That statement was echoed by Germany’s foreign ministry in a post on X on Friday morning: “We strongly reject the Israeli government’s announcements regarding the approval of thousands of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Settlement construction violates international law.”
The so-called E1 project had been frozen for decades due to pressure from the international community, as many feared the plans would hinder the establishment of a Palestinian state, which proponents of the two-state solution deem necessary to bring peace to the region.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas issued a statement Thursday urging Israel to cease settlement construction, “noting its far-reaching implications and the need to consider action to protect the viability of the two-state solution.”
The hearing for final approval of the plan has been scheduled at record speed for next Wednesday, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.
“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,” Smotrich said in a statement earlier this week.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Reuters.