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Key Points
- Israel has authorized the construction of thousands of units in controversial settlements within the West Bank.
- The initiative has met with global criticism, being labeled as a breach of international law.
- Israel argues that the plan undermines the possibility of a Palestinian state.
Here’s an overview.
What is the E1 plan?
The E1 area is located next to Ma’ale Adumim, home to approximately 40,000 Israelis and ranking as the third most populated Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Although international law deems Ma’ale Adumim illegal, Israel contests this classification.
The E1 settlement plan would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem. Source: SBS News
E1 proposes building more than 3,400 units on the land. The Israel-based NGO Peace Now, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, said last week that infrastructure work at E1 could begin within a few months, and housing construction within a year.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem are also home to 2.7 million Palestinians.
How did the plan originate?
The E1 settlement initiative was initially proposed in 1994 under former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Over the years, various efforts to develop settlements in this area have faced numerous setbacks.
Israel’s approval of the E1 settlement has attracted strong criticism from the United Nations, Western allies, and Palestinians, who see it as a violation of international law and a threat to the two-state solution. Source: SBS News
In 2005, construction of E1 was paused after then-US president George Bush intervened, saying the plan was at odds with American foreign policy.
Following the violent clashes in the West Bank in 2023, Netanyahu revisited the plans. However, pressure from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during President Joe Biden’s administration led to their suspension at that time.
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has now announced the approval of the latest push for the E1 settlement, which is deemed unlawful under international law. Source: AAP / Gil Cohen-Magen
Who is behind the latest push?
In response, Smotrich told the Jerusalem Post that the five countries had made a “grave mistake”.
Why is it considered illegal?
Most of the global community considers all settlements illegal under international law.
How does E1 ‘bury’ a possible two-state solution?
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) said that E1 would entrench the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas “disconnected from one another, turning them into something akin to real prisons, where movement is only possible through Israeli checkpoints and under the terror of armed settler militias”.
Smotrich has said the construction plan is a deliberate attempt to block a two-state solution. In a statement, he said that E1 is finally delivering what has been promised for years: “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions.”
How has the international community responded?
“It risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace,” the statement said.
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich holds a map that shows the E1 settlement project during a press conference announcing a renewed push for the settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Source: AAP / Ohad Zwigenberg
“The government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan.”
