An Israeli panel gave final approval on Wednesday for a housing project in Judea that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week “buries the idea of a Palestinian state.”
The project involves the construction of about 3,400 housing units in the so-called E1 area of Ma’ale Adumim, located between Jerusalem and the currently built-up part of Ma’ale Adumim.
Separately, the panel approved 342 units for a new neighborhood in the Jewish town of Asa’el, located some 11.5 miles south of Hebron.
The apartments will be constructed alongside public buildings and infrastructure.
The Civil Administration’s Settlement Subcommittee “approved the construction of neighborhoods comprising 3,400 housing units in the E1 area—a top-tier Zionist and security move that ensures the strategic connection between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem and secures the city’s future for generations,” Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach said, according to public broadcaster Kan.
“This is a dramatic and significant step that strengthens the settlement project, deepens Israel’s hold in the heart of the land, and makes it clear to the entire world that Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the State of Israel. We commend Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for approving the plan,” said the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
“We expect the government of Israel to continue with these steps and to apply full Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, for the sake of future generations and for the future of settlement in the Land of Israel,” the council added.
According to Ynet, the E1 plan cuts off the Palestinian territorial continuity from Ramallah to Bethlehem, something far-left Israeli NGO Peace Now dubbed a “death blow to the Palestinian state.”
Barring unforeseen circumstances, construction should begin in a few months, the outlet said.
Speaking at press conference in Ma’ale Adumim last week, Smotrich, who also serves as a second minister in the Defense Ministry, with responsibility for civilian matters in Judea and Samaria, said: “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.”
Regavim, an Israeli NGO focused on land issues, called the approval a “major milestone,” congratulating all those involved to make it a reality following 12 years of work.
How long does it take for a cause to succeed? The E1 regional plan has finally been approved!
— Regavim (@RegavimEng) August 20, 2025
See this 2013 post 👆🏽
Even back then, we were actively working to secure the strategically vital E1 area.
Now, 12 years later, a major milestone: the Mevaseret Adumim neighborhood… pic.twitter.com/MDpe9vCy25
Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at Ir Amim (“City of Nations”), a far-left NGO focused on “reorienting” the public discourse in favor of carving Jerusalem into two capitals, expressed disapproval of the move. According to Kan, he lamented Israel’s “determination” to bury the possibility of a Palestinian state and to de facto annex Judea and Samaria.
He urged the international community to take “effective steps” to prevent the displacement of Palestinians in the E1 area.
Peace Now decried the project, saying its entire purpose is “to sabotage [the two-state] solution and rush toward a binational apartheid state.”
The E1 building plan covers an area of 12 square kilometers (4.63 square miles) between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim—mostly state land to the north and west of the Jerusalem-Ma’ale Adumim road. With the plan, Israel seeks to link Ma’ale Adumim—established east of Jerusalem more than 40 years ago and now home to 40,000 residents—to the Mount Scopus ridge, which lies within Jerusalem’s boundaries.
Area E1 is intended to contain three neighborhoods, as well as zones for commerce, industry and hotels.
Judea and Samaria’s Jewish population stands at 529,455, according to a report published on Jan. 1 that cited data from the Interior Ministry.
The natural growth of the region’s residents is expected to result in a population in excess of 600,000 by 2030, almost 700,000 by 2035 and more than one million by 2050, the report added.
