In a joint statement published on GOV.UK, the signatories say the situation in the West Bank has worsened markedly in recent months. They point to settler violence at levels they describe as unprecedented and argue that current Israeli government policies, including a deeper entrenchment of Israeli control, are weakening stability and narrowing the path to a two-state settlement. The statement treats the issue as more than a deterioration in day-to-day security. It presents recent developments as a direct threat to any future negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
On legal status, the text is explicit. It states that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and says planned construction in the E1 area would be no exception. That reference to E1 is central to the statement's argument. The signatories say development there would divide the West Bank in two, which places the proposal well beyond a routine planning dispute and into the category of a serious legal and diplomatic breach.
The most direct operational warning is aimed at business. The signatories say companies should not bid for construction tenders linked to E1 or to other settlement developments in the West Bank. According to the statement, participation in such projects carries both legal and reputational risk. It also warns that involvement in settlement construction may connect firms to serious breaches of international law, raising clear compliance questions for boards, investors and procurement teams.
The statement also sets out a series of actions it wants from the Israeli government. It calls for an end to the expansion of settlements and administrative powers, alongside accountability for settler violence and investigations into allegations against Israeli forces. This wording matters because it joins policy, security and official conduct in a single position. The signatories are not limiting concern to new building alone; they are also addressing enforcement, state responsibility and the wider structure of control in the territory.
Beyond settlements, the text asks Israel to respect the Hashemite custodianship over Jerusalem's Holy Sites and to maintain the historic status quo arrangements. It also calls for financial restrictions on the Palestinian Authority and the wider Palestinian economy to be lifted. That brings religious site governance and economic pressure into the same diplomatic message as settlement policy. Taken together, the statement sets out a broader account of what the signatories believe is required to prevent further deterioration.
The statement goes further by rejecting arguments for annexation and for the forcible displacement of Palestinians, including where such positions are advanced by members of the Israeli government. That is a pointed element of the text because it addresses rhetoric as well as actions on the ground. It then restates support for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on a negotiated two-state solution, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The stated objective is two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognised borders.
For officials, the document reads as a co-ordinated diplomatic warning linking settlement expansion to legal exposure, instability and economic pressure. For companies, the message is explicit: activity tied to settlement construction is presented not simply as a political sensitivity, but as a matter with possible legal and reputational cost. Taken as a whole, the statement seeks to raise the diplomatic and commercial cost of further development in E1 while reaffirming the two-state framework as the only acceptable basis for a durable settlement.