Dear [name of elected representative],

I am writing as your constituent to urge you to take immediate action to prevent Israel’s devastating ‘E1 settlement plan’ which, in the words of Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich himself, would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” and destroy the prospects for a sustainable and just peace for both Palestinians and Israelis. 

As your constituent, I urge you to act now, before it is too late, and to press the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs: 

• To publicly oppose Israel’s illegal E1 settlement plan.  

• Ensure that Ireland fulfils its obligations under the July 2024 ICJ opinion by preventing our state and citizens from providing aid or support for the expansion and maintenance of Israel’s illegal occupation. 

• To set out what meaningful consequences will ensue if Israel proceeds in defiance of international law.  

• To support diplomatic, legal, and humanitarian measures to protect Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and ensure accountability for human rights violations. 

• To work with international partners to restart a political process that ends the occupation and delivers a just and lasting peace, guaranteeing the self-determination and human rights of all who live on the land. 

Smotrich announced last week that he is reviving long-frozen plans to build 3,401 illegal housing units for Israeli settlers on Palestinian-owned land in the E1 area between East Jerusalem and Maale Adumim. Settlements are illegal under international law. This plan would also forcibly displace more than 7,000 Palestinians from their homes and sever occupied East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank and divide the West Bank in two, destroying the territorial continuity needed for a future Palestinian state. 

Researcher Aviv Tatarsky of Ir Amim, an Israeli human rights group, warned: “The Israeli government is openly announcing apartheid.” 

Time is of the essence. On Wednesday, 20 August 2025, the Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration is scheduled to hold the final approval hearing for the E1 plan. If approved, the bureaucratic steps towards construction — publication, tenders, and building permits — could begin within days. It is therefore crucial that the international community intervenes now before the situation becomes irreversible. 

Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations warn this plan is part of a broader annexation agenda. In November 2024, Smotrich declared 2025 the “year of annexation in the West Bank,” while the Israeli coalition agreement openly claims “an exclusive and indisputable right” to all of the occupied territory. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion of July 2024 made clear that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestine is illegal and must end “as rapidly as possible” — not be expanded. Crucially, the ICJ confirmed that states, including Ireland, have a duty not to aid or assist in maintaining this illegal situation. 

Ireland must do everything in its power to protect the possibility of a Palestinian state and defend the rights of the Palestinian people. 

Thank you in advance for taking urgent action. I look forward to hearing your response. 

Kind regards, 

[your Full Name]

[ Your home address with Eircode]

Sources:

BBC

Middle East Eye

Peace Now