Israel to announce tender for 2,167 homes in E1 project east of East Jerusalem

New tender and appeal to the attorney general

Israel will open bids on December 1 for the construction of 2,167 settlement homes in the E1 area east of occupied East Jerusalem, three Israeli human rights organizations said on Tuesday — Ir Amim, Bimkom and Peace Now. Bids will be accepted until December 28. In their view, this timeline reflects the determination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to advance the project while it remains in power.

A parallel tender and preparations for construction

A separate tender for another 1,234 settlement homes in E1 closed shortly before the October 27 election. The review of those bids was postponed until November 19 at the instruction of the attorney general, so that they could not be used in the election campaign. On Monday, the organizations appealed to the attorney general to postpone the review until a new government is formed: they warned that once the bids are examined and contracts signed, halting construction will become far more difficult. They also reported that on November 3, homes of a Palestinian Bedouin community in the project area were demolished and additional demolition orders were issued — meaning preparations for construction are underway even before the tender opens.

What E1 means

According to the organizations, the E1 project will cut off occupied East Jerusalem from the Palestinian communities to its east and disrupt the territorial contiguity between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank. It faces broad international opposition: governments warn that it jeopardizes the prospects of a viable Palestinian state. Notably, the publication describes two different tenders: a new one for 2,167 homes that is only now opening, and a previous one for 1,234 homes whose bids have not yet been decided — that is, it concerns both new plans and an unfinished procedure whose outcome the human rights groups are trying to influence.