The legal foundation of Israel’s E1 settlement plan
Peloni: Here lies the statement which should have been put forward when Israel declared the decades long deadlock on expanding the E1 settlement plan. Indeed, Israel’s rights to its ancestral lands is based on religious, historic and ancestral ties to the land, all of which may be seen to be deeply personal and terribly powerful arguments among us Jews, but the only argument which should be expected to gain support from the world at large is the basis upon which the world came to endorse the reconstitution of our ancient state on the lands of our ancestors, as deeded in international law and described here in this article. Indeed, the extension of the E1 settlement plan was not simply a pragmatic move to block the insidious Two State Solution, although, if this were the only basis to doing so it would have been an important step to take, but instead, it was an act which was entirely consistent with the acknowledgement of our rights to our lands as agreed upon in international law.
| All Israel News | August 25, 2025
Panoramic view of Ma’ale Adumim – in the background, Mount Scopus. By Ron Almog from Herzliya , Israel – Ma’ale Adumim, CC BY 2.0, Wikipedia
The recent announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to advance the long-stalled E1 settlement plan has, predictably, drawn criticism from various corners of the international community. Yet, lost in the reflexive condemnations is a sober assessment of the solid legal foundations underpinning Israel’s sovereignty over the heartland of its ancient homeland—Judea and Samaria. The strategic E1 corridor, connecting Jerusalem to Ma’ale Adumim, is more than a geopolitical flashpoint; it is a test case for the world’s willingness to acknowledge the established principles of international law that affirm Israel’s rightful claim to this land.
