West Bank23 September, 20263 min read
US Senate Democrats Plan Sanctions Over Israel’s E1 West Bank Settlement Project
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US Senate Democrats plan sanctions on facilitators of Israel’s E1 West Bank project. The bill would sanction individuals, groups, and foreign entities aiding E1 expansion.
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E1 Sanctions Move
US Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday to sanction individuals and groups that facilitate Israel’s “E1 project,” a West Bank settlement plan that would link Ma’ale Adumim and other settlements to occupied East Jerusalem. Chris Coons of Delaware, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ruben Gallego of Arizona are named as lead sponsors of the bill, and the legislation would impose sanctions on entities the Treasury Department determines to be responsible for or complicit in construction in the E1 area. The legislation would also sanction those who attempt to organize, direct, finance or facilitate the transfer of Israeli civilians into settlements in the E1 area, including by submitting a bid for E1 tenders.
The bill’s introduction is framed as part of growing friction between Democrats in Congress and the Israeli government over its handling of the West Bank, with many in the party and a few Republicans calling for curbs on US military aid to Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza. The E1 project is described as cutting across land the Palestinians seek for a state, and the Reuters text says it would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem.
Coons and the Critiques
Chris Coons said in a statement provided to Reuters that "As Palestinian civilians face a campaign of devastation and fear from violent extremist settlers, the United States must send a strong message that this behavior is unacceptable". The Reuters account ties the sanctions push to Democrats urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rein in violence by West Bank settlers and mass arrests of Palestinians by Israeli security forces in the occupied territory. The Times of Israel text describes the E1 project as linking Jerusalem to the settlement of Maaleh Adumim and leaving only a sliver of land to link the northern and southern portions of the West Bank.
The Times of Israel account says both critics and supporters argue the plan would make a contiguous Palestinian state on the West Bank impossible, and it adds that Israeli authorities recently advanced the plan. The Al Jazeera account says the United Nations Human Rights Office described the E1 project as a “grave and unlawful step to consolidate annexation,” while the Reuters text says the administration of US President Donald Trump reiterated opposition to Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
Midterms and What’s at Risk
Reuters says Democrats currently control only 47 seats in the 100-member Senate, but polls show they could win majorities in November 3 midterm elections from President Donald Trump’s Republicans. Reuters also says the US House of Representatives is currently not in session, so even if the bill passed in the Senate, the House would not be expected to take it up before the midterms. The Al Jazeera account says criticism of the E1 settlement project escalated last month when the Israeli government invited bids for building 1,200 new units.
The Reuters text says approval of the E1 project was announced in August 2025 by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and it describes the two-state solution as envisaging a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. The Al Jazeera account says the project, if completed, has been seen by supporters and detractors alike as a death blow to future Palestinian statehood, while the Reuters text says Western capitals and campaign groups oppose it due to concerns it could undermine a future peace deal and diminish the chance for the two-state solution.