Greater Jerusalem

A 440 sq km region encompassing Jerusalem and its suburbs that Israel seeks to annex onto the municipal borders already annexed in 1980. Most of this land—75 percent—is part of the occupied West Bank. It includes, in addition to Israeli municipal Jerusalem, three major settlement blocs to the east, south, and north of the city, respectively, each with its own regional and local self-government: Ma‘ale Adumim, Gush Etzion, and Giv’at Ze’ev. These settlements, constructed on confiscated Palestinian public and private lands, have been expanded, developed, and connected to one another and to Jerusalem’s urban core through bypass roads—most of which are inaccessible to Palestinians with Palestinian Authority (PA) identity cards. The Knesset has considered plans to officially annex the region several times, only to delay the move due to international pressure. Completion of this vision will create an Israeli geographic center in the West Bank that is inaccessible to most Palestinians, and ultimately divide the West Bank into two separate parts without East Jerusalem, the stated Palestinian capital.

See Israels Vision of a Greater [Jewish] Jerusalem.