Hadash assailed on Thursday, August 14, a far-right government plan to greenlight the construction of thousands of settlers’ homes in the occupied West Bank, after the move was announced by fascist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Hadash called the plan “colonial, expansionist and racist” and claimed that it is par for the course for Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
Standing at the site of the planned settlement on Thursday morning, Smotrich said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 plan. “Those around the world who try to recognize a Palestinian state will see our response on the ground – not with documents or declarations,” Smotrich said.
Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich at a press conference announcing his plans to approve more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 settlement project at occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025 (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The E1 settlement project has been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition from the international community, including past US administrations, which feared the new settlement neighborhood would prevent the establishment of a contiguous, viable Palestinian state.
The plan would connect the occupied East Jerusalem with the settlement Ma’ale Adumim, while simultaneously scuttling the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian presence between the population centers of Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, and Ramallah, the basis for a Palestinian state.
The construction scheme is scheduled to receive final approval from the government’s Higher Planning Council next Wednesday, on August 20.
Israeli human rights groups also condemned the plan, with the anti-settlement watchdog organization Peace Now warning that resuming construction in E1 is “deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. “We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed. There is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the terrible war in Gaza — the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel — and it will ultimately come. The government’s annexation moves are taking us further away from this solution and guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed,” Peace Now said in a statement.
Breaking the Silence, an anti-occupation movement established by former officers and soldiers, accused Smotrich of encouraging West Bank settlement activity as the Gaza war continued to capture global attention. “This land grab and settlement expansion will not only further fragment the Palestinian territory, but will further entrench apartheid,” it said.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=29426
