This episode of The Rest Is Politics features an interview with newly appointed Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, roughly seven to eight weeks into the role. He defends the UK's decision to sanction Israeli settlers and named Israeli ministers, and to describe the West Bank occupation as illegal, framing it as an attempt to preserve a two-state solution rather than delegitimise Israel. The conversation covers the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including reports of aid restrictions and deaths since the ceasefire, the UK's careful language choices around terms like war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide, and the upcoming Israeli election. Miliband distinguishes his position from that of the Israeli government and discusses coordination with allies including the EU, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.
The discussion then widens into Britain's broader place in the world, touching on Mark Carney's calls for strategic autonomy from the US and China, European rearmament, the Strait of Hormuz closure and its effect on energy costs, the Iran-US conflict, and whether the UK should build new alliances with Europe, Canada and others to reduce dependence on Washington. Miliband also reflects personally on his mother's history as a Jewish refugee and her views on Palestinians, closing on whether Britain can move beyond a US-centred foreign policy.
Spending
Key points from the discussion
The points they raised, and the official data behind them.
Miliband said the International Court of Justice issued a ruling in 2024 that fed into the UK's assessment of the illegality of the occupation.
~07:00The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the UN's principal judicial body that settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on international legal questions.
Context
In July 2024 the ICJ issued an advisory opinion finding Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories unlawful and calling for it to end as rapidly as possible. The opinion addressed the legal status of settlements and the broader occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Miliband said a settlement expansion tender announced in August had long been seen as a red line because it would split East Jerusalem from the West Bank.
~06:05The E1 plan refers to a proposed Israeli settlement construction zone east of Jerusalem that would connect Jerusalem to the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, effectively cutting the West Bank in two.
Context
The E1 settlement plan has been discussed by successive UK and international governments as a major obstacle to a two-state solution because it would sever the northern and southern West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem from Palestinian territory. International bodies have long flagged it as a red line for negotiations.
Miliband said around 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza ceasefire began.
~10:29Context
A ceasefire in the Gaza conflict was announced in 2025, intended to halt hostilities between Israel and Hamas. Casualty figures reported since the ceasefire have been cited by officials and organisations tracking the conflict's aftermath.
Miliband said 80% of Gaza's population has been penned into one third of its territory.
~15:00Context
Israeli military operations in Gaza have progressively restricted movement and confined the population to shrinking designated zones, a pattern cited by humanitarian organisations and officials discussing the scale of displacement within the territory.
Miliband cited the Genocide Convention of 1948 as the legal framework underpinning the term genocide.
~21:33The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is the international treaty that defines genocide and obliges signatory states to prevent and punish it.
Context
The Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the aftermath of the Holocaust and established genocide as a crime under international law, with a specific legal definition that courts such as the ICJ apply when adjudicating allegations.
Miliband referenced Yitzhak Rabin's 1994 Nobel Prize lecture, delivered when Rabin jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize.
~17:00Context
Yitzhak Rabin was the Israeli prime minister who, alongside Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat, received the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Oslo Accords, an interim peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Rabin was assassinated in 1995.