Israel announces West Bank settlement that ‘could imperil Palestinian state’

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich arrives for a press conference about a new settlement construction in the Israel-occupied West Bank near Maale Adumim (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Israel’s far-right finance minister has announced a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Palestinians and rights groups worry the move will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts.

The announcement on Thursday comes as many countries said they would recognise a Palestinian state in September.

Anyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground

“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise,” said finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

“Anyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground.”

Development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades but was frozen because of US pressure during previous administrations.

On Thursday, Mr Smotrich praised President Donald Trump and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee as “true friends of Israel as we have never had before”.

The E1 plan has not yet received its final approval, which is expected next week.

It includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim, Mr Smotrich said.

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks to journalists during a press conference about a new settlement construction in the Israel-occupied West Bank (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

While some bureaucratic steps remain, if the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year.

Rights groups swiftly condemned the plan.

Peace Now called it “deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution” which is “guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed”.

The announcement comes as the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement in an interview on Tuesday that he was “very” attached to the vision of a “Greater Israel”.

He did not elaborate, but supporters of the idea believe that Israel should control not only the occupied West Bank but parts of Arab countries.