Exclusive Israel’s E1 plan approval ‘reaction’ to Europe’s Palestinian statehood push: US ambassador

In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya English, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee argued on Thursday that Israel’s approval of the controversial E1 settlement plan is a reaction to the European push for the recognition of Palestinian statehood.

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“One of the reasons we’re seeing the more aggressive decision to move into some of these areas is because it’s in reaction to what the Europeans have done in concert with the Palestinian Authority, pushing for a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” he told Al Arabiya English’s Melinda Nucifora.

While US administrations have historically opposed the E1 development, Huckabee said Washington has not shifted from the Trump administration’s stance that Israeli settlements in the West Bank do not violate international law.

“So I don’t know what the Europeans thought they were going to accomplish [by recognizing Palestinian statehood], but by their actions, they’re accomplishing something that I don’t think they wanted to do and that is to essentially give a green light or encourage the Israelis to go ahead and take more pieces of Judea and Samaria, either by declaring sovereignty or annexation,” he said.

“Judea and Samaria” is the term used by Israel, particularly by its government and right-leaning groups, to refer to what is internationally known today as the occupied West Bank. Samaria refers to the northern part of the West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, and surrounding areas. Judea generally refers to the southern part of the West Bank, including areas around Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem’s southern outskirts.

The widely condemned Israeli settlement plan that would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state received final approval on Wednesday, according to a statement from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, was announced last week by Smotrich and received the final go-ahead from a defense ministry planning commission, he said.

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