Today I noticed that British foreign secretary Ed Miliband released a very critical statement after his conversation with Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar:
Ed Miliband@Ed_Miliband
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:
9:03 PM · Aug 19, 2026 · 941K Views
2.27K Replies · 945 Reposts · 4.15K Likes
He implies that the E1 settlement project—which the Israeli government greenlit and opened construction tenders for this week—is a step towards “the destruction of the two-state solution”.
He threatens sanctions towards those who participate in illegal settlement expansion.
So, what is the E1 settlement project?
It is an Israeli settlement project inside the West Bank, which is not a part of the State of Israel. This map produced by the BBC shows the location of the settlement:
My first thought is simply that this does not in itself in fact threaten the viability of the two-state solution. It’s a 4.6 square mile block of land out of 2183 square miles in the West Bank.
This is not a huge amount of land.
For supporters of the two-state solution such as myself, I think there is an understanding that we will have to work with whatever resources we can find to build a viable state for Palestinians.
Yes, the settlements have reduced the amount of land available for a Palestinian state. And yes, this particular settlement is in a strategically important location, near to Jerusalem. But so long as there is some Palestinian-majority land somewhere, that land can eventually become sovereign. Furthermore, in the past, leaders including Olmert and Barak offered land swaps to balance things out. Here is the Olmert proposal for example, showing land transferred to the Palestinians in red:
In theory, this new settlement could be part of a larger land swap.
Or, the settlements could simply become part of the state of Palestine. There is no inherent reason that a Jewish-majority community needs to be part of Israel. The Jewish people living there could—in principle—simply be allowed to become Palestinian citizens when a two-state solution comes into effect.
The much bigger threat to the two-state solution comes from two directions.
There won’t be a Palestinian state while millenarian jihadists like Hamas whose goal is “to repeat October 7 again and again” are in power. That is a recipe for disaster. Handing Hamas or a similar ideological group another chance to start another war with Israel would be absolutely idiotic.
But also, the Israeli government doesn’t want a two-state solution to happen, and is trying to stop it. They are extremely explicit about this. For example, in September 2025 when publicly signing a document relating to the E1 settlement expansion, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu said:
“It’s not going to happen. There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River.”
He also declared that “this place belongs to us”.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar’s response to Ed Miliband reflects this:
Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער@gidonsaar
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
Ed Miliband @Ed_Miliband
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:
7:44 AM · Aug 20, 2026 · 280K Views
601 Replies · 427 Reposts · 2.39K Likes
Essentially, if the Palestinian people, the British government, and the international community wish to pursue a two-state solution, then it would require either the Israeli government to change its mind, or a different Israeli government to come to power.
This is not the same Israeli government that was open to negotiation for a two-state solution to resolve the conflict.
Obviously, I think that this is a totally wrongheaded. By refusing a two-state solution, the Israeli government is harming Israel.
The Israeli government today (and many of my pro-Israel critics) act like a two-state solution is a gift, a favour, or a giveaway.
But actually, it would simply resolve the fact that Israel does not benefit from ruling over millions of Palestinians.
And yes, Israel is ruling over them. The Palestinians in the West Bank are not Israeli citizens, while Israelis living there are full citizens of Israel with full political representation and legal rights. This difference in rights is a large factor under which Israel faces accusations of apartheid
It’s a clean divorce to a messy (and violent) marriage—one in which neither Palestinians nor Israelis are happy or fulfilled.
Yes, that requires drawing a border and accepting that this is our side, and over there is your side. Yes, it obviously requires comprehensive security measures.
And yes—it requires jihadi factions like Hamas who are antisemitic and want to kill Jews to stop. To disarm. To disband.
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