Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday threw support behind building 3,400 homes in the sensitive E1 corridor of the occupied West Bank, reigniting global debate over the two-state solution.
Stretching over 12 square kilometers east of Jerusalem, E1 sits between the ancient city and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim—critics warn it could carve the West Bank in two.
Smotrich, a leading figure in Israel’s far-right, framed the push as a strategic response to diplomatic shifts: “Those who want to recognize a Palestinian state today will receive a response from us on the ground… houses, neighborhoods, roads and Jewish families building their lives.”
But the plan has met fierce international resistance. UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s spokesman warned it would “sever the northern and southern West Bank” and “put an end to prospects of a two-state solution.” The European Union’s chief diplomat called the project a breach of international law that “further undermines the two-state solution,” while Germany “strongly objects” and Saudi Arabia condemned the move “in the strongest possible terms.”
Backed by a technical committee under Israel’s Defense Ministry, the project could see infrastructure work begin within months and housing completed within a year. All the while, the West Bank remains home to roughly three million Palestinians alongside half a million Israeli settlers, raising stakes on the ground and across diplomatic channels.
As debate intensifies, the E1 corridor has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Palestine conflict—a real estate battle that could define the future of Jerusalem, the viability of an independent Palestinian state, and the shape of peace in the region.
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Israeli far-right minister backs contentious West Bank settlement plan
cgtn.com
