Israel Greenlights Divisive E1 Settlement Plan
(MENAFN) Israel has granted final authorization to a controversial housing initiative that will carve through the occupied West Bank and leave East Jerusalem cut off.
The project, known as the E1 plan, received the go-ahead from the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration—an agency operating under Israel’s Defense Ministry.
According to a news outlet, this plan involves the construction of over 3,400 housing units for settlers between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
This development is set to physically divide the West Bank, severing connections between the northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from the southern regions of Bethlehem and Hebron.
It would also result in further isolation of East Jerusalem, a move that critics argue undermines the geographic integrity necessary for a future Palestinian state.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, hailed the approval as a “historic” moment. He emphasized that “this 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.”
He added, “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not by slogans but by deeds. Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
In a separate development, a newspaper reported that the Settlement Subcommittee of the Civil Administration also progressed with a blueprint to build 342 additional homes in the Asahel settlement, located between eastern and western Mount Hebron.
Israeli advocacy organization Peace Now sharply condemned the E1 initiative, calling it a “knockout blow” to the two-state solution.
The group warned that the project would fragment the West Bank and lead to further estrangement of East Jerusalem, making a viable peace agreement increasingly difficult.
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