The announcement by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, calling on businesses not to proceed with bids for construction tenders in the E1 area near Ma’ale Adumim, is raising heavy concern in the insurance industry. “The implications of sanctions that will be imposed by Britain, even partial sanctions as threatened by the British Foreign Secretary, could be critical for the Israeli insurance industry,” said a senior official in the industry in a conversation with Polisa. According to him, the assessment is that if sanctions are imposed by the British government, additional European countries will join. The main concern is that sanctions will be imposed on entities that insure activity in the E1 area, or a scenario, which has already materialized, according to which reinsurers will refuse to engage with Israeli companies that insure specific activities. Recently it was revealed in Polisa that the French insurance giant AXA announced that it will not insure construction in E1. “The Israeli government’s decision to open tenders for settlements in the E1 area constitutes a direct threat to the future of the two-state solution, and was widely condemned by the international community,” announced Miliband the day before yesterday, October 19, which was the deadline for submitting bids for the tender in E1. “I want to make clear to those considering acting in the tender process: we have created a new framework of powers that will allow us to impose sanctions on individuals and companies that will be involved in the construction of illegal settlements, such as E1. “We urge businesses and individuals not to proceed with bids for the construction tenders in E1. They must be aware of the legal consequences and the potential harm to their reputation, including the risk that they will implicate themselves in serious violations of international law. “The British government will not accept the continued displacement of Palestinians and the ongoing illegal occupation. This is why we are committed to introducing legislation that will ban the import of products from the illegal settlements, and to take action regarding services that finance or promote them. The British people do not wish to support the construction of illegal settlements. “This government also condemns the escalation in settler violence in the West Bank, including recent attacks on official figures from France, Belgium, and Poland, on a representative of the Catholic Church, and on an American journalist. We will not stand idly by in the face of the destruction of the two-state solution,” words of British Foreign Secretary Miliband.
