Tel Aviv [Israel], August 15 : Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday announced plans to advance tenders for the construction of over 3,000 housing units in the contentious E1 settlement area, located between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported.
Smotrich declared that the move would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state", adding that the plan has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The project has been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition from the international community, who fear the new settlement neighbourhood would prevent the establishment of a contiguous, viable Palestinian state, as per The Times of Israel.
"Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government," Smotrich said in his statement on Wednesday.
"After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best, building, settling, and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel," said Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defence Ministry responsible for the West Bank civilian issues.
According to The Times of Israel, the proposed construction of a new neighbourhood for the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in the E1 zone has been a longstanding source of concern for the international community. Such development would effectively split the West Bank into northern and southern sections, obstructing the possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian urban area linking East Jerusalem with Bethlehem and Ramallah, a vision the Palestinians have long seen as central to the foundation of their future state.
Smotrich said in a speech on Thursday that Netanyahu supports his move. "He backs me up in everything concerning Judea and Samaria, and is letting me create the revolution," Smotrich said at an event in Ma'ale Adumim organised by the Yesha Council, the umbrella organisation representing local authorities in settlements.
Smotrich, who holds a junior ministerial position within the Defence Ministry that gives him significant influence over settlement construction, said the approvals for the long-frozen E1 settlement project are a response to a wave of Western countries that have announced or floated plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations next month.
"Today, anyone in the world who tries to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground," he declared. "Today, we are writing a historic chapter in the story of the redemption of the people of Israel in their land."
Smotrich boasted that "after 20 years of delays... the traffic jam has been broken [and] the E1 plan is underway," adding that the government is "fulfilling the promise and connecting Ma'ale Adumim with a strategic, security and demographic connection, which ensures our united capital for generations."
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