Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich holds a map showing the long-frozen E1 settlement plan, which would separate East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, on Aug. 14, 2025. (Credit: AFP)
It is beneath the hills of Ma’ale Adumim, an illegal settlement seven kilometers from Jerusalem, that Bezalel Smotrich intends to bury any prospect of a future Palestinian state. The Israeli finance minister, an extremist settler who is also responsible for overseeing civil affairs in the West Bank, announced on Thursday the preliminary approval of a plan to build 3,400 housing units by the Higher Planning Committee, the body responsible for continuing settlement in Area C. The new settlement would extend to the E-1 area, a 12.5 km² area between East Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, interrupting the territorial continuity between Ramallah and Bethlehem. From our archives After Paris, can growing recognition of Palestine shift Israel’s stance? Smotrich announced his clear objective: to drive “the final nail in the coffin” of the...
It is beneath the hills of Ma’ale Adumim, an illegal settlement seven kilometers from Jerusalem, that Bezalel Smotrich intends to bury any prospect of a future Palestinian state. The Israeli finance minister, an extremist settler who is also responsible for overseeing civil affairs in the West Bank, announced on Thursday the preliminary approval of a plan to build 3,400 housing units by the Higher Planning Committee, the body responsible for continuing settlement in Area C. The new settlement would extend to the E-1 area, a 12.5 km² area between East Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, interrupting the territorial continuity between Ramallah and Bethlehem. From our archives After Paris, can growing recognition of Palestine shift Israel’s stance? Smotrich announced his clear objective: to drive “the final nail in the coffin” of...
