The Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing has published a tender for the construction of all 3,401 housing units planned in the E1 area (Tender no. 460/2025). The tender was published on the Israel Land Authority website on 10 December 2025 and reflects an accelerated effort to advance construction in E1. The plan received approval from the Higher Planning Council in August 2025, only two weeks after objections to the plan were discussed.
The plans for establishing a settlement comprising 3,401 housing units in E1 are widely regarded as particularly damaging to the prospects for peace and to the viability of a two-state solution. Construction in E1 would effectively bisect the West Bank, preventing the development of a contiguous Palestinian metropolitan area between Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. Although Israeli governments have sought to advance the E1 plan since the 1990s, international and domestic opposition prevented its implementation for many years. In 2012, then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the advancement of the plan for the first time. After additional years of freeze, the plan was approved for deposit shortly before the February 2020 elections.
Following the approval of the plans, Peace Now, together with Ir Amim, Bimkom and dozens of Palestinians from the area of E1, filed a petition to court demanding the cancellation of the plan. Two additional petitions were filed in the name of other Palestinians and the court is now waiting for the State’s response to the claims of all petitioners. The court refused to freeze the plan till the final decision in the petitions and therefore, the government could go on with promoting the construction.
The year 2025 concludes with a record-breaking number of housing tenders in settlements, totaling 9,629 housing units—more than the combined total of tenders published over the previous six years. Of these, tenders for more than 6,700 housing units were published in the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. These tenders are also the result of a government “umbrella agreement” signed, in the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu, between the Israeli government and the Ma’ale Adumim municipality.
Peace Now: “In an alarming display of political recklessness, the Israeli government continues to undermine any prospect for a political solution and a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians. Construction in E1 is intended to create irreversible facts on the ground leading to a one-state reality, which all indications suggest would take the form of an apartheid regime. Reversing the damage caused by construction in E1 would require many years and substantial effort. In the meantime, the entire region will remain trapped in a cycle of violence, injustice, and lack of hope.”
