Plans for a contentious settlement project near Jerusalem have cleared the final hurdle before construction on the development, which both critics and proponents say will effectively divide the West Bank, according to a government tender.
The tender, which seeks bids from developers, would clear the way to begin building thousands of housing units in an area known as E1 east of the capital.
The anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now first reported the tender. Yoni Mizrahi, who runs the group’s settlement watch division, said initial work could begin within the month.
“In an alarming display of political recklessness, the Israeli government continues to undermine any prospect for a political solution and a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Peace Now said in a Monday statement. “Construction in E1 is intended to create irreversible facts on the ground leading to a one-state reality.”
Development of E1, an open tract of desert between Jerusalem and the mega-settlement of Maaleh Adumim, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations.
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The Palestinians and much of the international community hold Israeli settlements to be illegal and argue that they harm the chances of the Palestinians establishing a viable state in the West Bank.
A controversial project
The E1 project is especially contentious because it will link Maaleh Adumim to the capital, creating a contiguous bloc of settlements deep into the West Bank. Critics say it would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference announcing his plans to approve more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 West Bank settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim on August 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who oversees settlement policy, has long pushed for the plan to become a reality.
“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” he said in August, when Israel gave final approval to the plan. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
The tender, publicly accessible on the website for Israel’s Land Authority, calls for proposals to develop 3,401 housing units. Peace Now said the publication of the tender “reflects an accelerated effort to advance construction in E1.
Smotrich has driven forward the planning and approval process for large numbers of new housing units in the settlements, as well as the large-scale appropriation of land for the construction of new settlements and settlement infrastructure, and the retroactive legalization of what were formerly illegal settlement outposts under Israeli law.
A construction site in the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim on February 29, 2024. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
Smotrich, who has advanced these processes as a minister in the Defense Ministry with responsibility for civilian affairs in the West Bank, has stated that these and other efforts are designed to de facto annex the territory and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Tenders are published for construction companies to bid on contracts for the construction of housing units and other projects in the West Bank after the planning and approval have been completed.
This means that, barring some form of political intervention, the construction has already been approved and will go ahead once the tenders are awarded, which can typically take one to two years.
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