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U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt plans for more than 1,200 housing units in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
Meeks said he was “extremely concerned” by the Israeli government’s decision to open tenders under the illegal E1 settlement plan.
“International law is clear that illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal,” Meeks said in a statement.
Meeks said U.S. administrations from both parties had long recognized the risks associated with construction in the E1 area.
He said the project would further fragment the West Bank, separate East Jerusalem from Palestinian population centers and seriously undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state.
Meeks said Palestinians deserve the right to a viable state of their own, while Israelis deserve lasting security and a future free from endless conflict.
He warned that continued illegal settlement expansion could make a negotiated two-state solution “increasingly impossible,” deepen Israel’s international isolation and weaken support for Israel in the U.S.
Meeks urged Trump to make clear to Netanyahu that Washington would not accept further advancement of the E1 plans.
“President Trump must make clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that the United States will not stand by while E1 moves forward and should demand that these plans be halted immediately and that no further steps toward construction are taken,” he said.
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