem

Furious over plans for 1,234 housing units in new project linking Jerusalem to Ma’ale Adumim, Britain summons Israeli envoy and demands project be halted.

By World Israel News Staff

Britain has summoned Israel’s top diplomat in London and demanded that Jerusalem immediately halt its E1 settlement project after the government opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the strategically sensitive area east of Jerusalem.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Wednesday that he had also raised the issue directly with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, intensifying a diplomatic confrontation over a project that successive Israeli governments refrained from implementing for decades in the face of international pressure.

“The Israeli government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion,” Miliband said.

Israel on Tuesday published a tender for seven residential compounds containing 1,234 housing units in E1, between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.

Contractors have until October 19 to submit bids, just eight days before Israel’s October 27 election.

The units represent a substantial portion of approximately 3,400 homes approved for E1 last year.

The move drew an angry response Thursday from Sa’ar, who accused the British government of adopting a hostile and one-sided approach toward Israel.

Sa’ar said he “reject[s] outright” what he called Miliband’s “patronizing” statement.

“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,” Sa’ar said.

“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,” he added, calling Britain’s “decision to damage the relationship between our countries” deeply regrettable.

The E1 project has been among the most diplomatically contentious Israeli construction plans in Judea and Samaria for more than two decades because of its location.

Building there would extend Israeli residential development between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem, creating a continuity of Jewish settlement that would make it difficult to establish a contiguous Palestinian state across Judea and Samaria.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has explicitly presented E1 as a means of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

When the plans were approved in August 2025, Smotrich said the project “practically erases the two-state delusion.”

Britain and 20 other countries responded to the approval at the time by calling the project unacceptable and demanding that Israel reverse it. London also summoned the Israeli ambassador over the decision.

The latest tender brings the project significantly closer to actual construction and has triggered another round of international condemnation.

Germany joined Britain in denouncing the move Wednesday.

“We condemn the tender published yesterday for over 1,000 housing units for the Israeli E1 settlement project,” German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Giese said.

“This hinders the path — demanded by the international community and the International Court of Justice — towards ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, thereby jeopardizing the prospect of a negotiated two-state solution,” he said.

“We therefore once again call upon the Israeli government to halt plans for the E1 settlement and to cease settlement construction in the West Bank.”

The dispute could also move beyond diplomatic condemnations.

Britain and several of its allies have spent months warning companies against participating in construction in E1.

In May, Britain, France, Germany and Italy said businesses “should not bid for construction tenders for E1 or other settlement developments,” warning of potential legal and reputational consequences.

British officials have subsequently raised the possibility of imposing sanctions on companies involved in building the project.

During parliamentary testimony in July, British Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer described E1 as a “specific escalation” and said London and allied governments would take “tangible action” if Israel proceeded.

Asked whether that could mean additional sanctions, Falconer pointed specifically to consequences for companies participating in the tender process.

Former foreign secretary Yvette Cooper also told lawmakers in July that Britain wanted greater authority to target businesses involved in E1.

“The warning that I want to be able to give to businesses now is, ‘Do not engage with the E1 settlements,’” Cooper said. “We are going to pursue sanctions on that, and we want to work with other countries to encourage them to do the same.”

BritainE1Ed MilibandJudea and Samaria