New Delhi, Aug. 22 -- Ed Miliband did not send a letter. He summoned Israel's charge d'affaires to hear Britain's position in person - the most emphatic diplomatic signal the UK has deployed against Israeli settlement expansion in more than a decade. Six other Western governments joined a coordinated statement published Thursday. What they were protesting was twelve square kilometres of Palestinian land east of Jerusalem, and what Israel intends to build on it.

more than 1,200 housing units in the first round, confirmed by the land-tracking organisation Peace Now - with a bidding deadline of October 19. Israeli elections are scheduled for October 27.

France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, and the United Kingdom signed ...