Britain has picked the most sensitive building site on Palestinian land held by Israel to test its new sanctions tools. On Monday, the day bids closed for a construction tender in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told companies and individuals to stay out.
His message to would-be contractors was blunt: do not submit offers. London, he said, has given itself fresh legal tools to punish people and firms that help construct settlements it considers unlawful, E1 among them. Anyone who goes ahead could face court risks and a damaged image, and might become party to grave violations of the laws of war, he warned.
Why E1 matters: the zone lies between Jerusalem and the large settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Critics, including the British government, argue that filling it with housing would split the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, leaving little room for a workable Palestinian state. In Miliband’s words, Israel’s move to invite bids for the area endangers the very idea of two states living side by side.
His statement also repeated a promise made in September to legislate against imports of goods from settlements and against services that finance them, and it condemned recent settler attacks, including on diplomats from France, Belgium and Poland.
So far, though, it remains a threat rather than a penalty. No company has been named and no designation announced, and the planned regime aimed specifically at settlements will need roughly half a year or more before it is up and running. One analysis suggests the most relevant tool already in force is a package of human rights and humanitarian law sanctions rules that took effect on 15 October, though the government has not spelled that out. According to the Israeli group Peace Now, the bids will not be opened before 19 November, which gives London another window to act if contractors ignore the warning.
