Netanyahu says ‘there will be no Palestinian state’ as he advances widely-condemned E1 settlement plan

CAIRO – 12 September 2025: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday reiterated his promise that “there will be no Palestinian state” as he signed a framework agreement to move forward with the long-disputed E1 settlement plan in the occupied West Bank.

The agreement outlines plans for the construction of thousands of new housing units in E1. This area which lies within the municipal boundary of the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, strategically located between East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.

Critics warn that building in the E1 corridor would sever East Jerusalem, envisioned by Palestinians as the capital of a future state, from the wider West Bank, further undermining the viability of a globally-supported two-state solution.

"We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us," Netanyahu proclaimed at a public signing ceremony broadcast live by his office.

"We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security," he added.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key figure in Israel’s far-right governing coalition, previously echoed Netanyahu’s stance, stated that the E1 plan will “bury” the Palestinian state.

The E1 project has been condemned internationally, including by Arab states, the EU, and the UK, as a flagrant breach of international law.

All settlements established on the occupied West Bank considered illegal under the international law.

Though originally proposed decades ago, the E1 scheme had remained frozen due to sustained diplomatic pressure and legal challenges.

By reviving it now, Netanyahu appears to be doubling down on his government’s rejection of a negotiated peace process based on the two-state framework long supported by much of the international community.