Israel Opens Bidding on E1 Settlement as Five Nations Demand a Halt

Today’s Focus

On Wednesday, Israel’s housing ministry opened bidding for 1,234 homes in a West Bank zone known as E1, according to the BBC and The Times of Israel. The tender is the first tranche of 3,401 units the government approved last August.

The E1 area spans roughly 12 square kilometers (about 4.6 square miles) sitting between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim, the BBC reported. Bedouin Palestinian residents and Israeli peace groups have challenged the plans in Israeli court.

Governments in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Canada issued a joint statement calling on Israel to abandon the project, per Euronews and BBC coverage. They warned the construction would damage prospects for a Palestinian state.

The bidding window closes on 19 October, days ahead of Israel’s general election scheduled for 27 October, the BBC noted. Analysts cited by the broadcaster said that timing would complicate any effort by a future government to cancel awarded contracts.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler and ultranationalist who backed the plan at its 2024 unveiling, said the concept of a Palestinian state was being wiped out, according to the BBC.

Since capturing the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, Israel has established roughly 160 settlements housing about 700,000 people, the BBC reported. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live in the same territory. Settlement growth accelerated after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a right-wing coalition in late 2022.

The Debate

Supporters argue

Smotrich and pro-settlement figures in Netanyahu’s coalition frame E1 as securing Jewish presence around Jerusalem and connecting the capital to Maale Adumim. Smotrich said the plan reflects a rejection of Palestinian statehood, telling audiences at its rollout that the idea of such a state “is being erased,” per the BBC.

Backers contend that Israel holds legitimate security and historical claims to the area and that settlement decisions fall within Israeli sovereignty over territory it administers. They argue that Maale Adumim, home to tens of thousands of residents, needs contiguous development to remain viable.

Supporters also point to the electoral calendar as a feature, not a flaw. Locking in tenders before the 27 October vote, they say, delivers on longstanding coalition promises to settler constituencies who have pressed for expansion for years.

Some in the governing bloc argue that repeated international condemnation has not altered facts on the ground across successive governments, and that Israel should proceed with what it views as domestic housing policy.

Critics argue

The joint statement from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada urged Israel to reverse course, warning the project threatens a two-state outcome, according to Euronews and the BBC. Opponents say E1 sits at the geographic heart of the problem.

Critics warn that building in E1 would cut the northern West Bank off from the south, blocking a contiguous Palestinian urban zone and, in CNN’s framing, potentially “burying” the two-state solution. That geographic split, they argue, is the point rather than a side effect.

Bedouin Palestinian residents of the area and Israeli peace organizations have taken the plans to Israeli courts, the BBC reported, arguing the construction would displace communities. Palestinians seek the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza for a future state.

The five governments framed the tenders as a violation of international law and an obstacle to a negotiated peace, per the BBC. They cast the pre-election timing as an attempt to make the decision irreversible.

What the experts say

The International Court of Justice, in a July 2024 advisory opinion, found Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and said settlement activity breaches international law. That nonbinding ruling reflects the mainstream reading of the Fourth Geneva Convention by UN legal bodies.

Peace Now, an Israeli settlement-monitoring group whose data is widely cited by researchers, has long documented E1 as uniquely consequential because of its location bisecting the West Bank. The corridor’s development would leave Palestinian travel between Ramallah and Bethlehem dependent on detours around Jerusalem.

Historical data compiled by the BBC shows settlement growth is not new: roughly 700,000 settlers now live across about 160 communities built since 1967. Expansion has climbed sharply since 2022. Successive Israeli governments have permitted growth despite decades of objections from allies including the United States, suggesting external pressure alone has rarely reversed approved projects.

By the Numbers

1,234: housing units in the first E1 tender opened by Israel’s housing ministry, according to the BBC.

3,401: total units the Israeli government approved for E1 in August 2024, per the BBC.

12 sq km: approximate area of the E1 zone between East Jerusalem and Maale Adumim, the BBC reported.

5: number of governments (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada) in the joint condemnation, per Euronews.

700,000: estimated settlers living in about 160 West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements built since 1967, according to the BBC.

3.3 million: estimated Palestinians living in the same territory, per the BBC.

19 October: deadline for construction bids, days before Israel’s 27 October general election, the BBC reported.