This is John Batchelor. Welcome back Malcolm,

the home conference of President's major American Jewish organizations.

And here Malcolm describes to me many years ago we visited the hills outside of Jerusalem,

actually at the edge of Jerusalem.

And here is the sector known as E1.

The proposal is to build on E1.

Malcolm describes where it is and what this would mean

for the people of Jerusalem, housing and shopping and a connection between the whole of the city.

Malcolm Online, E1, Jerusalem, right now. More of this later.

Well, you actually, I think, were there. When we went to visit Maladoum, you remember the suburb of Jerusalem, sort of high on the

mountain, and we went there to visit the mayor, and this is, yes, yes, and they were talking

about building shopping centers.

If you remember, because when you look from Maladun, you look right down on Jerusalem, and this is the area between it.

And for many decades, it's been discussed, and everybody recognized the strategic importance because controlling E1 would encircle Jerusalem.

And that was the goal of some of the Arabs, and what they're doing now is that they will build civilian housing there,

maybe schools and other things so as to break the possibility, not of a state, but of the encirclement of Jerusalem by hostile forces.

And link Mala Domim, which is a large city today of tens of thousands of people with Jerusalem.

And there, there could be all sorts of facility, shopping centers, et cetera, built that would

enable them to, both for security and for economic and development reasons.

You cannot say that Israel doesn't have a right to build on adjacent to Jerusalem areas.

And some of the controversy to Maraus is simply manufactured for trying to deny Israel its legitimate rights there.