Israel gave final approval to settlement construction plans in the E1 area on Wednesday, August 20, which would sever the northern occupied West Bank from the south. The long-disputed plans, delayed for years under international pressure and Palestinian protests, have far-reaching implications for the viability of a two-state solution and are expected to draw sharp local and global criticism.
Palestinian, Israeli and international activists protest against Israeli plans to build new settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, March 17, 2015 (Photo Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills)
The E1 settlement project to build some 3,400 housing units between occupied East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank is given final approval by the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, a Defense Ministry department. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense Ministry, calls the decision “historic,” and says “it is a significant step that practically erases the two-state delusion and consolidates the Jewish people’s hold on the heart of the Land of Israel.”
US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, stated that the United States does not oppose the “massive expansion” of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and does not view it as a violation of international law. In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Huckabee emphasized that decisions regarding substantial development in the E1 area of occupied Jerusalem, which would isolate East Jerusalem from its geographic surroundings and separate the northern West Bank from the southern region, rest solely with the far-right Israeli government. He remarked “We would not try to evaluate the good and the bad of that, but simply just say that, as a general rule, it is not a violation of international law. It’s also, I think, incumbent on all of us to recognize that Israelis have a right to live in Israel.” Huckabee has previously suggested that the Trump administration could consider allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to annex the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty.
The E1 plan was delayed for years under Palestinian and international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered it forward in 2012 and revived it again before the 2020 election, has dramatic implications for the prospects of a two-state solution and is expected to provoke sharp criticism in Israel and worldwide.
Peace Now, which campaigns against the settlement movement, concurs with Smotrich that the project severely threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state, adding that implementing the plans would take Israel toward becoming an apartheid state. “Under the cover of war, Smotrich and his minority of messianic friends are establishing a delusional settlement that we will have to evacuate in any agreement,” says the organization, adding that billions of shekels may be spent, and wasted, on the development.
“The entire purpose of the settlement in E1 is to sabotage a political solution and rush towards a binational apartheid state.” The E1 project is viewed by Israelis opponents of the occupied West Bank settlements, among them Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel as a severe threat to Palestinian territorial contiguity and by extension the viability of a Palestinian state, since it would effectively divide the north of the West Bank from the south, as well as the West Bank from East Jerusalem.
According to the Israel Hayom far-right newspaper (Aug 17), the first-half 2025 data revealing modest population growth in West Bank settlements, above the Israeli national average growth rate. “Considering all settlements have significant natural birth rate increases, the low growth numbers raise greater concerns,” the newspaper said.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32936
