E1 Tender: UK's Miliband Threatens Sanctions on Bidders

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warned companies and individuals not to bid on Israel's E1 construction tender, which covers seven residential compounds with 1,234 housing units, part of about 3,400 homes approved for E1 last year.

His warning came on the day bids were due. Miliband said Britain has created new powers to sanction anyone involved in building what London calls illegal settlements.

Miliband addressed businesses directly. He urged them not to go ahead with bids for E1 construction and warned of legal and reputational consequences. He also cautioned that taking part could expose them to the risk of involvement in serious breaches of international law.

"We will not be bystanders in the destruction of the two-state solution," Miliband said.

The warning follows a sanctions drive that began in September. Britain announced it would sanction individuals and entities involved in settlement construction. It also said it would ban imports of goods produced in the settlements. Prime Minister Andy Burnham led the 12-nation initiative, which followed the Netanyahu government's decision to advance a new settlement in the E1 area. Axios reported then that the Trump administration had not tried to stop the British move and that the White House had not condemned it.

Jerusalem retaliated. On October 8, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced that Britain's consulate in Jerusalem had ceased operations. The Consul General and 19 other diplomats were set to leave Israel. Under understandings reached with London, seven diplomats could stay in the building with a very limited scope of activity.

Sa'ar said at the time that all four retaliatory steps he announced on September 8 were in force:

British representatives were removed from the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat.
British training of Palestinian Authority forces in Judea and Samaria ended.
Twelve British elected officials and other British citizens were barred from entering Israel.
The consulate was closed.