Israel Moves Settlers Into E1 Bloc as Allies Condemn
Israel began re-establishing the E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank overnight, moving the first families onto a site long frozen because it would sever the territory in two and cut off a future Palestinian state from East Jerusalem. Britain, France, Germany, Canada and others condemned the move as “unacceptable”, warning of “legal and reputational consequences”. Israel’s finance minister has hailed the plan, saying “the Palestinian state is being erased”.
E1 is the most sensitive plot of land in the West Bank, a wedge of hillside whose development would join a large settlement to Jerusalem and slice the territory’s north from its south, making a contiguous Palestinian state all but impossible. Successive governments held back under intense international pressure; that this Israeli government is proceeding now, weeks before an election, signals how far the political centre of gravity has shifted and how little it fears Western objection. The coordinated condemnation from the UK and its allies is unusually pointed, but words have rarely altered settlement policy, and Israel is betting they will not now. Watch whether the critics move beyond statements to sanctions, and how Palestinians and their neighbours respond.