UK warns firms against bidding for E1 settlement tender on closing day, citing new sanctions powers

The United Kingdom has warned businesses and individuals not to bid for construction work in E1, the contested area east of Jerusalem, on the day the Israeli tender closed. In a statement published on 19 October, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said London now has powers to sanction those involved in building illegal settlements.

Miliband described the Israeli government’s decision to open tenders for E1 as “a direct threat to the prospect of a two-state solution”, and said it had been widely condemned by the international community. According to the statement, 19 October was the deadline for bids.

Warning to bidders

The Foreign Secretary addressed those considering taking part directly. The UK, he said, has created new powers that allow it to sanction individuals and companies involved in the construction of illegal settlements such as E1. He urged businesses and individuals not to proceed with bids and to be aware of legal and reputational consequences, including the risk of involvement in serious breaches of international law.

The statement also restates two commitments by the British government: legislation to ban goods imported from illegal settlements, and action on services that finance or facilitate them. Miliband said the British people do not want to be supporting the construction of illegal settlements.

Settler violence in the West Bank

The same statement condemns what it calls escalating settler violence in the West Bank. It lists recent attacks on officials from France, Belgium and Poland, on a Catholic Church representative and on a US journalist. It closes with the line: “We will not be bystanders in the destruction of the two-state solution.”

Part of a wider European line

The statement follows other positions on the same file this week. Geopolitiki reported that the EU condemned settler attacks, including on European diplomats, in EU condemns settler attacks in the West Bank, including on European diplomats, and urges Israel to halt settlement expansion. Earlier, at the UN, the British delegation raised E1 in UK at the Security Council: two-state solution “under serious threat”, with calls on Israel over Gaza aid and E1 and on Hamas to disarm.

The statement is the UK’s own position as published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It does not say which companies, if any, submitted bids, and it names no specific sanctions.