BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said a new West Bank construction project being pushed by the Israeli government to the east of Jerusalem is a “big mistake”.
“The German government urgently calls for such steps to be refrained from,” Merz said, claiming that advancing the so-called E1 project would “complicate the two-state solution”.
Israel gave the green light in August to E1, a new construction project covering around 12 square kilometres (4.6 square miles) in the occupied West Bank.
The plan has been condemned by several international leaders, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman saying it would pose an “existential threat” to a contiguous Palestinian state.
An Israeli settlement watchdog in January denounced the government’s publishing of a tender for the construction of around 3,400 housing units in the E1 area.
Standing alongside Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Berlin, Merz described the developments as “annexation moves” and called on Israel to halt the settlement push.
“It is crucial that we Europeans convey this message together,” he said.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul would “emphasise this” on a trip to Israel, Merz said.
In 2025, the expansion of Israeli settlements reached its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking such data, according to a UN report.
Israel approved 19 settlements in December, a move far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026
