According to media reports on the 19th, Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband has condemned the Israeli government’s move to launch tenders for the internationally criticized “E1” settlement construction project, and summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires in London to demand an immediate withdrawal of the decision.
Miliband file photo
The Israeli government issued a tender on Tuesday (the 18th) to build seven residential neighborhoods in the “E1” area east of Jerusalem, totaling 1,234 housing units. According to the tender documents, contractors can submit bids for the project by October 19.
The 1,234 housing units are part of a larger plan for approximately 3,400 units in the “E1” area that was approved last August.
In response to Israel’s action, Miliband condemned the move in a statement, calling the Israeli government’s tender for the so-called “E1” area an “unacceptable and damaging” step that would jeopardize the viability of the “two-state solution.”
“Today I made clear to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that the Israeli government must immediately stop the E1 plan, withdraw the tender, and halt all settlement expansion,” Miliband stated. “Additionally, Israel’s charge d’affaires in the UK has been summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where we conveyed Britain’s strong opposition to Netanyahu’s government’s action and demanded its immediate reversal.”
The “E1” area, also known as East 1, is located between East Jerusalem and the large West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Expanding Jewish settlements in “E1” would split the West Bank into northern and southern sections, making it impossible for Palestinian areas in East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Ramallah to remain contiguous, while creating an unbroken chain of Jewish communities between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.
The West Bank, where the Israeli government says it will build housing units as part of the “E1” settlement development project. File photo.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War and has since built Jewish settlements there. For years, Israeli forces have imposed restrictions on the movement and activities of Palestinians, drawing strong opposition from the Palestinian side.