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Long-Proposed Building in the Jerusalem Suburbs Isn't the Death of Peace
(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - The Europeans are always on the lookout for opportunities to bash Israel. Their latest is called E1, a small area of land just east of crowded Jerusalem, where Israel has long wanted to build to connect to a nearby suburb. Plans approved in 2025 are now moving forward with construction tenders. The UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Canada published a statement last week warning of "serious breaches of international law." Developing the E1 area, they warned, "will undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank and harming the contiguity of the Palestinian Territories." Under any realistic peace plan, E1 would remain part of Israel. That was the case in the maps presented at Camp David and Taba in 2000-01 when, to Bill Clinton's lament, the Palestinians turned down Israel's offer of full statehood. As for "contiguity," have the Europeans looked at a map? Palestinians could easily bypass the tiny area - fewer than five square miles - by traveling a little east. Israel has long offered to build a bypass road for this purpose, with no harm done to the contiguity. Per the Oslo Accords, E1 is part of the West Bank's Area C, under full Israeli administration. The Europeans prefer to forget that, issuing threats and loudly objecting to each local zoning decision, as they do nowhere else. For peace, it is far better for Israelis to develop suburbs such as E1, in nearby areas legitimately needed for strategic depth.