UK rebukes Israel for putting ‘unacceptable’ West Bank settlement out to tender

Helen Corbett, Press Association Political Correspondent

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has issued a rebuke to Israel after it published a tender for construction of a settlement in the occupied West Bank, calling it an “unacceptable and destructive act”.

He said the UK would not “stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution”, as he pledged to set out measures in response to Israeli policies in the coming weeks.

Mr Miliband said the UK had been clear publicly and privately about its opposition to the E1 settlement project, which he said risks endangering a two-state solution by separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem.

“I made clear to the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar that the Israeli government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion,” the Foreign Secretary said.

The Foreign Office also summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires to set out the UK’s “profound objection to this move”.

Mr Miliband said: “This Israeli government’s publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project is an unacceptable and destructive act.

“E1 would cut across the heart of Palestine and risks separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which would endanger the viability of a two-state solution.

“The UK has been clear privately and publicly in our opposition to E1 and our support for a two-state solution as the only way to ensure long-term security and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

“All settlements damage that prospect and are a flagrant breach of international law.”

Mr Miliband said the expansion of settlements and “attempts to create irreversible divisions” on the ground threatens peace and prospects for a Palestinian state.

“Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution.

“In the coming weeks we will set out a comprehensive set of measures to respond to Israeli government policies, protect the viability of the Palestinian state, target sanctions at those who participate in illegal settlement expansion and support a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians”.

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