US lawmakers seek sanctions for Israel’s ‘E1’ West Bank settlement plan

Project would effectively cleave Palestinian territory in half and has prompted widespread international condemnation.

Senator Chris Coons is among a group of Democrats seeking to sanctions facilitators of Israel's E1 settlement project [File: Demetrius Freeman/Reuters]

A group of lawmakers in the United States Senate are seeking sanctions against facilitators of Israel’s controversial “E1” settlement programme .

The legislation introduced on Wednesday calls for punitive actions against individuals and groups that support the settlement project, which would link the Ma’ale Adumim and other illegal Israeli settlements to occupied East Jerusalem.

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The plan would completely sever East Jerusalem, long seen as the capital of a future Palestinian state, from the West Bank, while effectively cleaving the overall territory in two. The project, if completed, has been seen by supporters and detractors alike as a death blow to future Palestinian statehood.

19 Democrats co-sponsored the bill, which was spearheaded by Chris Coons of ‌Delaware, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

“As Palestinian civilians face a campaign of devastation and fear from violent extremist settlers, the United States must send a strong message that this behaviour is unacceptable and that it remains committed to freedom, security, prosperity and self-determination for all Israelis and Palestinians,” Coons said in a statement.

The bill will impose sanctions “on any foreign person that the Secretary of the Treasury determines to have been responsible for or complicit in the construction of any Israeli settlements or related structures in the E1 area of the West Bank, including by submitting a bid for E1 tenders”, according to a statement from the lawmakers.

“It would also impose sanctions on those who attempt to organise, direct, finance, or facilitate the transfer of Israeli civilians into E1 settlements,” the statement said.

The move is yet another indication of growing discontent among some US lawmakers over Israel’s policies towards the occupied Palestinian territory, including its genocidal war in Gaza and the state-backed expansion of illegal settlements across the West Bank, where settler pogroms, often under the protection of Israeli forces, has surged in recent years.

The criticism has been particularly acute among Democrats, who are seeking to take control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm elections in November. A handful of Republicans have also increasingly questioned the close ties between the US and Israel and the unconditional military aid provided by Washington.

Beyond Wednesday’s bill, a growing number of Democrats have voted to block arms transfers to Israel in recent months. More than 20 Democrats in the 100-member Senate also recently introduced a resolution calling for an investigation into surging West Bank violence, in which at least nine US citizens have been killed.

‘Unacceptable and destructive act’

Criticism of the E1 settlement project, short for “East 1”, the Israeli administrative name for the area, escalated last month when the Israeli government invited bids for building 1,200 new units.

The move has come shortly before Israel is set to hold elections in October and is considered by some analysts to be an effort to mobilise the right-wing base of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyu by provoking an international response. The project has been spearheaded by far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself from an illegal settlement.

Among those condemning the plan was UK Foreign Minister Ed Miliband, who has called the project an “unacceptable and destructive act”. Countries across the Middle East, North America and Europe have also voiced strong objections.

The United Nations Human Rights Office has described the E1 project as a “grave and unlawful step to consolidate annexation”.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, for its part, has not directly addressed the plan, instead reiterating opposition to Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

该项目实际上会将巴勒斯坦领土一分为二，并引发了国际社会的广泛谴责。

参议员克里斯·库恩斯是寻求制裁以色列E1定居点项目促成者的民主党人之一。[图片：德米特里厄斯·弗里曼/路透社]

美国参议院一群议员正在寻求对以色列备受争议的“E1”定居点计划的促成者实施制裁。

周三提出的这项立法要求对支持定居点项目的个人和团体采取惩罚措施，该项目将把马阿勒阿杜明和其他非法以色列定居点与被占领的东耶路撒冷连接起来。

问题 1/3：以色列为何要建造新的非法定居点？

列表 2/3 E1 定居点：为什么内塔尼亚胡和以色列右翼可能并不在意全球的愤怒

列表 3/3：随着英国制裁以色列定居点，两国方案是否已死？

该计划将彻底切断长期以来被视为未来巴勒斯坦国首都的东耶路撒冷与西岸的联系，并实际上将整个西岸地区一分为二。如果该计划得以实施，支持者和反对者都认为这将是对未来巴勒斯坦建国的致命打击。

该法案由 19 位民主党人共同发起，由特拉华州的克里斯·库恩斯、马萨诸塞州的伊丽莎白·沃伦、俄勒冈州的罗恩·怀登和亚利桑那州的鲁本·加列戈牵头。

“巴勒斯坦平民正面临着暴力极端主义定居者带来的破坏和恐惧，美国必须发出强烈的信号，表明这种行为是不可接受的，美国仍然致力于所有以色列人和巴勒斯坦人的自由、安全、繁荣和自决权，”库恩斯在一份声明中说。

根据议员们的一份声明，该法案将对“财政部长认定对在西岸 E1 地区建造任何以色列定居点或相关建筑负有责任或参与其中的任何外国人士，包括通过提交 E1 招标书而参与其中的人士”实施制裁。

声明还表示，“该法案还将对试图组织、指挥、资助或协助将以色列平民转移到 E1 定居点的人实施制裁。”

此举再次表明，一些美国议员对以色列在被占领巴勒斯坦领土上的政策日益不满，包括其在加沙发动的种族灭绝战争以及在以色列政府支持下在西岸地区扩张非法定居点。近年来，在以色列军队的保护下，针对定居者的种族清洗事件激增。

民主党人对美以关系的批评尤为尖锐，他们正力图在11月的中期选举中夺取美国众议院和参议院的控制权。一些共和党人也日益质疑美以之间的密切关系以及华盛顿提供的无条件军事援助。

除了周三通过的法案外，近几个月来，越来越多的民主党人投票反对向以色列转让武器。在拥有100名成员的参议院中，超过20名民主党人最近还提出一项决议，呼吁对西岸暴力事件激增展开调查，这些暴力事件已造成至少9名美国公民丧生。

“不可接受的破坏性行为”

上个月，以色列政府邀请各方投标建造 1200 套新住房，这加剧了对 E1 定居点项目（“东 1”是该地区的以色列行政名称）的批评。

此举正值以色列即将于10月举行大选之际，一些分析人士认为，这是为了激起国际社会的反应，从而动员总理本雅明·内塔纽的右翼支持者。该项目由极右翼部长贝扎莱尔·斯莫特里奇牵头，他本人就来自一个非法定居点。

英国外交大臣埃德·米利班德也谴责了这项计划，他称该项目是“不可接受的破坏性行为”。中东、北美和欧洲各国也纷纷表示强烈反对。

联合国人权事务高级专员办事处将 E1 项目描述为“巩固吞并的严重非法举措”。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府方面并未直接回应该计划，而是重申反对以色列吞并西岸。