Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Monday that he had ordered his office to advance planning of a highway for Palestinian motorists that will remove them from the controversial E1 area — a section of the West Bank between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim — where Israel is moving forward with construction for settlers in steps toward annexation.
Bennett’s office said that the road for Palestinians, dubbed the “sovereignty road,” will connect the villages north of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement — A’zaim, Anata, Hizme and a-Ram — to one another.
“It allows Palestinian vehicles to move without crossing inside the Ma’aleh Adumim bloc, near Jewish communities,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that it would ease traffic in the area by separating Jewish and Palestinian travelers.
“On the political level, the road will… enable construction for Jewish settling in the E1 area,” the statement continued, saying it effectively would ensure Jerusalem’s connection to Ma’ale Adumim. READ MORE
