Washington, DC – Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich today announced approval of more than 3,000 housing units in the long-delayed, unlawful E-1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank – declaring the move is meant to “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state. J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement:

“We are deeply alarmed by this brazen annexationist land grab.

For three decades, Republican and Democratic administrations alike pressed Israel to freeze E-1 because of the devastating blow it would deal to any hope for a negotiated solution creating a Palestinian state.

That restraint has now been abandoned. Whether because it’s lost control to Netanyahu or is actively enabling the extremist settler agenda, the Trump Administration is greenlighting a plan that will cause lasting harm.

E1 has always been understood for what it is: An extremist bid to split the West Bank in two, change facts on the ground and block the path to a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Smotrich is now saying the quiet part out loud – these settlements are a slap in the face to the international community and are designed to make a negotiated peace agreement impossible.

This is not inevitable. The White House, Congress and the international community must use their leverage to stop this reckless plan before it drives Israelis and Palestinians further from peace.”