Germany joins EU, UK, Arab states and rights groups in opposing West Bank construction that finance minister says will 'bury the idea of a Palestinian state'; Netanyahu still mum

Israeli finance minister directly links green-lighting 3,000 housing units in West Bank with killing two-state solution, days after western states said they would recognise Palestine

Construction in E1 is great news for Jerusalem. We are taking responsibility for our future. The world may oppose it now - but will recognize it later.

Controversial project that would split West Bank into north and south has been on hold for decades due to international pressure; settler leader hails 'historical achievement' The post Smotrich to okay 3,

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to build over 3,000 homes in the long-stalled E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Smotrich said it will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” because “there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise.

In a reversal of past US policy, the State Department backed the E1 project connecting Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, calling it essential to Israel’s stability and regional peace.