Today, Sunday, the Israeli Attorney General, Gali Behraf-Meara, postponed the deadline for submitting construction bids for the “E1” settlement project until after the legislative elections scheduled for next October 27. A spokeswoman for the Public Prosecutor explained that this step aims to reduce concerns related to the use of the tender in electoral propaganda, which is prohibited by law, which brings this controversial project back to the forefront of political events after years of disruption.
The project aims to connect the “Maale Adumim” settlement to Jerusalem and isolate the city from its Palestinian surroundings within the “Greater Jerusalem” plan, which will practically lead to bisecting the West Bank and separating its north from its south. The plan dates back to 1991 during the era of Yitzhak Shamir’s government, then Yitzhak Rabin’s government took practical steps to implement it in the mid-nineties, before it was frozen as a result of continuous American pressure over the following decades, as well as strong opposition from the European Union that prevented its implementation in previous stages, despite repeated attempts to revive it, most notably in 2004 during Ariel Sharon’s term.
This development comes amid the insistence of the Israeli right to move forward with the project. Last summer, the Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, considered that approving construction in “E1” constitutes “the final nail in the coffin” of establishing a Palestinian state, stressing that the absence of this region makes the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital practically impossible. Smotrich said at the time: “Whoever wants to recognize a Palestinian state will see our response on the ground, not with statements, but with Jewish homes, roads, and families building their lives here,” adding that this construction aims to “bury the Palestinian idea forever.”
The timing of the project’s revival intersects with successive waves of international recognition of the Palestinian state between 2024 and 2025, which began with recognition by countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, and Armenia, and expanded in September 2025 to include France, Britain, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra, and Monaco. It is noteworthy that the “E1” project has been the subject of widespread international objections over the past decades due to its devastating repercussions on the geographical contiguity of any future Palestinian state.
