Netanyahu Blocks Pally State With New Housing Development

     The Israeli city of Ma’aleh Adumin

Netanyahu Blocks Palestinian State with New Housing Development

“There will be no Palestinian state.” So declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, upon approving a new housing development east of Jerusalem that will divide the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

The development, known as E1, was approved by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich in August after several western countries began saying that they would recognize a Palestinian state despite the ongoing war, and despite the fact that Hamas continues to hold, and to starve, dozens of Israeli hostages.

The new community will connect Jerusalem with the settlement community of Ma’aleh Adumin, to the east.

The Jerusalem Post reported:

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the new E1 settlement plan near Ma’aleh Adumim, which would split east Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Standing at the site of the planned settlement, Smotrich said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 development.

Netanyahu visited Ma’aleh Adumim to approve the plan — and to declare the Palestinian state over. The Times of Israel reported:

“There will be no Palestinian state,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the ceremony in Ma’ale Adumim. 

Correspondent Shalom Yerushalmi said: “Construction in E1 is the last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution.”

In remarks distributed by the Government Press Office, and translated from Hebrew, Netanyahu said:

We said that there will not be a Palestinian state – and indeed there will be no Palestinian state! This place is ours. We will see to our heritage, our land and our security.

We are now almost two years into a war that was forced on us on that terrible day of slaughter, of abductions of our hostages, most of whom have returned, but others remain. We will bring them all back – the living and the deceased.

However, we understood, and I said this on the second day of the war, we will change the face of the Middle East. Because it was clear to me that we were not fighting just the murderers of Hamas, but we were fighting Iran and the Iranian axis, that in effect came to strangle us and destroy us. We did so step by step, step by step. When I say ‘We did it’, we did it together. Not just my friends in government, it is the heroes, our soldiers who are fighting, and the heroes who have fallen, and the people of Israel who have constantly stood steadfast, when we struck Iran and pushed off an existential threat. Not just over hundreds or thousands, but over millions of Israeli citizens, and over our entire future, and over the dream of the generations who came before us, for realizing the dream of those who will come after us.

We removed these threats thanks to the steadfast endurance of the citizens of Israel. We will complete the work. What began in Gaza – will end in Gaza. We will defeat Hamas.

At the same time, we are dealing with other parts of the axis, who still need to be dealt with, such as the Houthis. But we really are taking brave and determined action. Perhaps the most important thing in this battle, is the determination that stems from the recognition that we are fighting not just for our land, our children and our grand-children, but to ensure – in two words – the eternity of Israel. The eternity of Israel is currently being decided in all parts of the Land of Israel, here as well, in the expanding Maale Adumim.

Israelis once supported a two-state solution, but support for that idea has collapsed over the past decade, after several wars in which Hamas attacked Israel.

Netanyahu had contemplated annexing the West Bank, but refrained from doing so, after Arab countries indicated that doing so would end the Abraham Accords peace agreement.

The construction in E1 falls short of annexation but makes the territorial contiguity of a Palestinian state impossible.

The United Nations General Assembly demands that Palestinians be able to govern all of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2025/09/12/netanyahu-blocks-palestinian-state-with-new-housing-development/ 

Smotrich approves West Bank settlement plan to 'bury idea of Palestinian state'

"The plan is the 'final nail in the coffin' for the concept of a Palestinian state," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich remarked.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the new E1 settlement plan near Ma’aleh Adumim, which would split east Jerusalem from the West Bank.

“Those around the world who try to recognize a Palestinian state will see our response on the ground – not with documents or declarations, but with facts: homes, roads, and Jewish families building their lives here,” Smotrich said.

"We will continue to build a Jewish reality,” he said. “This reality buries the idea for good – there is nothing to recognize.”

He also thanked Trump and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, “friends of Israel like we’ve never had,” for support for the settlement.

The plan calls for the construction of 3,401 new housing units in Ma’aleh Adumim, located in the West Bank.

Pally supporters called the plan a “death blow to the two-state solution,” because it calls for effectively splitting the West Bank into two parts. This would prevent the development of a metropolitan area between Ramallah, east Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.

Smotrich stated that this plan would move forward, since it is the “final nail in the coffin” for the concept of a Palestinian state.

“From the Palestinian perspective and that of the international community, this is a critical area. Without it, the establishment of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital is simply impossible,” he added.

“The approval of construction in the E1 area undermines the idea of a Palestinian state and is part of the broader steps we are taking as part of our de facto sovereignty plan. After decades of international pressure and freezing of projects, we are defying conventions and cementing the connection between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem,” he said.

The plan has been met with enthusiasm in the Binyamin and Ma’aleh Adumim area. Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, hailed it as “a historic achievement for the settlement movement, laying the groundwork for the eventual implementation of sovereignty.”

Ma’aleh Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach also expressed his strong support.

“Palestinians have tried to undermine this area through illegal construction, but the creation of this new neighborhood will thwart their efforts,” he said.

Pallys condemned the scheme, saying the fragmentation of territory would rip up any internationally backed peace plans for the region.

A UN spokesperson said it would put an end to the prospects of a two-state solution. 

The Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly condemned the project.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said "The decision of Israeli authorities to advance the E1 settlement plan undermines the two-state solution."

Turkey condemned Israel's settlement plan, reiterating that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state was the only way to achieve lasting peace.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-864165#google_vignette

At Ma’ale Adumim, Netanyahu buried the two-state solution

Ma’ale Adumim was in a festive mood on Thursday. The city was decorated with flags and posters everywhere announcing the “signing of the Ma’ale Adumim umbrella agreement.”

This agreement, which involves all government ministries and relevant companies, is indeed a historic event. After decades in which Israeli governments refrained from touching the E1 area that connects Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, the agreement fixes construction in this incendiary zone, which will house 20,000 Israelis within 10–15 years, thereby cutting the West Bank into two parts and preventing Palestinian territorial contiguity from north to south.

“There will be no Palestinian state,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the Thursday ceremony in Ma’ale Adumim. 

   View of the area

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said “The US has never asked Israel to not apply sovereignty”. “I have repeatedly stated that the US respects Israel as a sovereign nation and will not tell Israel what to do. This is also what Secretary Rubio has said.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-maale-adumim-netanyahu-buried-the-two-state-solution/