E1 Plan: Israel Advances controversial Settlement expansion
1. What’s in this E1 plan?
E1 refers to the Palestinian area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, an existing illegal settlement in the West Bank. The E1 area covers approximately 12 square kilometers and represents the last undeveloped land connecting these cities.
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich intends to build 3,400 homes for Israeli settlers in this strategically crucial location. According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, construction approval is progressing ‘at record tempo’, with final approval expected today.
“After decades of international pressure and freezing, we are breaking with conventions and connecting Ma’ale Adumim with Jerusalem,” Smotrich stated last week during a press conference at the proposed construction site.
2. Why is the building plan so controversial?
Developing this area with settler homes has important consequences. It would bisect the West bank and isolate Palestinian areas from East Jerusalem, which palestinians envision as the capital of a future state.
“E1 is therefore a key goal of the settlement movement,” explains Middle East correspondent Pepijn Nagtzaam.”They foresee a future where the West Bank becomes fully integrated into Israel. Constructing these thousands of homes, surrounded by separation walls, effectively divides the western jordan River in two.”
The entire area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, where the west Bank is at its narrowest, would become Israeli territory. “Subsequently, a new road is laid out that only Palestinians are allowed to drive, but which is entirely under