A dramatic development in the E1 project: The Attorney General's Office has ordered a one-month postponement of the deadline for submitting bids in a tender to build 1,234 housing units in the area, meaning the process will continue only after the election. Maaleh Adumim Municipality said it would petition the court against the decision.
The tender was published on Aug. 18 and covers seven residential compounds containing 1,234 housing units, out of the 3,401 units approved for E1. The deadline for bids had been set for Oct. 19, eight days before the Oct. 27 Knesset election.
Concern over election propaganda
Materials gathered ahead of the petition being prepared by the municipality indicate that the Attorney General's Office views E1 as no ordinary land tender. Given the area's exceptional diplomatic and international sensitivity, as well as the public debate surrounding it, the legal position is that announcing winning bidders close to the election could also carry implications related to election propaganda.
Under that position, because the tender has already been published, there is no justification for canceling it, but the deadline for submitting bids should be postponed by one month.
The municipality, however, argues that this amounts to intervention in a professional process that began well before the election campaign. According to a draft of its petition, the policy decision to advance the tender was made months before the election, after which the Israel Land Authority and the Construction and Housing Ministry moved the process forward through appraisals, planning opinions and preparation of the tender documents.
The significance of the delay goes beyond adding another month to the timetable. If Israel's current government is replaced, further handling of one of the flagship settlement projects promoted by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich could pass to a new government that may pursue a different policy toward E1.
That is precisely why Maaleh Adumim Municipality is seeking to prevent the postponement and keep the tender on its original schedule.
"We will not give up and will not allow E1 to be turned into a hostage," Maaleh Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach said. "The policy decision was made many months ago, and the tender proceeded through a professional process. It is precisely now that they are adding uncertainty for developers who are already facing international pressure. We will petition and fight to build in E1."
The Attorney General's Office said in response: "Under the circumstances, the tender has already been published, and the Attorney General's Office instructed the relevant authorities solely to postpone the deadline for submitting bids by one month, so that it will fall after Election Day, thereby reducing the concern that the tender could be used for prohibited election propaganda."
