Israeli far-right minister backs contentious West Bank settlement plan

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich displays a map of an area near the settlement of Maale Adumim, a land corridor known as E1, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, on August 14, 2025, after a press conference at the site. Far-right ministers have in recent months openly called for Israel's annexation of the territory. Plans exist to build more than 3,000 housing units, schools, health clinics and a country club on E1 between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem. Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP