Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich vows to resume E1 development in occupied West Bank

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3 days ago

On a hilltop overlooking the West Bank, controversial far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a stunning declaration to raucous applause.
"We will continue to build a fulfilling Jewish reality," he said.
"This reality definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state, simply because there is nothing to recognise, and no-one to recognise."
In the hills behind him to the east of Jerusalem, was Ma'ale Adumim, one of Israel's largest settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Mr Smotrich had just revived, and approved, a highly controversial plan to extend the settlement through to East Jerusalem, which many Palestinians and their allies fear would rip the West Bank into two.
Known as the E1 plan, many consider it a death knell for the two-state solution.
The E1 plan has been met with fierce opposition for many years, by Palestinians and much of the globe.
The latest iteration of the plan would see 3,400 houses for Israeli settlers built in an area extending from East Jerusalem to Ma'ale Adumim, which stretches east toward the Dead Sea.
"It's smack in the centre of the West Bank, and it breaks it up into a northern part and a southern part," said Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at Ir Amim.
"It's not possible to undo 100,000 Israeli settlers in that area. It would mean there's no Palestinian contiguity and there's no way to create a viable Palestinian state."
Israel's settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, but the Israeli government considers many of the established towns and villages to now be part of the state of Israel.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with settlement building sharply intensifying.
Israel froze construction plans to build E1 in 2012, and again after a renewed push for the plan in 2020.
It did so because of objections from the US and European allies, who considered it a significant threat to any future peace deal and two-state solution.
But the international landscape has changed.
Mr Smotrich, who has been sanctioned by Australia and the UK over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, said the US was in his corner.
"Everything I do in the Judea and Samaria [the biblical names for the area] is being done in full coordination with Netanyahu and with his blessing.
"It's done in full coordination with our friends in the White House, with President Trump, with his team, with Ambassador Huckabee."
Mr Tatarsky said that for more than 20 years Israel held back from these plans in part because of pressure by the international community.
"The fact that now the Israeli government is going through with this plan just shows in what situation we are in, both in the goals of the current Israeli government and the lack of a serious, international intervention."
The Palestinian Authority's presidential spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the PA condemned the plan.
"These are illegal decisions and proposals and we hope that the world community will never allow Israel to force its laws on the Palestinian land," he said.
An Israeli group that tracks settlement activity in the West Bank, Peace Now, said while steps were still required before construction, if cleared, infrastructure work could begin within a few months.
"The E1 plan 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," the group said.
In response to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, Australia has chosen to recognise Palestinian statehood next month, to add to growing momentum calling for peace.
While making the announcement, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said there would be "no Palestine left to recognise if the world does not act".
"States like Australia should understand the urgency and the need to finally let Palestinians be free of occupation and have a state of their own," Mr Tatarsky said.
"These Israeli actions … will only stop if countries like Australia take effective measures to stop Israel."
In a statement on Thursday afternoon local time, British Foreign Minister David Lammy said Israel's settlement plans breached international law and "must be stopped now".
The European Union and the United Nations also condemned the decision, while a US State Department spokesperson said Washington remained focused on ending the war in Gaza.
Palestinian activist Hisham Saleh told Reuters that today's approval was a continuation of the behaviour of settlers happening on a daily basis.
"We say, condemnation and statements are not valid anymore, there is an existential threat on Palestine."
ABC/wires