Is E1 The End Game In Israel? Grasping The Complexities As They Change On The Ground
By
Leonard Zwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/opinion/palestinian-statehood-united-nations.html
These two op-eds from The New York Times do a great job describing what is actually happening in Israel that makes the war in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians inevitable and tragic. As you might expect, it’s about history, politics, and power.
Forget about the finger pointing for a moment that both sides are so fond of. Forget about who has the most historically legitimate claim to the land. That is not helpful.
What the world does not get is that this is now and always has been a fight for that land. Both the native Arabs who lived in the British mandate of Palestine (Palestinians) and the Jews who had a presence in Palestine before WWII, but increased their number in the British mandate after the war by fleeing to Israel from Europe in the wake of the Holocaust, and whose claim to the land goes back to Biblical times, believe that the land “from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean) belongs to them. The forces of reason that might lead to a peaceful solution seem to be in retreat at the moment.
At first, back in 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust, the fight for the land was marginally even. The Palestinians might have a had a chance at driving the Jews into the sea as planned and the Israelis were not a nuclear power. That was then.
Now, over 75 years later, Israel has seized control of far more land than it had in 1948’s UN-brokered arrangement using conventional war against several Arab states, especially in 1967. In theory, Arabs to the east of what Israel took in 1967 were supposed to live in Jordan, but the fact is that non-Jordanian Arabs (today’s Palestinians) really did own land and houses in territory seized by Israel in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. But, after all, that’s war and the Six Day War was not one Israel was seeking.
If you total up the Arabs living in Gaza, the West Bank, and as Israeli citizens, they are just about equal in number to the Jews living in today’s Israel. The solution seems as obvious today as it must have seemed in 1948. A two-state solution. Two states for two peoples. That was the plan. It hasn’t worked out.
The Jews and the Arabs have come close several times, but not really this century. Again, forget about who is to blame. The two-state solution has not occurred and it seems to be far in the rearview mirror. For sure, now, no one trusts anyone and no real power has been asserted by the global leaders to change the hearts and minds of anyone.
Now, as these articles point out, Israel is governed by a group of people who believe that Israel should include every inch of the current Israel, all of Gaza, and all of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). What triggered these articles are the current declarations among some European allies of the United States to recognize a Palestinian state, and the action by the current Israeli government to build new settlements in an area known as E1 that could undermine everything.
To quote the second piece by Phillip H. Gordon, an advisor to Kamala Harris, “Israeli defense ministry planning authorities in the West Bank approved a large settlement bloc called E1. The plan, often called the “doomsday” settlement by proponents of the two-state solution, would make it nearly impossible to create a contiguous Palestinian state by physically separating the Palestinian-populated cities of East Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem.” That is exactly what the current Israeli government wishes to do. Along with making Gaza uninhabitable, Israel constructing settlements in E1 will end any chance for a two-state solution.
The demonstrations against this Israeli government by Israeli citizens in an effort to end the war in Gaza and return the few remaining living hostages is a short-term distraction even as it reflects the sentiment of a great many Israelis (and Jewish Americans). Step back from the aftermath of October 7 and you will see that the master plan is in place to drive the Arabs from the land by essentially seizing everything and negating any chance for there to be a Palestinian state. That is what the leaders of the current Israeli government want and if Donald Trump continues to stay at arm’s length from the issue, that is what will happen.
I gather that the western European countries with Canada think recognizing a Palestinian state will alter the situation on the ground. It will not. If the world really wants to stop the killing in Gaza and what will inevitably occur if the E1 plan is put in place, it needs to put pressure on both Israel AND the other Arab states in the Gulf to come up with a workable solution to a very old conflict between very unevenly-equipped foes. (And by the way, when the world fixes this conflict, it can get to work on the conflict in Ukraine between two unevenly-matched foes there. It’s the same kind of problem.)
If Donald Trump wants progress in Israel, it can happen, but he seems to love fights, both there and here, so he is staying on the sidelines watching. I am sure these conflicts in Israel and Ukraine are also being watched carefully by China. The Chinese are wondering what they can get away with even farther from American shores.
Meanwhile, American Jews are conflicted. They love Israel, but they don’t love the killing in Gaza. If the Saudis or the Iranians made Hamas leave, this would end tomorrow.
American Jews need not be conflicted at all, even the young ones who haven’t lived through a series of existential Israeli crises, can understand that Israel is our home when no one else wants us. Israel is the only democracy in the region. Israel is a miracle of persistence, perseverance, and conflict. But, a stable Israeli government lasting over 80 years has not yet been seen in history–ever. It’s 77 years for the current government and time is not on the Israeli side if there is nothing but killing and conflict, not to mention war’s drain on the Israeli people and the economy.
Which great power is going to step up with a plan that can bring peace to the region? Indeed—which one?
