JERUSALEM — Israel has given the go-ahead for a very controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank. Critics say this could make it impossible to get a two-state solution. The E1 project will build about 3,500 additional residences, which will effectively cut off the northern and southern areas of the West Bank from each other.
The E1 tract is east of Jerusalem and is one of the remaining places where the big Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem may connect. Palestinians who want to go between the two cities have to take a long detour and go through a lot of Israeli checkpoints, even though they are only 22 kilometers (14 miles) away. If the E1 project is built, it will make this split much worse, making it almost impossible for a contiguous Palestinian state to exist.
Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Finance Minister and former head of the settlers, praised the approval as a slap in the face to Western countries who have recently said they would recognize a Palestinian state. He remarked on Wednesday, “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions.” “Every settlement, every neighborhood, and every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
The E1 project has been in the works for more than 20 years, but it has been put on hold many times because of pressure from past U.S. governments. But the present government, which is mostly made up of religious and ultranationalist leaders who are closely linked to the settlement movement, has sped up the plan. Smotrich has promised to quadruple the number of people living in the West Bank.
The UN and most other countries in the world think that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are against international law. The UN and other international groups have always said that expanding settlements is a fundamental barrier to peace.
The E1 project was approved at a time when tensions in the West Bank were rising. Settlers were attacking Palestinians more often, the Israeli military was getting more involved, and freedom of movement was being restricted. The story says that there are now more than 700,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.