Controversial E1 Expansion

The E1 area lies east of Jerusalem and has long been a point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — the development would effectively divide the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem. This expansion has been a source of international criticism for years.

The deadline for bids is set for 19 October, just days before Israel’s general election on 27 October; this timing makes it much harder for any future government to overturn any tenders issued. The tender includes 1,234 of the 3,401 housing units approved by the Israeli government last August.

Historical Context

Settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law; Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews in the occupied territories. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them in the West Bank and Gaza, areas they hope to include in a future state.

Expansion of settlements has risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the head of a right-wing, pro-settler coalition; this trend has been further accelerated by the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

Under international pressure, Israel had previously held off on E1 construction — many of its allies and Palestinians argued that such developments would deal a major blow to hopes of a two-state solution. The current Israeli government gave the go-ahead for E1 construction a year ago, expressly to “erase” the idea of a Palestinian state.

Impact on Palestinian Communities

The housing ministry has issued a tender covering about 12 sq km (4.6 sq miles) between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim; At the time of its announcement, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist and settler, stated that the idea of a Palestinian state was “being erased”.

Opponents of the E1 project have warned that it would effectively block the establishment of a Palestinian state because it would cut off the northern West Bank from the south, and prevent the development of a contiguous Palestinian urban area connecting Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.

Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog, challenged the plans in court and expressed concerns about the government’s strategy to sign contracts with contractors before the elections. It stated that even the partial implementation of the construction plans would “fundamentally” alter the geographic and strategic character of the area by severing the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem.

“Building in E1 will ruin the possibility of reaching an end to the conflict and a peace arrangement based on two states,” Peace Now said.

Jamal Juma, a Palestinian activist for the Stop the Wall campaign, who lives in Jerusalem, said the project would have a devastating impact on Palestinians, but “It is destruction of the communities, it’s destruction of families… this is a disaster,” he told the BBC. He added that more than 40 Bedouin communities would be affected and would have to be evicted.

Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East War; it annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, in a move not recognized by the vast majority of the international community.