Security cabinet greenlights separate road for Palestinians in contentious E1 area
Critics decry planned north-south route as a ‘fatal blow’ to local Palestinian communities, as cabinet moves to expand settlement construction between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim
The security cabinet Saturday night approved the construction of a Palestinian-only bypass road in the Jerusalem area in a bid to separate Israeli and Palestinian traffic and entrench Israel’s presence beyond the Green Line.
Hailing the move, the Prime Minister’s Office said that it will reduce congestion between the capital and Ma’ale Adumim and boost Israeli construction in the highly contentious E1 area in the West Bank, located between the two cities.
Plans for the so-called “Fabric of Life” road were initially approved in 2020, after several years of intense lobbying by former Ma’ale Adumim mayor Benny Kashriel. After five years, the government is now moving forward with construction and earmarked some NIS 335 million ($91 million) for the project.
“We continue to strengthen the security of Israel’s citizens and to develop our settlements,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on Sunday. He further claimed that the road stands to ease traffic flow and enhance security by providing a “strategic transportation corridor connecting Jerusalem, Ma’ale Adumim and the Jordan Valley.”
Vertically bisecting the West Bank, the hotly contested E1 area is considered strategically important for the territorial contiguity of a prospective Palestinian state. Though Israel has long sought to step up construction in the region, its efforts were partly stifled by immense international pressure, including from the US.
The planned bypass road will allow for Israel to expand construction in the settlement bloc, which critics decried as a “fatal blow” to Palestinian communities in the area.
“These communities [in E1] will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank, and will have virtually no access by car,” anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now warned in a press release on Sunday. “This could mean the de facto expulsion of all Palestinian communities from the area.”
The new north-south route will directly connect the villages of az-Za’ayyem and al-Eizariya, diverting Palestinian traffic away from Route 1 and effectively barring Palestinians access to areas within the E1 bloc.
The group also called the road a potential first step towards the annexation of Ma’ale Adumim, a charge with which many supporting the road’s construction agree. While serving in 2020 as defense minister under Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett touted the route as a way to “apply sovereignty” to the area “in deeds, not words.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said the plan will bolster security amid concerns over terrorist attacks along the current route. Just over a year ago, three Palestinian terrorists carried out a shooting attack near the az-Za’ayyem checkpoint, killing an Israeli man and wounding 11 others, including a pregnant woman.
The construction will not draw from Israel’s state budget funds, but will rather be financed with money collected from Palestinians by the Civil Administration, the Defense Ministry body that manages civilian affairs in the West Bank.
The cabinet also approved plans for another bypass road — “Route 80” — which will connect al-Eizariya to the Good Samaritan Interchange, creating a more direct route between Bethlehem and Jericho. The project, still in its initial planning phase, was allocated some NIS 10 million.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, who spearheaded the initiative, lauded the “historic decision,” which he says will “reinforce the settlements, boost security, enhance the welfare of all residents in the area, and strengthen our hold on Judea and Samaria.”
