| On March 27, the Objections Subcommittee of the Civil Administration’s (ICA) High Planning Council is scheduled to convene a discussion on the settlement plans for E1 and likely move towards their approval. This discussion had been scheduled and subsequently cancelled on three different occasions over the course of 2022 reportedly due to international pressure. The announcement of the new date comes just days after Israel’s alleged commitment to temporarily halt the advancement of new settlements in exchange for the Palestinian Authority suspending its efforts towards a UN Security Council vote against Israeli settlements.
The two E1 plans (TPS YOSH 420-4-7, TPS YOSH 420-4-10) for a total of 3,412 housing units are designated for an area of over 2,100 dunams strategically situated between East Jerusalem and the Maaleh Adumim settlement. Construction in E1 has long been considered a game-changer in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it will bisect the West Bank and detach it from East Jerusalem, dealing a death blow to the prospects of a two-state framework with two capitals in Jerusalem.
For years, the E1 plans had been frozen due to strong bipartisan US and international opposition until Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the plans be deposited for objections as part of his 2020 re-election bid and within the framework of the government's accelerated steps towards annexation.
In October 2021, two discussions were held by the objections subcommittee of the ICA's High Planning Council on objections submitted by numerous Palestinian communities and Israeli organizations, including Ir Amim, Peace Now and the Association of Environmental Justice in Israel. In these discussions, no final decision had yet to be made.
Beyond its lethal geopolitical ramifications, Israeli construction in this area likewise threatens to displace roughly 3,000 Palestinians living in small Bedouin communities in the area, the most notable of which, Khan al-Amar. Earlier this month, the state requested its 9th extension from the Supreme Court to delay submission of its response to a petition filed by the Regavim settler organization, which calls for the immediate evacuation and demolition of Khan al-Ahmar. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is one of the founders of the organization and has actively called for the village’s removal. The court partially accepted the state’s request on February 7, instructing it to submit its response by April 2. |
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