Israel FM invokes Balfour Declaration in rebuttal to UK criticism of West Bank settlement plans

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected British criticism of Israeli settlement expansion on Thursday, asserting that the West Bank and Jerusalem form part of what he called the “Land of Israel” and that Jews have a right to live throughout the territory.

Sa’ar was responding to British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who criticized the publication of tenders connected to the E1 settlement project and said Britain would not accept steps that destroy prospects for a two-state solution.

The Israeli foreign minister described Miliband’s remarks as “condescending and biased,” arguing that Jews have the right to live throughout the “Land of Israel” in the same way that British citizens may live anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Sa’ar also invoked the 1917 […]