Bill to Annex E-1: A Knife in the Heart of the Two-State Solution
January 18, 2017
A bill making its way through the Knesset that proposes annexing Ma’ale Adumim also includes Area E-1, a key strip of land adjacent to East Jerusalem that is required for a contiguous Palestinian State. Israeli annexation of E-1 will effectively split the West Bank into two pieces, north and south, with no direct road access between them. It will also block Palestinians’ access to East Jerusalem. As such, E-1 is crucial to a two-state solution.
Palestine must have contiguity north and south such that effective transportation links, highways and trains running between Ramallah and Bethlehem to Hebron can be constructed. All possible routes for a highway linking the northern and southern West Bank, from Ramallah to Bethlehem, must pass through E-1. That is why it has always been a red line for the international community, to preserve any hope for a Palestinian State on the ground.
The passage of this bill, although by no means certain, will undoubtedly lead to more violence in the short term, and it will increase tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors for decades to come. We lament the violence and death that is sure to ensue as a result of this knife to the heart of the Palestinian state.
The timing of this bill, marked up just as the Obama administration is leaving and scheduled for a vote on Sunday, January 22, even before the celebrations over Trump’s inauguration have ended, is a crass move to present incoming President Donald Trump with a fait accompli. Annexation of E-1 would fly in the face of UN Security Resolution 2334 and directly block outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry’s guidelines for peace which he outlined on December 28, calling for establishing two states living side-by-side, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
This matter is of such gravity that it should certainly be taken up by the UN Security Council. Further, we would expect that even on President Barack Obama’s last day in office, his administration will speak out and put on record its objection to this perfidious bill.
Palestine must have contiguity north and south such that effective transportation links, highways and trains running between Ramallah and Bethlehem to Hebron can be constructed. All possible routes for a highway linking the northern and southern West Bank, from Ramallah to Bethlehem, must pass through E-1. That is why it has always been a red line for the international community, to preserve any hope for a Palestinian State on the ground.
The passage of this bill, although by no means certain, will undoubtedly lead to more violence in the short term, and it will increase tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors for decades to come. We lament the violence and death that is sure to ensue as a result of this knife to the heart of the Palestinian state.
The timing of this bill, marked up just as the Obama administration is leaving and scheduled for a vote on Sunday, January 22, even before the celebrations over Trump’s inauguration have ended, is a crass move to present incoming President Donald Trump with a fait accompli. Annexation of E-1 would fly in the face of UN Security Resolution 2334 and directly block outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry’s guidelines for peace which he outlined on December 28, calling for establishing two states living side-by-side, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
This matter is of such gravity that it should certainly be taken up by the UN Security Council. Further, we would expect that even on President Barack Obama’s last day in office, his administration will speak out and put on record its objection to this perfidious bill.
