The Israeli government has invited bids for more than 1,200 units in the proposed E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank, a major step towards construction that comes two months before Israel’s general election. The project would connect Ma’ale Adumim and other Israeli settlements with occupied East Jerusalem, dividing the West Bank and making a Palestinian state less likely, according to supporters and critics of the plan.
The move has triggered condemnation from the United Nations and governments across the Middle East, Europe and North America. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right politicians could use the backlash to present their support for E1 as evidence that they are defending Israel against international pressure.
What the E1 tender changes
The call for tenders is not the completion of the settlement, but it moves the project closer to construction. E1, or East 1, would create a territorial link between Ma’ale Adumim and East Jerusalem while cutting across the occupied West Bank.
Both supporters and critics agree that building E1 would undermine the possibility of a Palestinian state. The project has also been associated with demolitions, displacement and restrictions affecting Palestinian communities as Israel expands roads and other infrastructure in the area.
Related coverage: Tender advances Israel’s E1 settlement project in the West Bank.
Why the timing matters politically
The tender was issued shortly before Israel’s general election, and ministers’ responses to the international reaction could affect their political prospects. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been a leading supporter of E1, while his Religious Zionist Party is described as unlikely to pass the electoral threshold in this year’s election.
Israeli analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg said the timing of the tender and an increase in settler violence in the occupied West Bank, where Smotrich has administrative control, were not accidental. Political analyst Ori Goldberg described the tender as a deliberate provocation issued while Israel faced further international criticism.
How governments have responded
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates called for immediate action to halt the E1 plan. Earlier, 15 European and North American leaders, including those from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, said the project would undermine a two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank.
More context: Human Rights Watch says settler violence is forcing Palestinians from West Bank communities.
The United States has not directly criticised E1 in the supplied statement. The US Department of State did, however, say Washington opposed Israeli annexation of the West Bank and argued that a stable West Bank supports regional peace and Israel’s security.
Does E1 make a Palestinian state impossible?
The plan would make a two-state solution less likely, but its construction has not been established as inevitable or irreversible. Flaschenberg argued that illegal settlements could theoretically be removed if a two-state solution became reality, even though each expansion makes that outcome harder to achieve.
The United Nations has warned that settlement expansion and related infrastructure could fragment the occupied West Bank and potentially displace 18 Palestinian communities. In April 2026, demolitions displaced 23 Palestinians, including 15 children, from the az-Za’im Bedouin community, according to the supplied material.
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