Jerusalem is being turned from a city into a region that controls the entire central portion of the West Bank. In addition to municipal Jerusalem whose boundaries were established by Israel unilaterally as political facts in 1967, an artificial urban entity defined by an “inner ring” of settlements, a “Greater Jerusalem” with an “outer ring” of settlements is in the process of extending the city far into the West Bank. If “Greater Jerusalem” is intended for annexation, an even wider area – Metropolitan Jerusalem – is a planning unit designed to ensure that Ramallah and Bethlehem remain undeveloped satellite cities dependent upon Israeli Jerusalem even if they eventually fall across a political border separating Israel from Palestine.

The map also shows the “E-1” area, 4000 acres annexed to Ma’aleh Adumim in a combined move by the Netanyahu and Barak governments. With the addition of E-1, Ma’aleh Adumim’s master plan extends entirely across the West Bank from Jerusalem to Jericho, effectively severing the northern West Bank from the south. Palestinian traffic will likely be diverted into Israeli territory (along the “Eastern Ring Road” now being constructed in East Jerusalem), allowing Israel to control Palestinian movement even in the event that a Palestinian state emerges. E-1 reveals the subtle, sophisticated and effective use of planning for control employed by Israel.