A group of U.S. Senate Democrats has introduced legislation seeking targeted sanctions against companies, individuals and other entities that facilitate the development of Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Chris Coons of Delaware, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced the bill on Wednesday, September 23. The legislation focuses on Israel’s E1 settlement project, an area east of Jerusalem that Palestinian and international officials have warned could affect the territorial continuity of a future Palestinian state.
Gallego said the measure sends a clear message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reflects U.S. support for a two-state solution as a path toward long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.
The legislation follows a broader campaign by Democratic senators against Israel’s planned expansion of settlements in the West Bank. On August 28, Gallego led 28 other Democratic senators in opposing tenders for the construction of 1,234 housing units in the E1 area. The senators said construction there could separate East Jerusalem from major Palestinian population centers and make a contiguous Palestinian state more difficult to establish.
According to the lawmakers, Israel had already approved more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 area, while tenders were subsequently opened for companies to bid on construction. Israeli officials have publicly discussed the political implications of settlement expansion for the prospects of a Palestinian state.
The latest initiative comes amid growing disagreement in Washington over U.S. policy toward Israeli settlement expansion and the war in Gaza. In August, 45 Democratic senators separately urged Netanyahu to address rising settler violence in the West Bank, including attacks involving U.S. citizens, and called for an end to further settlement expansion.
The U.S. Senate initiative also comes as several Western governments have adopted or considered measures targeting Israeli settlement activity. Britain, France and Canada announced restrictions on imports from Israeli settlements earlier this month, while a group of European countries reiterated their support for a two-state solution and said settlement expansion undermines that objective.
The proposed U.S. sanctions would require further congressional action before becoming law. The measure is part of a broader effort by Democratic lawmakers to use economic and diplomatic pressure over Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
