Israel Opens Bidding for 1,234 Homes in E1 Near Jerusalem

Israel has opened bidding for the construction of 1,234 homes in the E1 area near Jerusalem, advancing a project that successive governments sought to develop for decades but repeatedly delayed amid international pressure.

The project has repeatedly stalled despite plans dating back to the 1990s. A tender covering all 3,401 planned housing units was first published in December 2025, but its bidding timetable was repeatedly postponed as legal challenges continued. The Jerusalem District Court declined to freeze advancement of the project while those petitions were considered. The latest tender advances 1,234 of those units across seven residential compounds.

E1 is an area located between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. The residential plans received final approval in August 2025 after years of delays.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has strongly promoted construction in the area, said when the plans were approved last year that development in E1 would strengthen Israel’s hold on the area and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich said at the time, describing the project as part of a broader effort to strengthen Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.

The E1 project has faced sustained international opposition because of its location. Critics argue that Israeli construction there would divide Palestinian-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria and make the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state more difficult. Israel has disputed international claims that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are illegal and has cited historical, strategic and security considerations in defending settlement activity.

Peace Now, which opposes Israeli settlement construction, criticized the timing of the tender and accused the government of trying to make the project more difficult for a future government to reverse before the October election.

The tender brings the decades-old E1 project another step closer to construction after years of political, diplomatic, and legal delays.