Israel delays E1 West Bank settlement tender until after election amid attorney general concerns

From the Newshound archive · first published 12 October 2026.

Israel's Land Authority has confirmed that tenders for 1,234 housing units in the controversial E1 West Bank settlement will not be reviewed before November 19, weeks after Israeli voters go to the polls on October 27. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara raised concerns that Benjamin Netanyahu's government could exploit the issue as election propaganda, prompting the delay.

The E1 project would effectively sever territorial links between key Palestinian population centres, cutting off any viable two-state solution on the ground.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused the attorney general of stalling deliberately so that a future left-wing government could cancel the project altogether.

The UK imposed sanctions on Israel over illegal West Bank settlements in September, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warning E1 would make a two-state solution 'unviable'.