On August 20, 2025, Israeli authorities gave the final green light to a controversial plan: the construction of 3,401 new homes in the E1 area, northeast of Jerusalem, within the occupied West Bank. The move, which had been frozen for two decades due to international pressure, has ignited a firestorm of condemnation from across the globe, deepening rifts over the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prospects for peace in the region.
According to Notes from Poland, Poland’s foreign ministry was among the first to respond, issuing a statement on August 21 that called the decision "a flagrant breach of international law" and urged Israel to "stop supporting the illegal settlement movement on the West Bank." Poland didn’t stand alone. That same day, it joined 24 other countries and the European Union’s top foreign affairs official in a joint statement that denounced Israel’s plan as "unacceptable" and called for its "immediate reversal."
The E1 project, which covers roughly 12 square kilometers east of Jerusalem, has long been a flashpoint. For over 20 years, it remained on ice, largely due to criticism from the United States and European nations, who argued that building settlements there would obstruct peace efforts and block the path to Palestinian statehood. But on August 14, 2025, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leading figure in the far-right Mafdal–Religious Zionism party, announced the plan’s revival. Just days later, the Defense Ministry’s planning commission granted its final approval.
International reaction was swift and severe. As Reuters reported, foreign ministers from Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden issued a joint statement on August 22, 2025. The statement minced no words: "The decision by the Israeli Higher Planning Committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law." The ministers further warned, "This plan will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem."
EU foreign chief Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission, joined the call for Israel to retract the plan. The statement also highlighted the risks: it "undermines security and fuels further violence and instability," pushing the region further from peace and, as they put it, "brings no benefits to the Israeli people." The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as well as the Palestinian Authority and several regional governments, echoed these condemnations, according to VOVWORLD.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski added another layer to the criticism, questioning the endgame for millions of Palestinians living in the occupied territories. On social media, Sikorski remarked, "Israeli ministers have declared that the aim of the new settlements is to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. If so, the question arises as to what they envisage for the millions of Palestinians for whom they are responsible as the occupying power in Gaza and the West Bank." His comments reflected growing international unease about the Israeli government’s intentions and the future of Palestinian self-determination.
Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli Finance Minister, has been unambiguous about his motives. Earlier in August, he stated, "The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions." He later described the plan’s approval as "a significant step that erases the two-state delusion and consolidates the Jewish people’s hold on the heart of the Land of Israel," according to VOVWORLD.
The Israeli government, for its part, has flatly rejected the international criticism. In a statement published by Reuters, Israel’s Foreign Ministry asserted, "The historic right of Jews to live anywhere in the Land of Israel – the birthplace of the Jewish people – is indisputable." The ministry further insisted, "Israel is acting in accordance with international law," and argued, "The Jewish people are the indigenous people of the Land of Israel. At no point in history has there ever been a Palestinian state, and any attempt to argue otherwise has no legal, factual, or historical basis."
On August 22, the Israeli Foreign Ministry went further, responding to the joint statement by 25 foreign ministers by labeling calls to limit Jewish settlement in certain areas of Israel as "racist." The ministry asserted that the West Bank is Israeli territory, a claim that runs counter to both international and domestic law, as reported by VOVWORLD.
The stakes in this dispute are enormous. The E1 project, if built, would effectively bisect the West Bank, cutting it off from East Jerusalem. This, critics argue, would fragment the territory Palestinians seek for an independent state and make a two-state solution—long the cornerstone of international peace efforts—virtually impossible. As the joint ministerial statement warned, "This plan will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem."
The numbers on the ground are stark. According to Reuters, approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers now live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel captured these territories, along with Gaza, during the 1967 Middle East war and has steadily expanded settlements ever since. The E1 plan, critics say, is the latest—and perhaps most consequential—step in this process.
The diplomatic row over settlements is not entirely new, but recent weeks have seen a sharp escalation. Earlier in August, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Israeli politicians of causing hunger and the deaths of mothers and children in Gaza. While reaffirming that "Poland was, is and will be on Israel’s side in its confrontation with Islamic terrorism," Tusk insisted that Poland would "never be on the side of politicians whose actions lead to hunger and the death of mothers and children." Israel’s foreign ministry fired back, calling Tusk’s remarks "unacceptable" and urging him to "remember the lessons" of the Holocaust, likening Hamas to "the new Nazis."
With condemnation mounting and diplomatic tensions rising, the E1 settlement plan has become a litmus test for the international community’s ability to influence events on the ground. The coming weeks may reveal whether the chorus of opposition can sway Israeli policy—or whether, as Smotrich and his allies hope, the facts on the ground will continue to shape the future of the region.
For now, the E1 project stands as a stark symbol of the deepening divide between Israel and much of the world over the fate of the West Bank, the viability of a two-state solution, and the rights and future of millions of Palestinians.
