After 35 years, Israel finally approves E1 housing plan east of Jerusalem

After decades of delays amid international pressure to scrap the plan, Israel grants final approval for 3,401 housing units in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim – part of a project that could block Palestinian continuity between Judea and Samaria.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Israeli government has given final approval to a contentious housing project east of Jerusalem, 35 years after it was first proposed.

This week, the far-left Peace Now organization revealed that Israel’s Construction and Housing Ministry published tenders last month for 3,401 housing units in the E1 area between eastern Jerusalem and the city of Ma’ale Adumim, the third largest Israeli community in Judea and Samaria.

Issued on December 10, the tenders enable construction to begin in E1, with work expected to begin in less than a month, according to Peace Now.

Since then-Construction and Housing Minister Ariel Sharon in December 1990 first proposed building neighborhoods to link Ma’ale Adumim with the capital, successive Israeli governments have mulled plans to build in the strategically crucial corridor.

However, international pressure and illegal land grabs by Palestinian Arabs have led to repeated delays and amendments to the Sharon plan.

With the support of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – who also serves as Minister in the Defense Ministry, handling settlement affairs – the plan was brought before the Higher Planning Committee last August, with the housing project receiving a green light from the committee.

The project could still face legal hurdles, with several petitions to the Supreme Court against the plan awaiting formal responses from the government.

But the Supreme Court has thus far refused to issue injunctions halting the E1 project, signaling the court is unlikely to intervene.

Construction in E1 has been both touted by supporters and condemned by critics as a step towards de facto annexation of Judea and Samaria by Israel, as the project would create geographic continuity of Israeli municipalities from Jerusalem eastward to the edge of the Adumim settlement bloc.

If completed, the new neighborhood would leave few available options for forming a contiguous Palestinian state spanning Judea and Samaria, effectively cutting the two areas apart.

“In an alarming display of political recklessness, the Israeli government continues to undermine any prospect for a political solution and a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Peace Now said in a statement issued on Monday.

“Construction in E1 is intended to create irreversible facts on the ground leading to a one-state reality, which all indications suggest would take the form of an apartheid regime. Reversing the damage caused by construction in E1 would require many years and substantial effort. In the meantime, the entire region will remain trapped in a cycle of violence, injustice, and lack of hope.”