Israel has quietly posted a tender for the construction of 3,401 homes in the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, a move critics say is designed to 'bury the idea of a Palestinian state'. The tender, issued by the Israel Land Authority in mid-December, invites companies to bid for construction work, with a deadline in mid-March.
According to Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now's Settlement Watch, the accelerated timeline suggests bulldozers could start work in less than a year. The project, located between Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah, would effectively sever the north and south of the West Bank for Palestinians and further isolate East Jerusalem.
The E1 plan has cross-party support in Israel and was initially proposed in the 1990s by former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Both supporters and critics agree that moving tens of thousands of settlers into the area would critically undermine efforts to achieve a two-state solution. The British government has described settlement construction as 'a flagrant breach of international law'.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right settler, has said the project will 'bury' the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state. More than 20 countries, including France, Canada, Italy and Australia, condemned the planning approval in August as a violation of international law. Despite international opposition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed the project forward, stating, 'We said there will be no Palestinian state, and indeed there will be no Palestinian state!'
Peace Now's Hagit Ofran warned that construction could begin within months, ahead of national elections due by October. 'They are doing whatever they can now to create as much irreversible change as possible throughout the West Bank, as fast as possible,' she said.
