British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband urged companies and individuals on 19 October not to bid in Israeli tenders to build in E1, the area between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, warning that Britain has new powers to sanction anyone involved. He called the tenders a direct threat to the prospect of a two-state solution.
The first tender covers 1,234 housing units in seven compounds. Israel's attorney general pushed its bid deadline back by a month, past the 27 October election, to avoid it being used for campaigning; a second tender for 2,167 more units was due to open on 25 October, according to the Israeli group Ir Amim.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused the attorney general of meddling in the election. Palestinians and many Western governments say the E1 plan would undermine a contiguous Palestinian state; France, Germany, Italy and the UK have jointly warned businesses against bidding.
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