Israeli Judiciary Delays West Bank Settlement Bid Deadline To Avoid 'Election Propaganda'

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Israel's attorney general decided on Sunday to push back the deadline for construction bids for a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank that has drawn international condemnation.

The E1 plan, approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen, notably due to pressure from successive US administrations, would further isolate Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

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Gali Baharav-Miara's office announced the decision "to postpone the deadline for submitting bids by one month so that this date will fall after election day" in order to "reduce concern over the tender being used for election propaganda".

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is locked in a tight contest as he seeks to stay in power in the October 27 ballot.

The approval of new Israeli settlements has soared under Netanyahu's right-wing government.

Israel's construction and housing ministry opened a tender for the construction of more than 1,200 housing units in the E1 area in July.

Six European countries, including the UK and France, called on Israel to halt the project in August.

Earlier this month, an Israeli court rejected a petition from rights groups that had argued the project would lead to the eviction of hundreds of Palestinians.

The court ruled that "adequate legal safeguards are in place" for the development project.

The mayor of Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement adjacent to the E1 zone, said it will petition against the postponement, arguing that the decision itself was political.

"We have waited more than 30 years for E1," Guy Yifrach said in a statement.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the Palestinian territory, which are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.

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