Israeli government and military agencies are reiterating plans to continue with the announced settlement expansions into the E-1 region, a plan for 3,200 homes that will effectively bisect the West Bank.
The Civil Administration planning committee confirmed that it has approved the settlements, but says they will have to go through several stages before building actually begins, including a period of public comment.
“For two months the public will be able to submit objections to the project and after that the debate on continuing it will continue,” the committee’s statement noted. Some of the plans are already in place, dating back to 2005, according to officials.
Beyond the two month period of public comment, there is also the matter of expelling the 2,000+ Bedouins already living in E-1 from the region to be settled. Officials say the whole process could take “several months” or even more than a year.
In the end what ever Israel does as far as "settlements" are concerned as well as "the wall" will not matter as the world will determine the borders of Palestine and Israel. Israel may actually find itself on the losing end and end up with the original lines drawn by the UN in 1947. Now that would be the next best solution and the best by returning all the land to the Palestinians as a result of the Israelis being such bad neighbours for the past 65 years.
Very good. By pushing ahead with settlements, they're signing their own death sentence. Soon, when all the Palestinian land is gone, they'll find themselves in a de facto one nation in which the Palestinians are a majority. For their own good, I hope that the Palestinians are kinder and more humane than their torturers and enslavers have been.