Israel’s Netanyahu signs West Bank settlement expansion plan, rules out Palestinian state
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving to sign a framework agreement on Sept 11 that aims to speed up development in the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Netanyahu approved settlement expansion, including the E1 project, bisecting the West Bank and isolating East Jerusalem, despite international objections.
- Netanyahu declared, "There will never be a Palestinian state. This place is ours," signalling a rejection of the two-state solution.
- The US$1 billion project, opposed over peace deal concerns, proceeds with support from nationalist coalition members like Bezalel Smotrich.
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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement on Sept 11 to push ahead with a controversial settlement expansion plan that would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.
“There will never be a Palestinian state. This place is ours,” Mr Netanyahu said, during a visit to the Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank where thousands of new housing units would be added. “We will safeguard our heritage, our land, and our security.”
In August, the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final approval from a Defence Ministry planning commission.
Mr Netanyahu was joined by nationalist members of his coalition, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in August said a Palestinian state “is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions”.
The move, coming two days after Israel tried to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar
Restarting the project could further isolate Israel, which has watched some Western allies
E1 is located adjacent to Maale Adumim and was frozen in 2012 and 2020 amid objections from the US and European governments.
Total investment in the project, which will include adding roads and upgrading major infrastructure, is estimated at nearly US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion).
Western capitals and campaign groups have opposed the settlement project due to concerns that it could undermine a future peace deal with the Palestinians.
The two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. REUTERS
