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Israel set to expand settlements into West Bank to 'bury' Palestinian state
The expansion into the 3,000 acres known as E1 that run between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim — long excluded from settlement plans — would amount to a major rebuke of growing Western calls to recognize Palestinian statehood. It comes as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized a large-scale increase in settlement building in the West Bank — widely considered a violation of international law — over the past year and plans to take over the Gaza Strip.
'Anyone in the world who tries to recognize a Palestinian state will get our answer on the ground,' said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlements within Israel's Defense Ministry, according to a transcript of a speech he gave at E1. 'They'll talk about a Palestinian dream, and we'll keep building a Jewish reality.'
'After 20 years of hold-ups, pressure, election-eve promises and broken dreams — we stand here in Ma'ale Adumin and proclaim in a clear voice: the cork as been broken, the E1 project is under way,' said Smotrich, an ultranationalist settler who in June was sanctioned by the UK for inciting violence against Palestinian communities. He said 3,401 homes would be built there.
The West Bank-based administration of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the announcement. Along with the devastation in Gaza and recurrent violence by some settlers against Palestinians, it 'will only lead to further escalation, tension and instability,' said Abbas spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
The US in June imposed sanctions on members of the PA 'for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,' a counter-action to moves from European countries toward recognizing a Palestinian state.
Alarmed by Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza, which has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, several longtime Israeli allies — including France, the UK and Canada — are poised to recognize a Palestinian state during next month's United Nations General Assembly.
Israel rules out Palestinian statehood and, backed by the US, has accused those countries of rewarding Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered the Gaza war.
'Bulldozers within days'
Palestinians say any Israeli development of E1 would not only divide the West Bank but disrupt economic activity in and between their hub cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.
Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, described the development as a done deal, requiring only the approval of an Israeli planning committee next week.
'In theory, Netanyahu could overturn this. But I doubt Smotrich would have made the announcement without knowing Netanyahu was on-side,' said Peace Now's Hagit Ofran. 'So the bulldozers may be starting work within days.'
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu, a conservative who in 2009 approved negotiations over a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Those US-sponsored talks stalled in 2014 and Netanyahu now opposes statehood — a position endorsed by the Israeli parliament last year.
Last month, parliament called for the Netanyahu government to annex West Bank settlement blocks. Supporters of annexation say Israelis have a right to remain permanently in the West Bank, which they call by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria — the cradle of Jewish civilization.
Previous US administrations joined other world powers in encouraging a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. US President Donald Trump has departed from that, however, and his ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, deems the settlements part of Israel.
--With assistance from Fadwa Hodali.
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