Israel Moves Ahead With Settlement Plan That Could ‘Bury’ Two-State Solution

Israel has taken another step toward building a deeply contested settlement project in the occupied West Bank, advancing plans that critics say could sever the territory and effectively end prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state.

The Housing Ministry invited bids for more than 1,200 housing units in E1, an area near Jerusalem intended to link Jewish settlements between East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

If completed, the project would divide the West Bank between its northern and southern areas while separating East Jerusalem, viewed as the capital of a future Palestinian state, from the rest of the territory.

Construction Bids Move Forward

The tender process marks the latest stage in a plan Israel has held back for years amid sustained international opposition.

Bids are due one week before Israeli elections scheduled for late October.

Peace Now, an Israeli group monitoring settlements, accused the government of seeking to entrench the project before leaving office.

“This is a last-minute maneuver that is part of the scorched-earth policy the government is pursuing at the end of its term to secure long years of conflict and bloodshed for Israel,” the group said.

International Pressure Builds

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has accelerated settlement approvals across the West Bank, even as Western governments have increased pressure over expansion.

Canada, Australia and Germany were among countries that warned companies in May against participating in settlement construction in the West Bank and E1, citing potential “legal and reputational consequences.”

Leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., Norway and the Netherlands repeated the warning on Thursday.

“At a time of grave instability in the West Bank with unprecedented levels of violence by settlers against civilians, and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy, this decision is even more concerning,” they said.

Smotrich Ties E1 to Palestinian Statehood

Israel granted final approval to the E1 plan last year.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich explicitly framed that decision as a move against the creation of a Palestinian state.

“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans, but with actions,” Smotrich said at the time.

The U.K. has also threatened further measures over the project. Foreign Secretary Ed Milliband described the latest move as an “unacceptable and destructive act” and said Britain would not accept the destruction of the two-state solution.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected the criticism, arguing that Britain had no basis to dictate where Jewish people could live.

Palestinian and Egyptian Rejection

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, described the E1 decision as “extremely dangerous, irresponsible, and threatening.”

Egypt also condemned the tenders and called for international action to halt the project.

Cairo said settlement expansion was entrenching a new reality on occupied Palestinian territory while changing its legal status and demographic composition, undermining the possibility of implementing a two-state solution.

Most of the international community and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law.

Israeli settlers have also established dozens of unauthorized outposts in recent years, with some subsequently receiving approval from the Israeli government.