00:00German Chancellor Friedrich Maers has called Israel's New West Bank Settlement initiative a big mistake,
00:05urging the Israeli government to halt what he described as annexation moves.
00:10The so-called E-1 project was greenlit last August,
00:13paving the way for 3,400 housing units across a 12-square-kilometre area to the east of Jerusalem.
00:20Skilling on his past opposition to the settlements,
00:23Maers used his Berlin address to call for a joint European message on the subject.
00:27He confirmed that Foreign Minister Johan Wethpuh is to emphasize this stance during his visit to Israel.
00:34The plan has drawn widespread international condemnation,
00:38with a UN spokesman warning it poses an existential threat to a contagious Palestinian state.
00:43An Israeli settlement watchdog has also denounced the recent publication of a construction tender for the E-1 area.
00:51Driven by the approval of 19 new settlements in December 2025,
00:55Israeli expansion has reached its highest level since 2017,
01:00a surge that far-right finance minister Bezal al-Smotrich openly stated
01:04is aimed at preventing a Palestinian state.
01:07Peace, peace, peace, peace, peace!
01:09Peace, peace, peace!
01:09Peace, peace, peace, peace, peace!
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