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Hearing on Ma’ale Adumim E-1 housing project postponed again

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave Washington advance notice of the decision.

By JNS

Israel has postponed for the third time a hearing on a proposed housing project in the E1 (East 1) zone east of Jerusalem.

Two Israeli officials confirmed to Axios the postponement of the meeting, scheduled for Monday, of the Subcommittee for Objections within the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration.

Israel’s Civil Administration oversees civilian matters, including construction, within Area C of Judea and Samaria.

The officials also told the American news website that Netanyahu’s administration had notified the United States of the decision on Thursday.

According to Israeli and U.S. officials who spoke to Axios, in the last two weeks the Biden administration and European countries have expressed concern about the project, which would see 3,412 homes built in a new neighborhood of Ma’ale Adumim.

The subcommittee meeting on the E1 project was originally scheduled for last September but was postponed until March 27. It was then pushed off to Monday before the latest postponement.

A plan to link Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem has been frozen for nearly 30 years due to U.S. and European opposition. At the heart of the controversy is the competition between Israel and the Palestinians over the continuity of construction—east-west (Israel) or north-south (Palestinians).