UK foreign secretary pledges 'comprehensive reset' of UK policy on Israel

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband laid out plans on Tuesday for a set of measures against illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, in what he said would be a "comprehensive reset" of UK policy on Israel in the "coming weeks". Speaking to lawmakers as foreign secretary for the first time since his appointment in July, Miliband said that “we need to look, and we are looking indeed, at our wider economic relationship with the occupied territories and the different tools we have to tackle it”. “I want to be very clear: we do not want British companies financing, constructing, or advertising new settlements,” he added. Miliband also condemned what he called "appalling settler terrorism" in the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on a podcast on Tuesday that Israel will respond to any sanctions by retaliating against the UK. Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband leaves 10 Downing Street in London on 20 July 2026 (Henry Nicholls/AFP)