Countries condemn Israel's E1 settlement tender in West Bank
by Darryl Coote · UPIAug. 20 (UPI) -- Foreign governments are urging Israel to abandon plans to construct a settlement in the occupied West Bank that would effectively divide the Palestinian territory in two, saying it will further degrade the prospects of a two-state solution.
Israel has for decades sought to develop E1, a settlement project of thousands of housing units that would connect Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem in the Israeli occupied West Bank, where Israeli settlements are widely regarded as illegal under international law.
Construction of E1, which would divide the West Bank into two noncontiguous northern and southern parts, has largely been held off due to international pressure, but on Tuesday, the Israel Land Authority quietly published tenders online to construct 1,234 housing units in the development. The bidding process is to close Oct. 19, a week before Israeli elections.
Israeli settlement monitor Peace Now lambasted Israel after it published the tender, saying it was seeking to sign contracts with builders prior to the election in order to make it harder for the next government to cancel the project.
"This is a last-minute maneuver that is part of the scorched-earth policy the government is pursuing at the end of its term to secure long years of conflict and bloodshed for Israel," Peace Now said in a statement.
"Building the E1 will ruin the possibility of reaching an end to the conflict and a peace arrangement based on two states."
Numerous countries have voiced opposition to the project going back years, many reiterating their concerns since Tuesday.
Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway issued a joint statement Thursday calling on Israel to rescind the tenders "immediately" and end its settlement expansion plans.
"Not only will they take us further from peace, but further undermine Israel's international standing," the allies said, while urging businesses to also consider not bidding on the construction tenders.
"They should be aware of legal and reputational consequences, including the risk of involving themselves in serious breaches of international law."
Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prevot called the launch of the tenders "unacceptable" and said it "jeopardizes the prospects for peace and security that we all want for Israelis and Palestinians.
"I call on the Israeli government to withdraw these tenders, halt the E1 project and stop settlement expansion," he said online.
Egypt and Jordan also separately condemned Israel on Thursday.
Britain also summoned Israel's charge d'affaires where London objected to the plan and demanded it be stopped immediately.
Far-right Israeli officials were quick to rebuke Britain, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir telling British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband that London's Mandate for Palestine ended in 1948.
"Perhaps instead of playing make-believe about the Mandate era, he ought to look out the window at his London, which is rapidly turning into an Islamic caliphate," he said online.
Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar said he outright rejected Miliband's "patronizing tone."
"The UK Government's decision to damage the relationship between our countries is deeply unfortunate. But Israel will not be a passive victim of policy," Sa'ar said in a statement.
"Israel will defend its rights, its interests and its people."
The tenders were offered amid unprecedented Israeli settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, while Israel continues to expand settlement outposts. According to an update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there were 38 incidents of Israeli settlers injuring Palestinians, damaging their property or both between Aug. 3-9. During the same time period, Israeli forces demolished 25 Palestinian-owned structures, including part of a school, displacing 29 people, including 17 children, according to OCHA.
In an OCHA update from the end of July, it said that there had been more than 1,380 settler-related incidents, affecting more than 250 Palestinian communities since the beginning of the year, averaging of about 6.6 incidents a day. During that period, about 900 Palestinians were injured in the context of settler attacks, while more than 2,300 were displaced by settler attacks and related access restriictions.