1/7 'Foil a Palestinian State' Israel Issues Tender for Internationally Condemned Construction in West Bank's E1 Area

The construction plans near Jerusalem were delayed for years under international pressure, as they are seen as undermining territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state – a policy encouraged by the Netanyahu government. An Israeli human rights group said building in E1 would displace thousands of Palestinians living in the area

Matan Golan, Haaretz, Jan. 7, 2026 

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-01-07/ty-article/.premium/israel-issues-tender-for-controversial-construction-effectively-splitting-west-bank-in-two/

Israel's Construction and Housing Ministry has issued a tender for 3,401 housing units in the 12-square-kilometer E1 area in the West Bank just east of Jerusalem, under highly controversial plans which will sever the northern and southern West Bank, damaging the chance of future Palestinian territorial continuity. 

The construction plans were delayed for years under international pressure, as they have far-reaching implications for the ability to reach a two-state solution and will draw sharp criticism worldwide. After the plan was approved in August, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, "The Palestinian state is being erased – not with slogans, but with actions."

The building plan was approved in late August 2025, just two weeks after the hearing on objections to the plan took place. The tender was issued on the Israel Land Authority website in December, furthering the promotion of construction in the E1 area.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the Ma'aleh Adumim municipality signed a three-billion-shekel umbrella agreement in September. The agreement includes adding around 7,600 housing units on state land and the development of commercial and business space to enable the city's population to double. Netanyahu was present at the signing, saying, "No Palestinian state will be established." 

On the stage, he jokingly turned to Zeev Elkin, who serves as an additional minister at the Finance Ministry, saying, "Zeev, are you also a resident of the occupied territories? This is the occupied territory. Joshua conquered it! This is the territory of the people of Israel and the Land of Israel." The audience cheered.

Although the plans were filed by the Rabin government in the early 1990s, they've been frozen since 2005 for political reasons and international pressure. Netanyahu first ordered them to be advanced in 2012 and gave preliminary approval for them ahead of the February 2020 elections.

Several petitions were filed against the plan by Palestinians and by Peace Now, Ir Amim, and Bimkom Planners for Planning Rights. They asked the court to issue an interim injunction against implementing the plan, but the court dismissed the petitions. 

The organizations objecting to the plans argue that the area slated for construction in E1 is the only land reserve in the three main centers where Palestinians live – Ramallah, East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, totalling around one million people. They therefore believe that the construction would create settlement contiguity from the central West Bank to Jerusalem, damaging the ability to reach a future peace agreement.

Veteran anti-occupation group Peace Now remarked on the tender, saying, "Intoxicated by unrestrained power, the Israeli government continues to trample on human rights and any attempt at a better political solution for Israelis and Palestinians." 

According to the group, the objective of construction in E1 is to "ethnically cleanse and trample on Palestinian communities, thereby creating a reality of one state, an apartheid state in perpetual conflict. Fixing the damage will require hard work, and in the meantime, displaced communities will seek stable ground, and life in the entire region will spiral into violence, injustice and hopelessness."

Human rights group Ir Amim remarked that "Smotrich, and especially Netanyahu, have explicitly declared that the significant and objective of construction in E1 is to foil plans for a Palestinian state." 

"What they don't want to tell the Israeli public is that construction in E1 comes with uprooting and deporting thousands of Palestinians who live in the area and building fences that imprison behind them nearby Palestinian towns with tens of thousands of people," the group added. "When Israel rejects peace, it is basically choosing transfer and violence that destroys the lives of Palestinians and Israelis."