Settlement in sensitive area would violate international law and irreparably undermine the potential for peace
NEW YORK — Today, rabbis applauded the news that the Israeli government is indefinitely postponing the advancement of a controversial settlement building plan in the E1 corridor between Maale Adumim in the West Bank and Jerusalem. T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization that represents over 2,300 rabbis and cantors and their communities in North America, has long opposed construction in this area, as settlement construction both violates international law and Palestinian human rights and because the project would have blocked the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian State in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
T’ruah CEO, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, released the following statement:
“We welcome the Israeli government’s decision to postpone indefinitely the construction of a settlement bloc in the E1 area, and express gratitude to the 26 Members of Congress who asked Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to act to stop this construction.
“As rabbis and cantors committed to the long-term future of a democratic Israel, side by side with a Palestinian state, we oppose all settlement construction, which violates international law and infringes on the human rights of Palestinians living under occupation. Construction in E1 would cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank and would effectively bifurcate the West Bank, causing potentially irreparable damage to the possibility of a Palestinian state in the area. Such action would also violate Israel’s repeated commitments to the United States, dating back to 1994, not to build settlements in the area.
“At nearly the same time E1 stalled, we were deeply distressed to learn that the Jerusalem government advanced a plan for a new settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem with nearly 1,500 new units. While the indefinite postponement on E1 is an important step, ending the continued violation of international law and Palestinian human rights, while also moving toward peace, will require the Israeli government to cease all settlement construction.
“The Psalmist writes, ‘Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.’ (Psalms 34:15). The verse is understood as two commandments: a negative commandment not to do evil and a positive commandment to do the right thing – to seek peace by actively pursuing it. With this postponement of construction in E1, the Israeli government has ‘departed from evil.’ Now, they must truly seek peace by ending all settlement construction and restoring the human rights of Palestinians by ending the occupation.”
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
