Why is Israel’s announcement about planning in E1 a big deal?
For decades, the United States has supported a two-state solution as the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet right now, that solution is under dire threat. The Netanyahu government’s decision to build a massive new settlement in the E1 zone of the West Bank is much more than a tit-for-tat response to the United Nations General Assembly's recognition of Palestinian statehood. This move is a dagger aimed at the heart of a future Palestinian state – and therefore at the two-state solution. It is also a slap in the face to the international community, the United States and the overwhelming majority of American Jews who long to see Israel living at peace with its neighbors.

This is not a routine settlement-construction announcement. Building in E1 would mean cutting off the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem from the West Bank and undermining the prospects of a two-state solution along with it. Resolution of the conflict requires the emergence of a contiguous Palestinian state with the E1 zone as its sole north-south corridor. Construction in this area could ultimately result in the loss of Israel as a Jewish and democratic homeland. The area is so essential to a two-state solution that the United States has intervened since 2005 to halt Israeli plans to build there.

Its time for the Obama administration to do the same now. Tell President Obama: Say NO To E1 Settlements

Rabbis and Cantors are speaking out on E1 as well -- read a joint letter by Rabbis from J Street, Americans for Peace Now and Rabbis for Human Rights - North America and sign on.

 

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Resources on E1

What is E1? | Where is E1? | What are people saying about this move? |
Where can I learn more about Israeli-Palestinian borders and a two-state solution?

What exactly is E1, and what makes it different?
Read these resources to learn more about what E1 is and what makes this area unique.

• E1 development would be the ‘death knell for the two-state solution’, J Street, November 30, 2012
• Daniel Seidemann: More Israeli Settlements Could Scuttle Peace Plan, NPR, December 3, 2012
• The E1 Crisis: This is Not a Drill, Terrestrial Jerusalem, December 5, 2012
• Ir Amim: What is the E1 area and why is it so important?, +972 Magazine, December 2, 2012
• Q&A on E1 and Ma’ale Adumim, Peace Now, May 19, 2005

Where is E1, and what would settlements there do?
Check out these maps and see for yourself what building in E1 would mean for a future Palestinian state:

Terrestrial Jerusalem Maps (Slides 21-23)

What are people saying?
Read these opinions about what E1 construction would mean for a two-state solution.

• The right way to play: Keep our true goals in mind, Rabbi Donniel Hartman, Jerusalem Post, December 6, 2012
• Two States and E1, The Forward, December 5, 2012
• Union of Reform Judaism Denounces Israel’s Decision to Expand Settlements, Ha’aretz, December 4, 2012
• Reckless Behavior, Ha’aretz, December 4, 2012
• Action-Overreaction, Shmuel Rosner, The New York Times, December 4, 2012
• US Slams Israel on New Settlement Plan, AP, December 3, 2012
• 'U.S. angered by claim that new building at E-1 aimed at Obama, not Palestinians', Ha'aretz, December 3, 2012
• State Dept. warns E1 construction would damage two-state solution prospects, JTA, December 3, 2012
• How Obama Could Stop Those Israeli Settlements, Robert Wright, The Atlantic, December 3, 2012
• Dividing the West Bank and Deepening a Rift, The New York Times, December 1, 2012
• Letting Israel Self-Destruct, Daniel Seidemann, Washington Post, August 26, 2004

Where can I learn more about Israeli-Palestinian borders in a two-state solution?

• The urgency of a two-state solution, J Street
• Is Peace Possible? Borders, The Atlantic and the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace
• Challenges in Defining an Israeli-Palestinian Border, The New York Times interactive feature
• Danny Seidemann on a Two-State Solution, J Street video