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Netanyahu approves new settlement units in E1 one week before election

Just one week before elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his approval of 3,500 new illegal settler homes in the highly contested ‘E1’ area of the central occupied West Bank.

“I have given instructions to immediately publish for deposit the plan to build 3,500 housing units in E-1,” Netanyahu said in a speech on Tuesday, adding that the plans “had been delayed for six or seven years.”

Israel’s plans for the E1 corridor, which has been in the works since 1995, has been consistently delayed due to pressure from the international community, including the EU and former US administration.

The E1 plan seeks to create a settlement bloc connecting the mega settlement of Ma’ale Adumim with Jerusalem, effectively splitting the West Bank in two, cutting off the north from the south.

Source: Peace Now

The consequences of the plan came to light in recent years through the fight to save the bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, who fall right in the middle of the E1 corridor, from forcible expulsion.

Their community would be one of dozens of Bedouin enclaves in the corridor who would be forcibly evicted from their homes if the plans are seen through.

The announcement came just one week before the Israeli public will head back to the polls for the third time in a year to elect their prime minister, after two failed attempts by Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz to form governing coalitions.

A map showing where the E1 corridor is in relation to the rest of the West Bank. (Source: Peace Now)

Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud  government has relied on the support of the settlers for their support in the past two elections, and has used similar political offerings in order to guarantee their support.

In the first round of elections in April last year, he vowed to annex the hundreds of settlements in the occupied West Bank, and ahead of the September elections, he furthered that promise by vowing to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, which comprises one third of the entire West Bank.

Palestinian leaders slammed Netanyahu for the announcement, and called on EU member states to step in and prevent Israeli construction in the area.

Criticizing the plan as a “colonial project,” chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat released a statement condemning the US for giving the greenlight for Israel to move forward with such plans.

“Per the agreed-upon plan between the U.S. and Israel teams, Israel now continues to impose new illegal facts on the ground that systematically violate international law and human rights, annihilate the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine, and threaten the very peace and security of the entire region,” Erekat said.

“It is now clear for the international community that this vision of annexation only aims at burying the prospects of a negotiated solution,” he continued, calling for the international community to put sanctions on Israel for its violations of international law in the occupied territory.

Settlement watchdog Peace Now slammed the decision, saying “building in E1 would sever this territorial connection, torpedoing the possibility for a viable Palestinian state if Israel insists on retaining the land.”

“Israel is officially choosing to risk perpetual conflict instead of resolving it. It is no less than a national disaster that must be stopped before it is too late,” the group said

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Ok, let’s pretend Israel didn’t “bury the prospects of a negotiated solution” 20 years ago:

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-netanyahu-s-latest-election-spin-is-a-point-of-no-return-for-israeli-settlements-1.8590666

Over the past decade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has withstood the pressure from the right and maintained the construction freeze on Givat Hamatos and E-1. We will never know if it was fear of international pressure or because he understood the significance of such a step for Israel’s future. But now, only a few days before a third election in a year, while the world is preoccupied with the coronavirus, Netanyahu has chosen to cross the red lines and take us all with him. …

This proves that BDS (including such things as the boycott of Cheerios and AirBnb) have not “forced Israel to make concessions”. Which of course they wouldn’t since the Israeli economy is rather strong. Sadly, the response will be more BDS. It’s like if a medicine against cancer doesn’t work, the response is more medicine. Very strange how smart people can be so irrational.

Anyone who have visited the area of E1 knows immediately that the Arabs who have made camp besides the main roads or who are perched on a small outcrop of rocks, have been coerced into doing this by the Palestinians , foreign financed, political machine. They are being used as pawns. If Israel is about 60 miles wide, how big do you think E1 actually is? It’s a tiny piece of land made into the biggest deal in the world. Let’s all shed a tear for the kids learning in a school who’s walls are reinforced with tires. The millage they get out this this one needs to be seen to be believed. Pump, pump, pump goes the propaganda machine.
More and more Arabs are understanding that Israel is good for the region. They may not be large in number but it is growing.
In case you have not heard, Israeli scientists have developed a vaccine for Corona.