Politics can trump the purely legal issue.
![Palestinian workers seen at the construction site of Israeli settlement 'Har-Homa' in Jerusalem [Getty]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141155204928734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

Oliver Miles is a retired British ambassador who served mainly in the Arab world. He was head of the Near East and North Africa Department (1980-83). In 2004, he was one of 52 former British ambassadors who wrote to Tony Blair about British policy on Palestine and Iraq.
Politics can trump the purely legal issue.
![Palestinian workers seen at the construction site of Israeli settlement 'Har-Homa' in Jerusalem [Getty]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141155204928734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)