A group of 19 Democratic senators introduced legislation to impose sanctions on the developers of the E1 settlements northeast of Jerusalem on Wednesday, saying that it was a threat to peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
The bill from Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), with 15 other co-sponsors, would apply to any foreign national “responsible for or complicit in the construction of any Israeli settlements or related structures in the E1 area of the West Bank” and those who “attempt to organize, direct, finance or facilitate the transfer of Israeli civilians into E1 settlements.”
“The E1 settlement project is a move towards de facto annexation of the West Bank, and those who choose to facilitate settlement construction should understand that they risk losing access to the U.S. financial system,” Warren stated.
“The United States must use all diplomatic and economic tools available to counter rapid settlement expansion and extremist settler violence in the West Bank, spiraling trends that will only undermine the prospect of lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians,” she stated.
In August, the Israel Lands Authority marketed the first 1,400 housing units of E1, a 4.6 square mile area between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem, to contractors and entrepreneurs.
Proponents and critics of the project agree that the settlement expansion holds strategic significance by establishing a contiguous Jewish presence near Jerusalem and, at the same time, cutting off a Palestinian one.
The Senate Democrats quoted comments about E1 from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in their announcement of the bill.
“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not by slogans but by deeds,” Smotrich said in 2025. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
The sanctions legislation is unlikely to pass given Republican control of the Senate and potential objections from pro-Israel Democrats. It would be more likely to come up for a vote if Democrats gain a majority in the upper chamber in November.
