Netanyahu announces implementation of E1 settlement plan: the final nail in the coffin of the Palestinian state
Al-Khamisa News Network - Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening signed off on implementing the E1 settlement plan around the Ma’ale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, a move described as “a knockout blow to the idea of a Palestinian state.” Netanyahu said during the signing ceremony: “There will be no Palestinian state, we said that, and now we are making it a reality.”
Project details
The plan includes building 3,401 new settlement units that will link Ma’ale Adumim with Jerusalem, cutting the Palestinian territorial continuity between the north of the West Bank (Ramallah and Nablus) and its south (Bethlehem and Hebron). That would make the possibility of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state virtually impossible.
Netanyahu described the project as “the realisation of a historic vision,” saying Ma’ale Adumim will double to around 70,000 residents within five years and calling it a “huge change” to the demographic map. He also linked the project to the regional context, saying: “We will not only fight Hamas, but we will confront the Houthis and Iran’s other proxies… what began in Gaza will end in Gaza.”
Government backing and expected international criticism
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich officially approved the project and called it a “historic achievement” after it had been frozen for more than 20 years under international pressure, adding that it was “the final nail in the coffin of the Palestinian state.”
The E1 plan is one of the most internationally controversial settlement schemes; the United Nations, the European Union and successive U.S. administrations have previously warned against its implementation, saying it would effectively eliminate any prospect for a two-state solution.
