The Israeli government last week invited bids for the building of more than 1,200 units, a key step towards the construction of the E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank just two months before Israel’s general election. E1 (East 1) would link Ma’ale Adumim and other illegal Israeli settlements to occupied East Jerusalem, effectively severing the West Bank in two. Both supporters and critics agree that its construction would end the possibility of a Palestinian state.
The move has drawn international outrage, including from the United Nations. But sections of Israel’s political class are using this global backlash to their own ends and could frame their support for E1 as a key pitch in their election campaigns. Many on Israel’s right, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thrive on the international outrage their comments and plans draw, particularly criticism from European nations.
Since October 2023, Netanyahu has cast international criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza as an “us vs them” moment for the country. He has frequently framed Israel as alone in a hostile world and that he is the only leader strong enough to stand up to the country’s critics. After the United Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Ed Miliband described E1 as an “unacceptable and destructive act”, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticised the “patronising tone” of his statement.
With the election approaching, the way ministers respond to the E1 project could determine their political futures. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been one of the key proponents of E1 and could benefit from an uptick in support from right-wing Israelis over the proposed illegal settlement. His Religious Zionist Party is currently unlikely to pass the electoral threshold to even run in this year’s election.
The fact that the government’s call for tenders to construct E1 falls so close to Israel’s election is not a coincidence, Flaschenberg said. Neither is the dramatic increase in settler violence in the occupied West Bank, where Smotrich has administrative control. Little of this is accidental,” the analyst added.
Condemnation of the E1 settlement has been almost universal. On Friday, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates rejected the E1 settlement, calling for “immediate action to halt the E1 settlement plan”. Earlier in the week, 15 European and North American leaders, including those from Israel’s traditional allies the United Kingdom, France and Germany, condemned the settlement.
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