The Americans are concerned by the deliberation the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday ordered Defense Minister Benny Gantz to hold and the possibility that planned construction in the area known as E-1 between Jerusalem and the suburb of Maaleh Adumim will advance in the slightest.
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The US State Department has for years acted to ensure the connection between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem is confined to words on paper and ammunition by Israeli politicians, who for years have made empty promises on the issue. Nine prime ministers, including Ehud Olmert and the late Ariel Sharon, have committed to construction in E-1. However, fierce diplomatic pressure on Israel has resulted in nothing being built there outside of a district police station. Now, the left wing of the coalition is vetoing the move.
This is a strategic plan of the utmost importance. Those who support a Palestinian state oppose the plan. Those who oppose a Palestinian state support it. E-1's story is a tug-of-war in which Israel and the Palestinians compete for urban continuity.
Israel seemingly seeks to create its own continuity from the west to the east and the Dead Sea. The Palestinians seek to create their own continuity from the north to the south – from Ramallah to Bethlehem. The question is: Who will get ahead and block the other?
In the meantime, the Palestinians are winning on the ground. They are preventing Israeli construction, while at the same time, methodically and consistently using illegal construction to limit Israelis' ability to build along Highway 1 between Jerusalem and Jericho.
From Meretz's and Ra'am's perspectives, E-1 is a red line. They note that even Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from building there when he was prime minister. What remains unclear is why E-1 is not a red line for Yamina's Ayelet Shaked and Nir Orbach and New Hope's Ze'ev Elkin. The continued capitulation to American pressure on the matter could result in a security disconnect between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim that aids the Palestinians in creating a belt of construction through which they intend to encircle Jerusalem and block its development eastward.
Highway 1, which the Palestinians are trying to spill over through construction, is of security and strategic importance and is necessary for leading convoys through the Jordan Valley and northward in times of war. Last February, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Gantz froze talks on Palestinian and left-wing Israeli opposition to the plan at the Civil Administration's Higher Planning Committee. This week, following a petition from Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel, the State Attorney's Office informed Gantz that talks on opposition to the plan would be held in July. Gantz may not like it, but he longer has any choice. He will likely try to stall the plan in its later stages.
If elections are indeed on the horizon, everyone will soon be talking about the E-1 plan. Yet unless we see construction there, we can be certain it is nothing more than political spin. In northern Jerusalem, too, the so-called "change" government has stalled a large and important plan for Jewish homes in Atarot. This will also be raised to the agenda soon. There, too, we will believe it when we see it.
Jerusalem Day has come and gone. In both Atarot and in E-1, the diplomatic echelon, which just this week swore allegiance to Jerusalem, must prove their words were more than just lip service.
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