Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has revived the long-stalled E1 settlement project, authorising 3,401 new housing units that would connect the Ma’ale Adumim bloc with Jerusalem. The development, frozen for most of the past two decades under international pressure, would create an Israeli corridor east of the city and effectively bisect the occupied West Bank, a step Smotrich said would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state.” Speaking at a press conference on the planned construction site, Smotrich displayed maps and said work would begin as early as next week, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump back the initiative. The finance minister, a settler himself, pledged billions of shekels to expand Jewish communities and eventually bring one million Israelis to the West Bank. Palestinian officials called the approval an illegal annexation attempt and urged Washington to intervene. The European Union, Norway and rights organisations such as Peace Now also condemned the move, warning that building in E1 would entrench Israeli control over disputed land and make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. Peace Now estimates that, if remaining bureaucratic steps are cleared, infrastructure could start within months and house construction in about a year. The announcement comes amid a sharp rise in settlement activity since the 2023 Gaza war and as several Western governments weigh formal recognition of a Palestinian state. Roughly 700,000 Israeli settlers already live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Diplomats cautioned that proceeding with E1 could deepen Israel’s international isolation and further erode prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.