Settlement & Annexation Report: November 18, 2022

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 18, 2022

Jerusalem Planning Committee to Discuss (Another) Plan to Significantly Expand Nof Zion Settlement Enclave
As Court Tries to Avoid Underlying Issue of Land Allocation Practices in the West Bank, Palestinians Reject “Deal” that Would Allow Construction of Givat Eitam/E-2 Settlement,
Mass Displacement/Dispossession in Silwan Advances, Court Rejects Shahadeh Family Petition
Elad Continues Illegal Work in East Jerusalem Cemetery
Bibi’s Coalition Promises on Settlement: Outposts, Homesh, Evyatar, Infrastructure, Override Clause, & More
Settler Violence Continues to Surge
U.S Ambassador Visits a Settlement, Less Than a Year After Saying He Won’t
Bonus Reads

Jerusalem Planning Committee to Discuss (Another) Plan to Significantly Expand Nof Zion Settlement Enclave

Ir Amim reports that on November 23rd the Jerusalem District Planning Committee is scheduled to discuss a plan to expand the Nof Zion settlement enclave, located in the heart of the Palestinan neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber in East Jerusalem. The plan would allow for 100 new residential units and 275 hotel rooms in the settlement enclave, and is part of a larger scheme to connect the enclave to the built-up area of East Talpiot – a scheme which would cut deeply into the Jabal Mukaber neighborhood and entrench the expanding continuum of Israeli settlements surrounding Jerusalem.

Commenting on the plan, the Israeli NGO Ir Amim writes:

“Beyond its geopolitical implications, this is yet another example of the severe discrimination in urban planning and housing in East Jerusalem. Despite the plan being slated for the entrance of Jabal Mukabber, it is not designated for the community’s development needs but rather for the expansion of a Jewish settlement in the middle of a Palestinian neighborhood. It should be noted that Jabal Mukabber is among the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem with the highest number of demolitions per year.”

Specifically, the Nof Zion expansion plan to be discussed by the Jerusalem District Planning Committee on November 23rd is interconnected with another plan (last discussed by the Committee in January 2022). That plan seeks to move an Israeli police station [the Oz station] currently located on the border of Jabal Mukaber, to a new site across the street (where it will become a massive Israeli security headquarters), leaving its current location free for the planned expansion of Nof Zion. Ir Amim filed a petition against the police station plan, saying that it is an affront to the planning needs of the local community and continues Israel’s systematic, city-wide discrimination against the housing, educational, and service-based needs of Palestinian neighborhoods. A decision on the police station relocation plan is expected soon.

Ir Amim further explains the impact of these plans:

“Expanding the settlement towards the main entrance of Jabal Mukabber will infringe on the residents’ freedom of movement and further disrupt the fabric of life in the neighborhood. Prior experience show that during clashes and periods of tension and instability, Israel rushes to impose collective restrictions under the pretext of protecting Israeli settlers.”

These plans are just the latest efforts to expand and entrench the Nof Zion settlement enclave. Prior plans include:

In 2017, the Israeli government approved a plan to build a new synagogue and mikveh for the settlement, to be located on private Palestinian land that had been expropriated form Jabal Mukaber the year before.
In April 2019, after two years of rumors, the Israeli government issued 176 building permits for the already-approved project to build . According to Ir Amim, those permits were ultimately issued in April 2019.
In 2019, construction began on a plan to triple the size of the settlement enclave, making it the largest such enclave in East Jerusalem. After a two-year stall, construction on the expansion resumed in 2021 with new financing.

As Court Tries to Avoid Underlying Issue of Land Allocation Practices in the West Bank, Palestinians Reject “Deal” that Would Allow Construction of Givat Eitam/E-2 Settlement

On November 14th, Peace Now tweeted updates from a courtroom where the Israeli Supreme Court was attempting to resolve the ongoing petition against the allocation of “state land” for the construction of the Givat Eitam/E-2 settlement, slated to be build on a strategic hilltop – which Palestinians know as a-Nahle – located just south of Bethlehem. The construction of Givat Eitam/E-2 would significantly expand the Efrat settlement in the direction of Bethlehem. It would also effectively cut Bethlehem off from the southern West Bank and complete the city’s encirclement by Israeli settlements.

In the hearing, the State of Israel proposed a deal to the Palestinian petitioners, according to which the State would allocate to them a total of 54 dunams (out of the 1,400 dunams originally planned for the construction of the new settlement). The Palestinian landowners rejected the deal, with their lawyer Michael Sfard noting:

“The main problem is that the solution proposed by the court…does not remove the evil of the decree from their heads, and therefore we oppose this proposal…that offer, whether it is 50 or 100 dunams, does not help the Palestinian communities. Since we, and everyone who sits around here, knows that if this neighborhood is built, it’s likely that they won’t even be able to cultivate those acres.”

Peace Now tweeted its sense of where the judges opinions might land, writing:

“The hearing is over. The petitioners rejected the state’s offer. It seems that the judges are trying to avoid a decision on the central question regarding the entire land – whether it should be allocated to the settlements or the Palestinians. The judges keep trying to walk between the drops. On the one hand, they cannot ignore the blatant discrimination in Israel’s land allocation policy. On the other hand, they are trying to avoid the fundamental question of the legality of this land allocation to the settlement.”

The High Court held a hearing in June 2021 on this same petition. Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran told FMEP that at the conclusion of that hearing the Court had given the government of Israel 90 days to respond to a proposal to either allocate to the individual petitioners some of the “state land” directly involved in the case, or to allocate to them “state land” nearby. This decision by the Court purposely narrowed the scope of Peace Now’s legal challenge by addressing only the case of the land in a-Nahle and the individual petitioners involved, thereby dodging the more fundamental question put forth in the petition challenging Israel’s discriminatory practice of allocating 99.8% of “state land” for settlement purposes. This is the first time the issue of state land allocations to settlements is being challenged in an Israel court.

Mass Displacement/Dispossession in Silwan advances, as Court Rejects Shahadeh Family Petition

On November 13th, the Jerusalem District Court announced that it had rejected an appeal by the Palestinian Shehadeh family seeking to cancel eviction orders that seek to dispossess them of their longtime homes in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan in favor of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization. The announcement follows a hearing the Court held on the appeal on November 9th.

As a reminder: the Shahadeh family is one of 85 families in Batan al-Hawa facing displacement at the behest of Ateret Cohanim. The legal fate of all of the families is bound together, with the Duweik family’s case being the furthest advanced and setting a dangerous precedent for the Shehadehs and others. Indeed, this week the Supreme Court discussed several of the decisions made in regards to the Duweik family, and their relation to the Shehadehs’ case. Notably, in July 2022 a 3-judge panel of the Supreme Court could not agree on the Duwiek’s family’s petition, which resulted in the petition being sent back to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court – where it currently awaits further consideration. One of the judges accepted the argument that the family should be allowed to continue living in their homes because a statute of limitations prohibits Ateret Cohanim – through its management of an historic land trust – from making a claim to the land after such a long period of absence.

As a reminder, Ateret Cohanim has waged a years-long eviction campaign against Palestinians living in Silwan, on property the settler NGO claims to own. In total, Ateret Cohanim’s campaign stands to ultimately dispossess 700 Palestinians (85 families) in Silwan. The group’s claim is based on having gained control of the historic Benvenisti Trust, which oversaw the assets of Yemenite Jews who lived in Silwan in the 19th century. In 2001 the Israeli Charitable Trust Registrar granted Ateret Cohanim permission to revive the trust and become its trustees, (following 63 years of dormancy). In 2002, the Israeli Custodian General transferred ownership of the land in Batan al-Hawa to the Trust (i.e., to Ateret Cohanim). Since then, Ateret Cohanim has accelerated its multi-pronged campaign to remove Palestinians from their homes, claiming that the Palestinians are illegal squatters.

Elad Continues Illegal Work in East Jerusalem Cemetery

Emek Shaveh & Ir Amim tweeted footage of construction work at the site of the Sambuski cemetery, an ancient Jewish cemetery located in the Ben Hinnom Valley in East Jerusalem. The Elad settler group – which is paid by the Israeli government to manage and expand a web of settler-tourist sites and the City of David National Park – has been conducting work on the Sambuski Cemetery despite apparently lacking a permit. Emek Shaveh – an Israeli NGO with expertise in archaeology – notes that any construction within a national park should be heavily scrutinized by professionals and the public before being implemented.

In August 2022, Elad unilaterally closed the main access road leading to the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Rababa, which travels past the Sambuski cemetery. 150 families were trapped in the neighborhood while Elad worked on the site.

The Sambuski cemetery was a relatively unknown, neglected site until recent years – but it is deeply integrated into Elad’s overarching, comprehensive plan to take control of the Silwan neighborhood. In 2020, the-president Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan identified the Sambuski cemetery as a place of prime historical and religious importance to Israel, elevating the status of the cemetery. The Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh – which has special expertise on archaeology and the way archeology has been weaponized to serve the political agenda of the settlers and the state of Israel – wrote a report on exactly how the Trump plan supports settler efforts to use Jerusalem’s history and antiquities to promote Israeli-Jewish hegemony and control over the city.

Emek Shaveh explains how the cemetery is connected to other settler endeavors in Silwan:

“For the Elad Foundation the cemetery is a strategic site as it links together two important focal points of its enterprise – the neighborhood of Silwan, home to the City of David archaeological park and specifically to the Pool of Siloam at the southern tip of the site, and the Hinnom Valley an area which Elad has been developing for the past two years (more below).”

Bibi’s Coalition Promises on Settlement: Outposts, Homesh, Evyatar, Infrastructure, Override Clause, & More

Netanyahu continues to negotiate a final coalition agreement in order to form a new government, and has reportedly committed to virtually all of the main demands of the settler movement (short of outright annexation of all the land between the river and the sea), including:

Passage of the Supreme Court Override Clause (see this new explainer by ACRI). This law would obliviate judicial oversight in Israel, giving ultimate power to the Knesset. Under the new Israeli government and with the current Knesset, this law would likely be used to reinstate the Settlement Regulation Law – the law that seeks to establish a legal basis for Israel to retroactively legalize outposts and settlement structures which are built on land that Israel acknowledges is privately owned by Palestinians. As a reminder, that law was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court in June 2020. Peace Now estimates that the law stands to convert some 55 unauthorized outposts into official, authorized settlements, seizing some 8,000 dunams of privately owned Palestinian land in the process.
Full recognition & integration of outposts (i.e., retroactive legalization and de facto annexation). This was reportedly promised to Bezalel Smotrich, who has authored Knesset legislation to grant full status to outposts irregardless of the status of the land on which the outposts were built illegally. Separately, Netanyahu agreed with Itamar Ben Gvir that the outposts would be provided infrastructure services within 60 days of the new government being sworn in.
The reestablishment of the Homesh Settlement. Netanyahu reportedly committed to Itamar Ben Gvir, a longtime supporter/devotee of Rabbi Meir Kahane, that the settlement of Homesh will be reestablished on the land where it stood prior to being dismantled by the Israeli government in 2005. To do so would require the government to amend the 2005 Disengagement Law that not only ordered the dismantling of the Homesh settlement along with three others in the northern West Bank, but provided for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. For more on the long-running campaign by settlers and their allies to reestablish the Homesh settlement – and its consequences for Palestinians who live nearby and own the land on which Homesh once stood – see here.
The legalization of a yeshiva at the Evyatar Outpost. Netanayhu and Ben Gvir agreed to grant retroactive authorization to a yeshiva established at the Evyator outpost. For more on the Evyatar outpost & yeshiva saga – see here.
A commitment to expanding settler road infrastructure across the West Bank. Netanyahu agreed with Ben Gvir to allocate $434 million ($1.5 billion shekels) for the paving of new and expanded bypass roads in the West Bank and for the expansion of Highway 60, and to expedite the planning process for doing so. For more analysis on how infrastructure such as roads contribute to Israel’s de facto annexation of the West Bank, see this report by Breaking the Silence.

In addition, Netanyahu is coming under increasing pressure from inside his coalition to name far right-wing MK Bezalel Smotrich as the next Defense Minister. Haaretz reports that Itamar Ben Gvir supports Smotrich’s demand because it will,

“help implement a full right-wing policy, establish new settlements in the West Bank, approve construction of thousands of new housing units in them, stop Palestinian construction in Area C and halt the evictions of illegal outposts.”

Of note, in 2021 Smotrich suggested that a “solution” to Palestinian “illegal” construction in Area C (construction by Palestinians on their own land, but without Israeli-required building permits, that Israeli makes it nearly impossible to obtain) could be to give settlements the authority to demolish Palestinian construction they believe to be unauthorized.

American officials, including Ambassador Nides, have expressed concern over Smotrich’s potential appointment to such a key – and powerful – post. In addition to his pro-settlement, pro-annexation positions, Smotrich is also a self-proclaimed homophobe and has lobbied for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel.

Lastly, and underscoring the extent to which the settlers’ agenda and the governing coalition’s agenda are one and the same: a newly elected Member of the Knesset, Limor Son Har-Melech of the Religious Zionism coalition, has appointed a member of the radical hilltop youth movement to serve as his spokesperson. Har-Melech’s new spokesman, Elisha Yered, lives in the outpost of Ramat Migron in the northern West Bank, and is under ongoing investigation following his arrest in August 2022 for “racist conspiracy” — amongst other charges for crimes against Palestinians. Yered is quoted as saying:

“the hills are the scene of a war that according to Jewish law one is required to wage…what the hills do is to bring Jewish control to hundreds of dunams – that is something that no soldier in the greatest reconnaissance unit can do during his service.”

Settler Violence Continues to Surge

Following a Palestinian stabbing attack near the Ariel settlement that left 3 Israelis dead and 3 injured, settlers across the West Bank rampaged to take their revenge, committing over 20 attacks against Palestinian and their property, as well as Israeli soldiers, in the 24 hours that followed.

In addition, in its weekly report on Israeli human rights violations covering Nov. 10-16, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reports that settlers conducted 4 attacks on Palestinians’ vehicles in different areas in the West Bank during the reporting period Nov. 10-16.

“On 14 November 2022, Israeli settlers moved into Haris village in Salfit, north of the West Bank, and burned four vehicles belonging to the villagers.

On 15 November 2022, Israeli settlers attacked and set fire to a vehicle belonging to a
Palestinian who was in his way back from ‘Attil village in northern Tulkarm to Nablus.

On the same day, Israeli settlers intercepted a bus for a women’s trip in Hebron and
prevented it from moving for few hours, enticing fear among the passengers.

On 16 November 2022, Israeli settlers threw stones at four vehicles near Ramin village, east of Tulkarm, breaking their windows. On the same day, Israeli settlers damaged a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian doctor near Jit village in Qalqilya.”

PCHR concludes, noting: “Since the beginning of the year, settlers conducted at least 236 attacks. In two of the attacks, 2 Palestinians were killed.”

U.S Ambassador Visits a Settlement, Less Than a Year After Saying He Won’t

This week U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides visited the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim to offer his condolences to the grieving family of a victim of Sunday’s stabbing attack that killed three and wounded three. Nides’ trip marks the first time any representative of the Biden Administration has undertaken official travel to any Israeli settlement. A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said that “the shiva visit in no way signals a change in US policy toward settlements”

In January 2022 Ambassador Nides was quoted as saying he “will absolutely not” visit a settlement. It’s worth recalling that the Biden Administration has not reversed or publicly rejected the Trump Administration’s “Pompeo Doctrine,” which made it U.S. policy to view Israeli settlements as not “per se inconsistent with international law.”

Kiryat Netafim is located about half way between the Ariel settlement and the cluster of settlements close to the 1967 Green Line that are slated to be united into a “super settlement” area (Oranit, Elkana, Shiva Tikva, and others). The string of settlements creates a contiguous corridor of Israeli construction and control stretching from sovereign Israeli territory to Ariel. As FMEP has repeatedly pointed out, the Ariel settlement is located in the heart of the northern West Bank, reaching literally to the midpoint between the Green Line and the Jordan border. The future of Ariel has long been one of the greatest challenges to any possible peace agreement, since any plan to attach Ariel to Israel (with a finger of land running through settlements like Kiryat Netafim) will cut the northern West Bank in half..

Bonus Reads

“Gantz approves upgrade to stretch of West Bank barrier after spate of terror attacks” (The Times of Israel)
On the U.N.:
1. “Key UN committee seeks legal opinion on Israel’s occupation” (Washington Post)
2. “Opinion | Israel’s Chutzpah at the United Nations” (Haaretz / Noa Landau)
3. “Lapid, Gantz slam UN panel’s call on ICJ to probe Israeli ‘occupation, annexation’” (The Times of Israel)
“Adalah and Center for Constitutional Rights demand US cancel its plan to build embassy compound in Jerusalem on private Palestinian land” (Adalah)
“Expulsion by Other Means: Israel’s Campaign Against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta” (J Street)
“Ben & Jerry’s board bemoans West Bank, east Jerusalem sales” (AP News)
“Wild boars in Palestine are being weaponized by Israeli colonialism” (Mondoweiss)
“IDF soldier suspended for cursing left-wing activist in Hebron: ‘You’re a traitor’” (The Times of Israel)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 11, 2022

Israel Gives Settler Group $7.8 Million for East Jerusalem Projects
Israel Supreme Court Holds Hearing on Silwan Displacement Case
Israeli Lawmakers Join Settlers on Provocative Visit to Joseph’s Tomb; 1 Palestinian Killed
Peace Now Video Shows Impact and Tragedy of the Planned E-2 /Givat Eitam Settlement
A New Israeli Government: Implications for Settlements & Annexation
Bonus Reads

Israel Gives Settler Group $7.8 Million for East Jerusalem Projects

A Haaretz investigation has revealed that various arms of the Israeli government have transferred a combined total of $7.8 million to the Elad settler organization to develop and manage new tourist projects in the Ben Hinnom Valley in East Jerusalem. This figure is double the State’s original budget for Elad – a settler organization which Israel also pays to manage the City of David National Park.

The additional funding came from three sources: the Jerusalem Affairs & Heritage Ministry, the Israel Lands Authority, and the Jerusalem Municipality. All funds were used to fuel the expansion of integrated tourism projects which underpin Elad’s control over land in the Ben Hinnom Valley, located near Silwan. This is an area where most of the land is privately owned by Palestinians and rich with olive groves. Over the past few years Israel has begun seizing land – plot by plot – mainly via the issuance of ”landscaping” (or “gardening”) orders which allow the government to take control of and develop any land that it deems “neglected.” The land, once seized, is then handed over to Elad..

The Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh responded:

“The settlement project of Elad, one of the richest nonprofits in Israel, is being funded by the citizens of the State of Israel and the residents of the poorest city in Israel – out of their own pockets! But the real price and the irreversible damage will be paid by the heritage sites of Jerusalem. At the end of the day, the ancient landscapes of the Hinnom Valley will become a playground, with a suspension bridge, a cable car and a biblical farm for ancient agriculture with sprinklers, an artificial waterfall and an electric outdoor oven – all in order to push the Palestinians out of the valley.”

In addition to its increasing control of the Ben Hinnom Valley, Elad and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority have had a contract, since 2020, to transfer the management and development of the City of David National Park to Elad. Elad carries out this contract with brutal implications for Palestinians who live inside the borders of this national park – borders Israel imposed on Palestinians residents, many of whom had been living in the areas for generations, with what appears to be total disdain/disinterest in their rights or welfare. Elad’s management of the park also weaponizes archaeology in the service of its explicit agenda: increasing Israeli control and imposing an exclusively Jewish religious and historical narrative over the entire city of Jerusalem. Elad is also a main actor behind the widespread house-by-house dispossession of Palestinians living in Silwan. In addition, Elad is pioneering a never growing slate of touristic settlement projects which increase Israeli control over the area and help reinforce a settler narrative of the city of Jerusalem which emphasizes its Jewish history while erasing past, present, and future Palestinian heritage.

Israel Supreme Court Holds Hearing on Silwan Displacement Case

Ir Amim reports that on November 9th, the Israeli Supreme Court held a hearing on an appeal against the pending eviction of the Shahadeh family from their longtime home in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan. A decision is expected to be issued by the Court within a few weeks.

The Shahadeh family is one of 85 families in Batan al-Hawa facing displacement at the behest of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization. The legal fate of all of the families is bound together, with the Duweik family’s case being the furthest advanced and setting an dangerous precedent for the Shehadehs and others. Indeed, this week the Supreme Court discussed several of the decisions made in regards to the Duweik family, and their relation to the Shehadehs’ case. Notably, in July 2022 a 3-judge panel of the Supreme Court could not agree on the Duwiek’s family’s petition, which resulted in the petition being sent back to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court – where it currently awaits further consideration. One of the judges accepted the argument that the family should be allowed to continue living in their homes because a statute of limitations prohibits Ateret Cohanim – through its management of an historic land trust – from making a claim to the land after such a long period of absence.

Israeli Lawmakers Join Settlers on Provocative Visit to Joseph’s Tomb; 1 Palestinian Killed

On November 9th, a Palestinian teenager was killed in Nablus during clashes between Palestinians and the IDF. These clashes resulted from a deliberately provocative visit carried out by settlers and Israeli lawmakers – under IDF protection – to the site of Joseph’s Tomb, which is located inside of Nablus. The settlers and eight current and incoming members of the Knesset visited the site despite a public threat to attack the delegation which was issued the day before by a Palestinian armed faction.

On a monthly basis (and sometimes more often) the IDF arranges for settlers to visit Joseph’s Tomb. The tomb is located within Area A of the West Bank (where Israel does not, under the Oslo Accords, have direct control). However, Joseph’s Tomb is one of two sites in Area A which the Oslo Accords stipulate are under the control of the Israel military. As such, it has been a perennial flashpoint, largely due to deliberately provocative actions by settlers. The whole circumstance – of settlers visiting Joseph’s Tomb – was recently called “absurd” by former IDF Major General Gadi Shamni.

While some Jewish Israelis may want to visit the site of Joseph’s Tomb for non-politically-motivated religious purposes, this latest story should be viewed in the larger context of settlers weaponizing claims to sites like Joseph’s Tomb, and archaeology in general, to expand Israel control over (i.e., de facto annexation of) parts of the West Bank that per the Oslo Accords are under Palestinian Authority control.

Peace Now Video Shows Impact and Tragedy of the Planned E-2 /Givat Eitam Settlement

In advance of a High Court hearing scheduled for Nov. 14th, Peace Now has released a 10 minute video explaining the unfolding tragedy of E-2/Givat Eitam. Peace Now is leading the petition alongside the Palestinian landowners.

The Supreme Court – courtesy of a petition filed by Palestinian landowners with the assistance of Peace Now – is due to continue its consideration of the Palestinians’ challenge to the allocation of “state land” to the Israeli Ministry of Housing for the construction of a new settlement called Givat Eitam on a strategic hilltop – which Palestinians call a-Nahle – located just south of Bethlehem.

As a reminder, the High Court held a hearing in June 2021 on this same petition. Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran told FMEP that at the conclusion of that hearing the Court had given the government of Israel 90 days to respond to a proposal to either allocate to the individual petitioners some of the “state land” directly involved in the case, or to allocate to them “state land” nearby. This decision by the Court purposely narrowed the scope of Peace Now’s legal challenge by addressing only the case of the land in a-Nahle and the individual petitioners involved, thereby dodging the more fundamental question put forth in the petition challenging Israel’s discriminatory practice of allocating 99.8% of “state land” for settlement purposes. This is the first time the issue of state land allocations to settlements is being challenged in an Israel court.

A New Israeli Government: Implications for Settlements & Annexation

Likud Party leader and Israel’s longest-serving (over multiple tenures in office) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again poised to lead the Israeli government, this time relying on a governing coalition that includes extremist/racist/Islamophobic/homophobic Jewish supremacist figures like Itamar Ben Gvir (a longtime supporter/devotee of Rabbi Meir Kahane) and Bezalel Smotrich. Settlers are giddy, with notable settler leaders Daniela Weiss describing the election results as a “revolution,” and saying there will certainly be an acceleration in settlement growth.

Here are key demands being made of Netanyahu that will likely define the new government and influence its policies on settlements and annexation:

Itamar Ben Gvir – who has called for the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel, who was disqualified from IDF service for his extreme views, and who is closely allied with the settlers in Sheikh Jarrah – is demanding to be named the Minister of Public Security. This would put him in charge of the Israeli police and their power over Palestinians living in Israel and East Jerusalem. The Ministry would also hand Ben Gvir a large role over security at the Temple Mount, which Ben Gvir has advocated for Israel to take unilateral control over – a dangerous proposition. Ben Gvir has also publicly proclaimed that, should he be appointed, he will change the rules of engagement so that Israeli soldiers have broader leeway to shoot at Palestinians (for reasons as minimal as suspected stone-throwing), and he will push for broad immunity for Israeli security officials (which combined appear to be a directive to kill Palestinians under the promise of immunity).
Bezalel Smotrich – who continues to demand either the Defense, Finance, or Justice Ministries – is making two key legislative demands:
- Passage of the Override Clause, which would allow a simple majority in the Knesset to vote to reinstate any law that the Supreme Court rules is unconstitutional. This is particularly relevant for the Settlement Regulation Law, which the Court struck down by the Court in 2020. The Knesset had passed the Settlement Regulation Law in order to create a legal basis to allow Israel to retroactively legalize outposts and settlement structures which had been built on land that Israel acknowledges is privately owned by Palestinians. Smotrich and many of the coalition members have been longtime supporters of the Override Clause in order to reinstate this law in particular.
- Annexation of settlements. Smotrich is demanding that settlements come under domestic Israeli law, which would implement the annexation of the settlements to Israel. This is also a widely-popular initiative, with Yariv Levin – Netanyahu’s Likud partymate – recently saying that annexation is high on the government’s agenda.

Bonus Reads

“West Bank Settler Accused of Terrorism After Attacking Palestinian in East Jerusalem” (Haaretz)
“Israel Resumes Construction of Jewish Town Planned Over Ruins of Yet-to-be-demolished Bedouin Village” (Haaretz)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

June 10, 2021

Israeli AG Declines Involvement in Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases, Clearing Way for Supreme Court Ruling
Pending Silwan Dispossession Cases Continue
Israeli Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case on West Bank Land Appropriation for Settlement
Extremists “March of Flags” in Jerusalem Rescheduled for June 15th
IDF Issues Evacuation Notice Against Outpost, Causing Political Stir
Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Israeli AG Declines Involvement in Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases, Clearing Way for Supreme Court Ruling

On June 7th, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit informed the Supreme Court that he will not submit a legal opinion on the cases threatening the immediate displacement of seven Palestinian families (13 households) from their longtime homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. These cases will serve as further precedent for even more widespread dispossession of Palestinians in favor of settlers.

Map by Haaretz

Haaretz reports that Mandelblit believes the Palestninians’ have “too weak” of a case, and that his legal opinion would not prevent their eviction. Haaretz also reports that the political leadership in Israel approves of the Attorney General’s decision to allow the cases to proceed.

Peace Now responded to Mandelblit’s decision:

“Israel’s Attorney General has decided not to give his opinion in the Sheikh Jarrah cases. This means Israeli government is ridding itself of responsibility in matters of discriminatory laws and dispossessing hundreds of Palestinian.”

These Sheikh Jarrah eviction cases – which have been at the center of heightened international attention and outcry – have been in limbo since last month, when the Attorney General was given until June 8th to submit his opinion. Now that Mandelblit has decided against weighing in, the Supreme Court is expected to convene a hearing and issue its ruling on the Palestinians’ appeal before July 20th, which is the last day of the Israeli judicial calendar — notwithstanding the fact that the Supreme Court could delay the hearing under various pretexts, if it was inclined to do so. Commenting on the anticipated quick move by the Supreme Court to hold this final hearing, Terrestrial Jerusalem’s Danny Seidemann tweeted “…The wheels of justice grind slowly, but sometimes we make exceptions. Enough said.”

Ir Amim said:

“The eviction procedures in both Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan largely reflect one another and are predicated on the same discriminatory legal mechanism, which state-sponsored settler groups are exploiting to systemically dispossess Palestinian families and seize their homes for Jewish settlement. A total of 1000 Palestinians – some 300 individuals from Sheikh Jarrah and more than 700 people from Silwan— are under threat of mass displacement. These measures not only constitute a flagrant violation of human rights, but also carry far-reaching, humanitarian, geopolitical, and moral implications. Concerted pressure must be exerted on the Israeli government to end these measures of dispossession and to undertake a sustainable and just solution for the families to remain in their homes.”

In a piece entitled “Israel Is Shirking Its Responsibility for Residents of Sheikh Jarrah,” the Haaretz Editorial Board wrote:

“The enlistment of the state employees, from the attorney general to the last of the policemen, for the benefit of the expulsion and settlement enterprise in Sheikh Jarrah is an embarrassment for Israel. It causes moral damage, harms public diplomacy and poses a security risk to all Israelis. Let us hope the new government will have broader considerations and will order the attorney general to intervene for the sake of common sense and justice.”

Ironically, as the clock ticks down to a final decision by the Court – a decision that will almost certainly mean the expulsion of these Palestinains from their homes — Israel seems to be making a special effort to keep the world’s attention focused on how it treats Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. This effort included arresting (with brutality captured on video) a well-respected Al Jazeera journalist Givara Budeiri, and detaining and interrogating two of the most prominent Paelstinian activists in the world – Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd. The siblings – whose family is one of the seven facing immediate expulsion from their homes – were released following intense interrogation. These high-profile arrests are but a small part of a large wave of arrests Israel is carrying out across Jerusalem and other parts of the country. Budeiri was also released.

Pending Silwan Dispossession Cases Continue

On June 10th an Israeli court in Jerusalem was due to hold a hearing with respect to Palestinian appeals in two cases of pending dispossession of Palestinains of their homes in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The Court instead delayed the hearing on the appeals, rescheduling it to July 8.

In addition to the two cases above, the fate of another 15 Palestinians households in Silwan — all facing eviction/dispossession — awaits the action of Attorney General Mandelblit. The case of eight of those families, all from the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan, is currently before the Supreme Court, which has ordered Mandelblit to give his opinion in the cases, or formally decline to do so, by June 30. How those cases are decided will become the precedent that will decide the fate of another seven Palestinian households whose cases are currently in an Israeli District Court.

One Silwan resident, Zuheir al-Rajabi – whose family’s case was profiled in the New York Times – told Al-Monitor that the Silwan families are also considering taking their case to the International Criminal Court. As a reminder, the ICC is currently considering whether to launch a full fledged investigation into Israeli war crimes – an investigation which would include settlement activity.

Israeli Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case on West Bank Land Appropriation for Settlement

Peace Now reports that on June 7th, the Israeli High Court of Justice held a hearing on a petition filed by Palestinian landowners challenging the allocation of “state land” to the Israeli Ministry of Housing in order to enable to the construction of a new settlement called Givat Eitam on a strategic hilltop – which Palestinians call a-Nahle – located just south of Bethlehem.

Hagit Ofran of Peace Now – which is leading the petition alongside the Palestinian landowners – told FMEP that the hearing concluded with Court giving the State 90 days in which to respond to a proposal to allocate some the land directly involved in the case to the individual petitioners, or whether it will agree to allocate land nearby to the petitioners. This decision by the Court purposefully narrows the scope of Peace Now’s legal challenge by only addressing the case of the land in a-Nahle and the individual petitioners involved. The decision dodges the more fundamental question put forth in the petition challenging Israel’s discriminatory practice of allocating 99.8% of “state land” for settlement purposes. This is the first time the issue of state land allocations to settlements is being challenged in an Israel court.

Map by Peace Now

This petition comes after previous legal efforts have failed to overturn Israel’s declaration of the land of a-Nahle as “state land”. Past attempts to use litigation in Israeli courts to prevent Israel from building new settlements have typically not continued past this point. One reason for this is that in order to challenge how “state land” is allocated, the petitioner must, in effect, concede that the land in question is legitimately “state land” in the first place — something Palestinians do not concede with respect to land seized by Israel. That makes this petition, which is led by Peace Now along with over a dozen Palestinian landowners, novel.

As a reminder, the settlement at the heart of the case is called Givat Eitam by settlers, but it is called “E-2” by anti-settlement watchdogs, in light of its dire geopolitical implications for any future Palestinian state (similar to those of the E-1 settlement on Jerusalem’s eastern flank). The construction of Givat Eitam/E-2 would significantly expand the Efrat settlement in the direction of Bethlehem, effectively cutting Bethlehem off from the southern West Bank and completing the city’s encirclement by Israeli settlements.

Extremists “March of Flags” in Jerusalem Rescheduled for June 15th

Delayed twice in light of Israel’s concerns of violence, the Israeli Security Cabinet voted to give its permission for radical, ultranationalist Israelis to hold a parade – called the March of Flags – on June 15th through the Old City of Jerusalem, ostensibly in celebration of the reunification of East and West Jerusalem following the 1967 War. Hedging, the Security Cabinet made its permission conditional on the route of the parade being approved by the Israeli police.

Israeli police have expressed concern that the provocative parade – which organizers want to have go through Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter, in a deliberate finger-in-the-eye to Palestinians (the provocative overtones of the annual march are never subtle, with racist/Islamophic signs and chants the norm) – could trigger Hamas rocket fire, and have in the past refused to approve the parade route insisted upon by its organizers.

According to press reports, the police have said that it will consider approving a new proposal for a different, less provocative route. However, organizers of the march have rejected this option, stating, “the outline presented to us by the police does not express the purpose of the parade, by the Jewish people, with Israeli flags in the Israeli capital.” Making clear that provocation is the goal, MK Itamar Ben Gvir, a acolyte of Rabbi Meir Kahane – whom police had, for security reasons, explicitly barred from participating in any flag march at this time, or from visiting the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif – held his own protest at Damascus Gate, leading, as he surely hoped, to a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli forces accompanying him (and to the arrest of five Palestinians).

Notably, the parade is currently planned for Tuesday, June 15th – a date that falls two days after a new government is expected to be confirmed and sworn in. Commenting on the timing, a Haaretz analyst noted:

“Instead of approving the march on its original date, Netanyahu made his first decision as opposition leader on Tuesday night: He rolled the hot potato into the hands of prime minister-designate Naftali Bennett. This move may become the first crisis of the fragile unity government: Bennett, who is right-wing, has made it clear that his government would have a ‘soft right’ character and would have a hard time explaining to his voters why he was working to thwart the march.”

IDF Issues Evacuation Notice Against Outpost, Causing Political Stir

Haaretz reports that a group of 200 settlers have re-established an outpost (which they call “Evyatar”) on a strategic hilltop called Mount Sabih, located south of Nablus on lands belonging to the Palestinian villages of Beita, Qabalan, and Yatma. On June 9, the Israeli army issued a military order designating the area as a closed zone, and ordered the settlers (and their security team of guard dogs) to vacate the area within eight days. The IDF said it would demolish/remove the more than 40 structures – including tents, a synagogue, prefab houses, and sanitation facilities – that settlers have installed at the site if the settlers do not remove them voluntarily. A spokesperson for the outpost – Daniella Weiss of the Nahala settler organization – said that 46 settler families (approximately 200 people) have moved to the outpost already, and 75 settler families are “hoping to join them soon.”

Palestinians from the nearby villages to which the land belongs have actively sought to prevent settler incursions into the lands surrounding Beita. During a recent protest against another outpost settlers were trying to establish on lands belonging to Beita, the Israeli army shot and killed two young Palestinians, and wounded 25 others. On June 6th, the army closed off the main entrance to Beita in an attempt to quell Palestinian resistance; Beita remains sealed off as of June 10. As a reminder,

With defiance and pride, a spokesperson for the outpost told Haaretz that the land on which the outpost stands is in the process of being declared “state land” by Israel. The Times of Israel reports that, indeed, the Israeli government regards the land’s status as unclear – and is examining whether it can claim the land as “state land” under the legal pretext that it has not been actively cultivated by Palestinians for a long enough period of time. As a reminder, Palestinians have been prevented from building and farming on this land for decades. In the 1980s, Israel used the hilltop as a “temporary” military base. When the base was removed in the 1990s, Palestinians were prohibited from building on the site – which is in Area C of the West Bank where Israel exercises unilateral power.

If the land is declared as “state land” it could then be allocated to the settlers and the outpost could be retroactively authorized, consistent with the longstanding efforts of the whole of the Israeli government – the Knesset, the Executive, and the Judiciary – which has spared no efforts to find the means by which to issue retroactive authorization to more than 70 outposts scattered throughout the West Bank.

The imminent evacuation of the “Evyatar” outpost has caused controversy in the waning hours of the Netanyahu regime, and might become one of the first points of contention for the incoming government coalition. After the IDF issued an order closing the area and declaring its intent to raze the outpost, Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote a letter to Defense Minister Gantz (who oversees the Civil Administration, which has authority over West Bank building and security) arguing that the outpost should be left alone while the land status is investigated. Gantz rebuffed the letter, writing back that the outpost was built in contravention of Israeli law and the IDF will raze the outpost regardless of the question of land status. The letter from Gantz’s office said: “It is those anomalous characteristics of this case that led to the decision to issue a demarcation order, which followed consultation with all relevant defense and legal authorities.”

Looking forward, Haaretz succinctly explains why the evacuation of this outpost might pose a predicament to the new Israeli government, due to be sworn in over the weekend. Haaretz writes:

“From a legal perspective, the site must be evacuated…But how will [Naftali Bennet] the former director general of the Yesha Council of settlements – who is the prime minister-designate – behave in the face of what remains of his political base?”

Bonus Reads

“Fights over settlements holding up coalition deal signings” (Jerusalem Post)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week.

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

September 28, 2018

Following Murder of Ari Fuld, Settlers Start Building “Givat Eitam/E-2” Settlement
Undermining Any Claim of “Good Faith,” Reports Shows Israel & WZO Knew Land Was Stolen Before Giving to Settlers
Palestinians Demand $360 Million in Back Taxes on Businesses Operating in Israeli Settlements
UNSC & UNGA Round-Up: Notable Activities & Statements Related to Settlements

Comments, questions, or suggestions? Email Kristin McCarthy at kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Following Murder of Ari Fuld, Settlers Start Building “Givat Eitam/E-2” Settlement

In response to the terrorist attack that resulted in the death of Israeli-American settler Ari Fuld, the local council of the Efrat settlement (where Fuld resided) has directed the start of (unauthorized) construction at the highly consequential “Givat Eitam” settlement site (nicknamed by settlement watchers “E-2” for its resemblance, in terms of dire geopolitical implications, to the infamous E-1 settlement plan). Located east of the separation barrier on a strategic hilltop overlooking the Palestinian city of Bethlehem to its north, Givat Eitam/E-2 is located within the municipal borders of the Efrat settlement but is not contiguous with its built-up area, making Givat Eitam/E-2 effectively a new settlement that, according to Peace Now, will:

“block Bethlehem from the south, and prevent any development in the only direction that has not yet been blocked by settlements (the city is already blocked from the North by the East Jerusalem settlements of Gilo and Har Homa, and from the West by the Gush Etzion Settlements) or bypass roads (that were paved principally for Israeli settlers). The planned building in area E2 would likely finalize the cutting off of Bethlehem city from the southern West Bank, delivering a crushing blow to the Two States solution.”

A small group of settlers are currently living in makeshift shelters at the site, under the protection of the Israeli army. The Israeli Civil Administration – which is responsible for enforcing planning and building laws in the occupied territory – has acknowledged the unauthorized construction at the Givat Eitam/E-2 site but has not announced any intention to remove the settlers or their illegal structures.

The head of the Efrat Local Council, Oded Revivi, took credit for the establishment of the outpost and acknowledging a long effort to build at the site, saying:

“Less than 24 hours after the murder of our friend Ari Fuld, the Efrat local council is offering a suitable Zionist response and building a new point of settlement in the Land of Israel – Givat Eitam – a strategic hill that connects the center of Gush Etzion to the eastern part. After many attempts and a lot of work, and a great deal of pressure from all sides, we’re on our way there. The residents of Efrat are with us, behind us, in cars, accompanying us. We will arrive in just a few moments and will be able to recite the blessing: “Blessed be He who establishes the border of the widow.”

Settlers have tried to build, legally and illegally, on the hilltop for over a decade. In 2004, Israel declared the area as “state land” and put it under the municipal jurisdiction of the Efrat settlement. Palestinians challenged the declaration, providing deeds to the land, but the High Court of Justice rejected the majority of the petitioner’s arguments and sent the case back to the appeals court to reconsider its previous ruling against the Palestinians. Since then, Israel and the settlers have acted unilaterally on the assumption that the area is theirs to build on. Settlers built an illegal outpost on the exact hilltop in 2011 and again in 2013; both times the Civil Administration removed the outposts after some time. In 2014, the settlers were allowed to build an access road to the Givat Eitam/E-2 site. In 2015, the Civil Administration – apparently accepting the settlers’ argument that the land belongs to Israel – destroyed Palestinian wheat crops that were planted there.

The new outpost of Efrat serves to magnify the territorial issues presented by the Efrat settlement, which is located inside a settlement enclave that cuts deep into the West Bank. Efrat’s location and the route of the barrier wall around it, have literally severed the route of Highway 60 south of Bethlehem, cutting off Bethlehem and Jerusalem from the southern West Bank. The economic, political, and social impacts of the closure of Highway 60 at the Efrat settlement (there is literally a wall built across the highway) have been severe for the Palestinian population. The concentrated settlement growth in Efrat (Efrat saw more construction starts in 2016 than any other settlement and has financed illegal construction projects to expand its borders) exacerbates all of these problems and further entrenches what settlement expert Lara Friedman calls “the trend of ‘canonization’ of the West Bank.”

Undermining Any Claim of “Good Faith,” Reports Shows Israel & WZO Knew Land Was Stolen Before Giving to Settlers

A new Haaretz report challenges the legal basis for the recent and monumental Jerusalem District Court ruling which held that the Mitzpe Kramim outpost can be retroactively legalized because the State, the World Zionist Organization, and the settlers all acted “in good faith” in the course of events that lead to the establishment of the unauthorized outpost on privately owned Palestinian land. Legal and bank documents seen by Haaretz show that the World Zionist Organization (WZO) transferred ownership rights to settlers two months after the State was informed that the land belongs to Palestinians. The sequence of events fundamentally calls into question the Jerusalem District Court’s holding that the State and WZO acted “in good faith.”

In early 2011, Palestinians filed petitions with the High Court of Justice asserting ownership of the land in question. The State responded to the Court regarding the petition, claiming that it mistakenly thought the land was under State control when it was granted to the WZO (an admission that the land should not be under WZO control). On February 6, 2011 the High Court of Justice ordered a temporary injunction against construction on the land until the ownership issues were resolved. Despite the legal proceedings and the State’s acknowledgement that the land should not be in the hands of the WZO, newly revealed documents show that the WZO transferred land rights to Israeli settlers in a series of transactions in the months after the Court order (from March to July 2011). In bank documents submitted in August 2011 (six months after the Court ruling) the WZO attested to to the settlers’ ownership of the land, paving the way for the bank to issue mortgages to the settlers, despite the unresolved ownership issues about which the WZO was aware.

Dror Etkes, the founder of the NGO Kerem Navot, who discovered the bank documents, said:

“So this is what ‘good faith’ looks like in Mitzpeh Kramim: the Settlement Division, the settlers, Amana, and the banks, worked together in a cold and calculated manner during the first few months after the petition was submitted – when there couldn’t have been the slightest doubt that construction was being illegally conducted on privately owned land – to present decisive facts before the High Court of Justice and prevent their eviction.”

The case regarding Mitzpe Kramim is now before the High Court of Justice, which will issue a final ruling about the future of the outpost, and potentially render a final verdict regarding the “good faith” of the State and WZO, and the rights of the Palestinian landowners.

Palestinians Demand $360 Million in Back Taxes on Businesses Operating in Israeli Settlements

First reported by i24 News, in a new report the Palestinian Authority documents what it estimates to be $360 million in “fiscal leakages” – monies have been denied to the PA by Israeli control over Area C, and which the PA is seeking to recoup. The PA reportedly planned to present the findings to international donors at a meeting on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

The PA report asserts that since 2000 (at which time Israel ceased informing the PA about commercial activity in Area C), Israel has collected an estimated $1.7 million each month from about 2,000 businesses operating in settlements in the occupied territories. The PA argues that according to the 1994 Paris Protocol (which the report extensively cites), all these funds should be transferred to the PA by Israel, and that going forward Israel should transfer the monthly sum to the PA.

UNSC & UNGA Round-Up: Notable Activities & Statements Related to Settlements

On September 27, 2018 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Abbas twice stated that the Trump administration’s policy vis a vis settlement construction is a verdict on the final status issue of land, Abbas said:

“I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements, which contravene international law and UN resolutions, as well as the understandings among us, in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for the future generations in our region….We awaited his peace initiative with utmost patience, but were shocked by decisions and actions he undertook that completely contradict the role and commitment of the United States towards the peace process. In November 2017, his administration issued a decision to close the PLO office in Washington, DC. He then announced his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transferred his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and boasts that he has removed the issues of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and security off the negotiation table. All such decisions threaten the Palestinian national cause and constitute an assault on international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. The US administration went even further in its assault by cutting assistance to the Palestinian National Authority, UNRWA and Palestinian hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem.”

On September 27th, 2018 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu’s speech did not address settlements.

On September 27th, U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, gave a speech defending U.S. funding cuts to Palestinians and humanitarian projects. As part of that speech Greenblatt noted that the U.S. decision was motivated in part by the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to cooperate with Israeli businesses, which might be pointing towards industrial zone projects inside Israeli settlements – an “economic peace” scheme the U.S. administration recently promised to support. Greenblatt said in his speech that PA leaders:

“refuse opportunities to build the economy due to an anti-normalization prejudice towards doing business with Israelis. (…) The United States will not use the hard-earned tax dollars of its citizens to subsidize anti-normalization”.

At a September 26th press conference during UNGA that the U.S. preferences a two-state solution, President Trump articulated support for a two-state solution. Commenting on Trump’s statement, Husam Zomlot – until recently the PLO Ambassador to the U.S. – said:

“[Trump’s] statements contradict his actions. His policy is destroying any chance for peace.”

J Street has the following reaction:

“If President Trump truly supports a two-state solution, then he should reverse the many actions by his administration that have made it much harder to achieve. He should stop claiming that he has taken the issue of Jerusalem “off the table,” and stop the cruel and destructive cuts in humanitarian aid and assistance to the Palestinian people. He should instruct the US ambassador to Israel to stop condoning Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. President Trump and his administration should be judged by actions, not words, and their actions have made clear: they have no interest in promoting genuine peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Until those destructive actions change, the idea that they are formulating a credible ‘peace plan’ is absurd.”

Also on September 26th, President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, held a meeting to gather support for an alternative model for negotiations – a model that replaces U.S. leadership in the process with a multilateral approach. The meeting was attended by foreign ministers of Turkey, Ireland, and Japan, UK Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt, and diplomats from Germany, Norway, Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, among others. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov and Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo also attended the event.

On September 20, 2018, the UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Nickolay Mladenov provided an update on the implementation of UN Res 2334 to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), chaired by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. Mladenov began his update saying:

“No steps have been taken during the reporting period to ‘cease all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem’, as required by the resolution.”

Mladenov’s report goes on to document the number of settlement units approved for construction. He concludes with broad observations about the context and consequences of Israeli settlement activity, starting with:

“The expansion of Israeli settlements is illegal under international law and continues to erode the viability of a two-state solution. Particularly alarming are legal and administrative steps which could consolidate and expand settlement activity deep in the West Bank, further undermining the contiguity of a future Palestinian state.”