Israel to advance E1 settlement project that would ‘kill the Palestinian state’
An Israeli flag and a giant Star of David are displayed in the Eviatar settlement outpost, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on 19 October 2024
Lubna Masarwa and Huthifa Fayyad report in Middle East Eye on 7 May 2025:
Israel is poised to move forward with a highly contentious settlement project east of Jerusalem that would effectively divide the occupied West Bank in two, according to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“This is how we effectively kill the Palestinian state,” Smotrich, a far-right minister who also oversees settlement activity and civilian affairs in the West Bank, said during a conference on Tuesday.
The project, known as the E1 plan, would involve the construction of 3,412 housing units for Israeli settlers on occupied Palestinian land. It aims to connect the settlements of Kfar Adumim and Maale Adumim with occupied East Jerusalem, cutting off Palestinian communities from one another and significantly disrupting territorial continuity.
The plan would isolate East Jerusalem from the West Bank, forcing Palestinians to take lengthy detours to travel between cities and towns, while enabling further expansion of Israeli settlements.
Although the E1 construction plan dates back to the 1990s, its implementation has repeatedly been delayed due to strong international opposition. Both the United States and the European Union have warned successive Israeli governments against advancing the plan, citing its potentially devastating impact on prospects for a two-state solution.
Smotrich said the government will advance the plans in the coming months, though he did not give a specific date.
Xavier Abu Eid, a communications advisor with the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s negotiations department, warned that Smotrich’s remarks should not be dismissed as fringe rhetoric. He noted that the minister’s stance reflects a broader consensus within Israeli politics. “Smotrich is not a marginal voice,” Abu Eid told Middle East Eye. “When it comes to Palestine, his goal of denying Palestinian freedom aligns with the mainstream among Zionist parties. And when it comes to racism more broadly, his role is essential in keeping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition intact.”
Abu Eid said Smotrich’s previous statements align with broader Israeli policies, including those he described as “ethnic cleansing and occupation in Gaza, targeting West Bank refugee camps and moving for annexation in the West Bank”.
Preventing a Palestinian state
Speaking at a settlement conference organised by the right-wing Makor Rishon newspaper in the Ofra settlement, Smotrich reaffirmed his commitment to the project.
He said the government had already approved 15,000 settlement units in 2024 and is investing 7bn shekels (approximately $1.9bn) in new roads across the West Bank to facilitate further settlement growth. In March, Israel’s political-security cabinet approved a separate road for Palestinians south of the E1 area, linking the northern and southern West Bank.