Smotrich and Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Attack Eisenkot Over E1 Stance

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach attacked Gadi Eisenkot after he said Israel should not advance E1 construction now because of its international cost. Smotrich said opposition to E1 supports establishing a Palestinian state and described the project as severing that prospect beside Jerusalem. Yifrach accused Eisenkot of abandoning Yitzhak Rabin’s vision, said thousands of families await construction and insisted E1 would be built. Eisenkot said a two-state solution after October 7 would be a grave mistake, but argued that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advanced the tenders under coalition pressure.