Israel’s Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, announced on Wednesday a plan to build more than 3,000 new homes as part of the controversial urban plan to connect Jerusalem east with the settlement of Maale Adumim, stating that The measure “buries the idea of a Palestinian state”.
“The approval of the construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian State and gives continuity to the numerous actions we are promoting on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan initiated with government formation “, He pointed out in statements collected by the state news agency, on an initiative that promises 3,515 additional homes to the Tzipor Midbar neighborhood in Maale Adumim, which raises the total number of homes exclusively for Jews to 6,916.
With this plan, the ultra -nationalist minister He hopes to double the population of this settlement with approximately 35,000 new residents planned in the coming years.
Smotrich has defended that “after decades of international pressure (…), we are breaking the conventions and connecting Maale Adumim with Jerusalem.” “This is Zionism at its expression: build, settle and strengthen our sovereignty in the land of Israel,” he added, referring to the project would definitely break territorial continuity between the Palestinian part of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Also, to undertake the plan, it would be a step towards the North-South Division of the West Bank. Human Rights Groups and members of the Beduina community have criticized these plans for years and denounced that expulsion would displace the Palestinian indigenous people, in what they consider a violation of international law that considers a crime of war the colonization of any area under military occupation.
