Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly visit the West Bank settlement city of Maale Adumim on Thursday and sign a “framework agreement” for the construction of a large number of housing units, including the controversial E1 project.
According to a report Sunday by Army Radio, Netanyahu will sign the agreement with Maale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrah, although Yifrah said he was unaware of such a plan.
A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Framework agreements” in the context of housing construction projects often involve multiple ministries, such as finance and housing, and are signed with a local municipal authority.
The state will often pledge to finance infrastructure, educational institutions, and other public buildings, while the local municipal authority will commit to approving any necessary permits within a given timeframe.
Although Yifrah told Army Radio in response that there was currently “a golden opportunity” to annex parts or all of the West Bank, he said he was unaware of any plan to sign a framework agreement with Netanyahu on Thursday.
“I’d be happy if he surprises us,” Yifrah added.
The Civil Administration of the Defense Ministry last month approved the E1 construction plans, which would see 3,412 housing units built in a new neighborhood of Maale Adumim on the western side of the city, just east of East Jerusalem.
Advocates of a two-state solution have argued for decades that the E1 project would in effect divide the West Bank in two for its Palestinian population, sever Palestinian East Jerusalem from the West Bank, and severely harm the future viability of a Palestinian state,
Some experts have, however, said that solutions could be found to the geographical problems the plan would create.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich touted the final approval of the project as “another nail in the coffin” of the idea of a Palestinian state.
Final approval of the E1 project prompted intense condemnation from numerous countries, including major European states, as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney even included the advancement of the E1 project as one of the reasons behind his decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly this month.
The state now needs to issue tenders for the construction work, review applications, and approve the contract winners, a process that at a minimum will take about a year, the Peace Now organization has estimated.
The E1 corridor or zone is an area of some 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) in the West Bank, east of East Jerusalem and west of Maale Adumim. The land is inside the jurisdictional boundaries of Maale Adumim, and any construction there would become part of the existing settlement city.
The plans approved by the Civil Administration’s Higher Planning Committee would see 3,412 housing units built in the E1 zone. This would likely provide housing for 12,000 to 15,000 extra residents of Maale Adumim, whose current population is approximately 38,000.
E1, Maale Adumim and Jewish East Jerusalem neighborhoods constructed over the Green Line constitute a dividing block between the Palestinian cities of Ramallah to the north of Jerusalem, Bethlehem to the south, and the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.