Israel’s Housing Ministry on Tuesday invited construction companies to bid on a tender for 3,401 homes in the E1 area near Jerusalem, with a March 16 deadline, advancing plans to build in the contested zone.
A Defense Ministry planning committee gave final approval in August for the construction project, which Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said would bury “the idea of a Palestinian state.”
The project was delayed for decades due to international opposition, led by the European Union and some U.S. administrations. (E1 is an unbuilt area within the municipal boundary of the Judean Desert city of Ma’ale Adumim.)
Once the tender closes in March, the E1 project moves out of the Israeli government’s direct control and becomes irreversible, including from a legal standpoint, as it is handled by the Ma’ale Adumim municipality.
The tender, which was first published on Dec. 10 with a Jan. 26 deadline but was only reported on this week, offers developers leasing rights for 98 years, with an option to extend the lease for an additional 98 years.
Additional details, including minimum price for the land, development costs and other financial terms, will be published separately in the official tender booklet on Feb. 16, the ministry stated on Tuesday.
E1 covers 4.63 square miles between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. The building plans seeks to link Ma’ale Adumim—established more than 40 years ago and home to 40,000 residents—to Jerusalem. E1 is intended to contain three neighborhoods and commercial zones.
