Construction of homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria is “infuriating,” but not every settler home can be blocked, US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said, saying that he tried to stop the controversial E1 project. The E1 project was a plan to build homes for Israelis in the Judean Desert that would connect the eastern city of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem.

“We can’t do stupid things that impede us for a two-state solution. We can’t have the Israelis doing settlement growth in east Jerusalem or the West Bank,” Nides said at a virtual meeting with the radical left-wing Americans for Peace Now on Tuesday.

“I’m a bit of a nag on this, including the idea of settlement growth – which infuriates me, when they do things – just infuriates the situation, both in east Jerusalem and the West Bank,” he added.

Nides also admitted that he “would be lying” if he said that it was possible to halt “every single house that is built.”

“I can’t stop everything, just so we are clear.

The US ambassador also said that he needed to pick and choose his battles.