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

June 3 ,2021

1. Critical Updates from Silwan & Sheikh Jarrah
2. Tender Published for Givat Hamatos Groundwork, Even as Petition is Pending
3. Final Approval Given to Har Homa E Settlement
4. Expansion of the Beit El Settlement Begins
5. High Court Bans Settlers from Farming Palestinian Land…But Continues to Deny Palestinians Access
6. Resources on Israel’s New Prime Minister Naftali Bennet
7. New Report on Settler Violence Against Palestinians in Area B
8. Bonus Reads

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

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Critical Updates from Silwan & Sheikh Jarrah

In the weeks since FMEP’s last Settlement & Annexation Report was published (apologies for the gap) there have been several key developments in the cases of forced displacement of families from their longtime homes in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, including new scrutiny of the legal basis on which Israeli settlers claim to own the land and the homes from which they wish to expel Palestinians. It must be recalled that the Israeli Court has for the time being decided to postpone these expulsions – a decision clearly influenced by the fact that Palestinians are currently mobilized and the international community is closely engaged.

At this point, the most pressing eviction cases in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah are awaiting the opinion of the Israeli Attorney General. That position is currently held by Avichai Mandelblit (though this might change under the new governing coalition). The Attorney General’s opinion will carry a tremendous amount of weight in deciding not only the fate of the families facing imminent displacement, but scores of other Palestinian families whose homes are being similarly targeted by settlers. Mandelblit, it is worth recalling, has among other things actively worked to craft legal mechanisms to launder illegal settler construction in the West Bank.

For additional background on the historic and legal context of these cases, see the new, excellent and thorough analysis by the Israeli NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem (PDF available here). To understand why these cases are not a simple real-estate dispute – and why it is improper to call them eviction cases – please see this analysis by Ir Amim’s Amy Cohen and Yudtih Oppenheimer. For updates on settlement-related developments in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, see below.

In Silwan

• On June 1st, the Jerusalem Affairs Ministry issued an order to freeze the construction of a “Yeminite heritage center” in the home of an evicted Palestinian family in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan. 
  • The order was issued in light of a newly launched investigation into the means by which Ateret Cohanim came to manage the “Benvenisti Land Trust,” an historic trust that Ateret Cohanim revived in order to claim ownership of swathes of land in Silwan, and then to initiate eviction proceedings against Palestinians living there. The investigation will have major consequences, not only for the fate of the planned heritage center (to commemorate a small Yemenite Jewish community that lived in the area before 1948), but also for the many eviction cases Ateret Cohanim is pursuing on the basis of its management of the land owned by Benvenisti Trust.
  • Haaretz explains the background on why the investigation is being launched: “…in September 2020, the religious trusts registry began investigating the Benvenisti Trust in response to a petition filed in court by the Ir Amim organization. Ir Amim charged that the trust was a shell organization run by Ateret Cohanim for its own purposes, and that these purposes deviated from the founding goals of the trust, which was established in the late 19th century. Around six months ago, Ir Amim also petitioned the court against the planned heritage center, arguing that it was unreasonable for one government agency to be investigating the trust while another government agency was pouring money into it. Moreover, the organization said, it is improper for the state to finance a heritage center on private property that essentially serves Ateret Cohanim’s needs.”
  • For background on Ateret Cohanim’s plans to build a heritage center, see FMEP’s August 2018 report.
• On May 26th, the Jerusalem District Court delayed the forced displacement of seven Palestinian families from their longtime homes in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan, awaiting a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court on two related cases.
  • All three cases challenge the underlying legal status of the land and the buildings on the land – which the settler organization Ateret Cohanim claims to own via the resuscitation of the Benvenisti land trust.
  • The two related cases are awaiting the submission of an opinion by the Israeli Attorney General, and that opinion will be applied to all three cases (and likely any additional cases brought on the same grounds). The Supreme Court ordered the Israeli Attorney General to submit his opinion on one of the cases – the Duweik family case – by May 31st. On June 1st, the Court granted the Attorney General a 30-day extension of that deadline.
  • The Ateret Cohanim settler organization has led a campaign to forcibly displace some 100 Palestinian families from the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan, claiming the land is rightfully owned by the Benvenisti Trust, over which Ateret Cohanim members have  controlling power.
  • Solidarity protests in Silwan have been violently suppressed by the Israeli authorities. 
  • Qutaiba Odeh, a resident of Silwan whose house is threatened with a demolition order, told Middle East Eye during a protest: “The Israeli settler groups behind the eviction cases in Sheikh Jarrah are the same ones coming after these houses in Silwan. It’s the same shared struggle, against the same occupation. We said save Sheikh Jarrah yesterday, we say save Silwan today.”

In Sheikh Jarrah

• Families continue to face the threat of displacement, the next court hearing has been delayed until August 2021, as the Court waits for the Attorney General to offer his opinion on the case, separate from the Silwan cases. 
• An investigative report by Uri Blau revealed that a New York-based lawyer, Seymour Braun, is financially connected to settler efforts to displace Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. At the same time, the identities of those behind these eviction proceedings remains largely unknown, as they have been concealed by settlers and their backers.
• The neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah remains under Israeli-imposed closure, actively (and violently) enforced by Israeli police. 
  • Ir Amim writes on the closure: “The closure of the neighborhood is seen as an intentional brazen move by the Israeli authorities to suppress Palestinian mobilization and deprive the residents of Sheikh Jarrah of the freedom of expression and the right to protest against their forced displacement. The Palestinian families at risk of eviction are now essentially living inside a cordoned-off, military-like zone. They are subject to ongoing arbitrary harassment and aggressive police measures, marked by forced entry into homes and the use of stun grenades, skunk water, and rubber-tipped bullets against neighborhood residents. With the closure’s intensification, police often force residents to stay in their homes and hostilely remove those sitting outside as is common practice in the neighborhood. Yesterday, a 15-year-old girl was severely wounded inside the confines of her own home when a soldier wantonly fired rubber-tipped bullets into the family’s house.”
  • Journalists are reportedly being barred access to the area. Last week, to Palestinian journalists reporting from Sheikh Jarrah were arrested by Israeli authorities; reportedly after 5 days in jail “ the judge at Jerusalem’s Central Court released them on bail of 4,000 shekels ($1,230) each and ordered them to be under house arrest for a month, forbidding them from communicating with each other for 15 days.”

Tender Published for Givat Hamatos Groundwork, Even as Petition is Pending

 Ir Amim reports that a private company has gone ahead and published a tender for the construction of roads, electrical infrastructure,  and sewage systems at the Givat Hamatos settlement site. The tender is set to close June 6th. 

The Israeli High Court has not yet dealt with a petition filed by Ir Amim alleging that the planned construction of government-subsidized housing at Givat Hamatos has discriminatory eligibility guidelines. A hearing was scheduled on May 27th, but was delayed at the request of the State. The hearing has been rescheduled for October 20th, and Ir Amim secured the Court’s condition that applications for Givat Hamatos housing will not be accepted in the intervening period.

Ir Amim writes:

“Publication of the tender is yet another indication that advancement of this new settlement/neighborhood on Givat Hamatos continues to move forward at a heightened pace. In the coming months, wide-scale road construction and infrastructure works are expected to already begin. It is estimated that the building of housing units could commence within two years, even before completion of the infrastructure works…Although advancement of these plans is continuing at full throttle, it is still possible for the government to suspend construction as a result of concerted pressure and opposition. Legal provisions within the tender as well as within Israeli contract law grant the Israeli government the right to rescind contracts should it be within its interest. There is likewise legal precedent for such measures.”

Final Approval Given to Har Homa E Settlement 

On May 20th, a notice was published announcing the final approval of a plan to build the Har Homa E settlement in East Jerusalem. This comes on the heels of the conditional final approval granted to the project earlier in May (conditioned on a few minor changes that have since been made). Now that the plan has been published, construction on Har Homa E can begin. Ir Amim notes:

“Since the Har Homa E plan is designated for privately owned land, the planning process does not entail a tendering stage and in principle, the landowners can begin to apply for building permits. However, it is worthwhile noting that the District Committee conditioned the procurement of building permits on the start of expansion of the access road to Har Homa E. Since the road’s expansion is a municipal project, the timing of the work’s commencement is unknown. In addition, construction of new sewerage infrastructure to serve the new neighborhood/settlement is necessary since the location does not border an existing built-up area. The timetable for such construction is likewise unknown.”

Reminder: Although the Har Homa E plan is framed as merely an expansion of the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem, it is more properly understood as a brand new settlement. The plan calls for 540 new settlement units to be built in the area between the Har Homa settlement and the site of the planned Givat Hamatos settlement (tenders for which were issued in January 2021) — an area where the new construction will be non-contiguous with the built-up area of the existing settlement of Har Homa. Meaning that the new construction is a significant step towards completing a ring of Israeli settlements on Jerusalem’s southern edge and towards the encirclement of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

Expansion of the Beit El Settlement Begins

On June 1st, the Beit El settlement hosted a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of 350 new settlement units (housing for approximately 1,750 new settlers, assuming a family size of 5). The ceremony was attended by Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Public Security Minister Amir Ohana (Likud), Education Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud), Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud), and Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin (Likud), in addition to more members of the Knesset.

These units were granted final approval in October 2020, during the Trump Administration. As a reminder, former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has deep ties to the Beit El settlement.

In a 2018 report, B’Tselem assessed the severe impact the Beit El settlement has on the 14,000 Palestinians who live in the nearby Jalazun refugee camp.

High Court Bans Settlers from Farming Palestinian Land…But Continues to Deny Palestinians Access

Following a 13-year legal battle, the Israeli High Court issued an order to evict settlers from 42-acres of land they had been illegally cultivating for in the Shiloh Valley, located in the northern West Bank. Over the course of those 13 years, settlers had established a profitable olive grove and vineyard. With the ruling, the settlers have been ordered to remove all of the olive trees and the vineyard by October 2021.

Yet, despite recognizing the settlers’ actions on the land as illegal, the High Court refused to recognize Palestinians as the rightful owners of the land. Instead, the Court said that it is not in a position to determine ownership because the land was never formally registered. As a reminder, at the start of the occupation Israel closed the land registry in the West Bank to Palestinians. This has meant that Palestinians who were not able to formally register their land before the 1967 War (Jordan was in the process of carrying out such a registration process when the war took place), there is no longer any path to do so. For more, see B’Tselem’s landmark report “Land Grab”, p.52)

Resources on Israel’s New Prime Minister Naftali Bennet

With it now looking all but certain that there will soon be a new Israeli government in place, led by Yamina’s Naftali Bennet, several media outlets have taken a deep dive into Bennet’s past. Longtime Settlement Report readers are likely familiar with Bennet’s intense devotion to annexation and the settlements, but these resources are a well-timed refresher.

• “Quick Facts: Naftali Bennett” (IMEU)
• “Israel’s likely new government, explained” (+972 Magazine)
• “Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel’s potential prime minister?” (Al Jazeera)
• “Who is Naftali Bennett, the man who could be Israel’s next prime minister?” (The Times of Israel)
• “What to know about Naftali Bennett, the Israeli politician who could succeed Benjamin Netanyahu” (Washington Post)

New Report on Settler Violence Against Palestinians in Area B

A new report by Yesh Din documents and analyzes the crimes committed by settlers in Palestinian communities located in Area B, from 2017 to 2020. In so doing, Yesh Din documents the lawlessness of settlers (who feel safe enough to enter built-up Palestinian areas to attack property and people), the cumulative deleterious effect these attacks have on Palestinian rights and wellbeing, and the abject failure of Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians and to hold Israeli settlers accountable to even Isareli for violations of the law (Israeli law).

Yesh Din writes:

“In recent years, violence perpetrated in Palestinian spaces – village streets, schools, public buildings and even homes – has proliferated. Secluded homes and structures, and those located near settlements, unauthorized outposts or access roads, have become standing, preferred, targets…Attacks on Palestinians and their property take a physical, financial, social and psychological toll on Palestinians, especially when they are widespread. Settlers have a clear advantage over the Palestinians: They are citizens of the country that holds the West Bank under military occupation. They have the protection of the Israeli police and military. Palestinians, on the other hand, are abandoned by the law enforcement system that is tasked with keeping them safe and protecting them from harm. This state of affairs, where one national group dominates another and oppresses it by denying rights, practicing legal segregation and employing different legal systems for each group, is part of Israel’s apartheid regime. This regime’s objective is to entrench and cement Israeli colonization of the West Bank.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Questions and Answers: Israel’s De Facto Annexation of Palestinian Territory” (Al-Haq)
2. “An Israeli Winery Guide, With Undertones of Occupation” (Haaretz)
3. “Irish parliament denounces Israeli West Bank policies as ‘de facto annexation’” (The Times of Israel)
4. ”Mapping Israeli occupation” (Al Jazeera)

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

May 7, 2021

1. Protests Against Dispossession Continue in Sheikh Jarrah, as Israeli Court Delays Decision
2. Israel Has Been Conducting a Secretive Land Registration Process in Sheikh Jarrah, Excluding Palestinians
3. Har Homa E Settlement Plan Granted Approval, With Minor Conditions
4. Knesset Attempts Fast-Track Vote on Two Key Bills: One to Authorize Outposts; Another to Cancel 2005 Disengagement
5. Bibi Reportedly Dismisses U.S. Concerns Over Settlements
6. Construction Begins on New “Legal” Settlement in Southern West Bank, Foreshadowing More to Come
7. Following Deadly Drive-By-Shooting, Settlers Establish New Outpost & Terrorize Palestinians Near Nablus
8. Al Haq Report on Palestinian Workers in Settlements & the Complicity of Multinational Corporations
9. Bonus Reads

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

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Protests Against Dispossession Continue in Sheikh Jarrah, as Israeli Court Delays Decision

On May 2nd, the date set by the Israeli Supreme Court for the forced dispossession of four Palestinians families from their longtime homes in Sheikh Jarrah in favor of Israeli settlers, the Supreme Court delayed the evictions and gave the parties four days (until May 6th) to consider a proposed “solution.” The Court’s suggested “solution” was that the Palestinians acknowledge Jewish ownership of the land, and in exchange be allowed to remain there as tenants – paying rent to the settlers – but only until the original tenant dies. At that time, the remaining family members would have to vacate the premises and the settlers would take control of the homes

In a powerful statement issued on May 2nd, the four families targeted for dispossession this week rejected that proposal outright, saying:

“We the four Sheikh Jarrah families firmly reject the terms of this agreement, for these are our homes and settlers are not our landlords. The inherently unjust system of Israel’s colonial courts is not considering the questioning of illegal settlers’ ownership and has already decided on the families’ dispossession.” This pattern of elongating the legal process is common practice to dull popular resistance and public opinion protesting these expansionist colonial efforts. As the threat of expulsion from our home remains as imminent as ever, we will continue our international campaign to stop this ethnic cleansing”

On May 6th, the Court once again delayed the dispossession, and said it would reconvene a three judge panel on May 10th to decide whether to allow the Palestinian families to continue appealing their eviction cases. Ir Amim reports that the likelihood of the panel ruling in the Palestinians’ favor is “slim.” 

The date the Supreme Court chose for handing down its decision – May 10th – also happens to be Jerusalem Day. This is the day when as many as 25,000 Israeli settlers and fellow right-winger fanatics engage in an annual provocation against Palestinians, with a parade through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and neighboring areas of East Jerusalem to “celebrate” Israel’s capture of the city in 1967 (called “The Dance of Flags,” including racist chants and signs). Given the high tension in Jerusalem over the pending Sheikh Jarrah evictions, as well as over the recent protests over Israel’s closure of the area around Damascus Gate, the end of Ramadan, and the killings over the past two days of several Palestinains in the West Bank, Jerusalem Day poses a significant threat of escalation, and has already elicited warnings from the Israeli Chief of Police to reroute the parade. So far, those warnings appear to be falling on deaf ears. 

To be clear: escalation has already begun. Shortly following the Supreme Court’s second delay, dozens of Israeli protestors marched through Salah Eddin Street (the major commercial thoroughfare in Palestinian East Jerusalem), and were reportedly “throwing stones at Palestinian cars and demanding the ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Jarrah.” Not long after that,  the head of the Otzma Yehudit party Itamar Ben-Gvir (a devotee of Kahanism and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians) set up a tent-office in Sheikh Jarrah across from where Palestinians had prepared an iftar celebration. Settlers then began taunting the Palestinians sitting down for dinner, which escalated into clashes when a settler sprayed what appeared to be pepper spray. Later that evening, Israeli forces were seen protecting the “office” and the settlers there – including Jerusalem Deputy Mayor and settler empresario Arieh King, who was caught on video telling an injured Palestinian that the Israeli police ought to have shot him in the head.

On Friday morning May 7th, Sheikh Jarrah residents report that the Israeli police have cordoned off the neighborhood, and are checking IDs before permitting entry. Overnight raids and arrests of Palestinians also continue to be reported, with 15 arrested overnight on May 7th (settlers faced no arrests or punishments, despite being filmed shooting guns) 

Prie Minister Netanyahu is reportedly proposing a permanent police presence in Sheikh Jarrah to protect the settlers — an arrangement much like the prevailing reality in Hebron

For a Palestinian view on what is happening in Sheikh Jarrah (and a plethora of additional resources on this topic), check out this FMEP webinar from May 6, 2021, and on Twitter you can follow #SaveSheikhJarrah for the latest news. 

Israel Has Been Conducting a Secretive Land Registration Process in Sheikh Jarrah, Excluding Palestinians

Ir Amim and Bimkom report that Israeli authorities have been carrying out a secretive land registration process for the benefit of settlers in the Umm Haroun section of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and have already registered several plots of land to Jewish Israeli owners. Palestinian residents – inlcuding 45 families (40 houses) living on the plots of land secretly registered to the settlers – were not notified by Israeli authorities that the registraiton process was taking place, as is required by Israeli law. The stakes, as noted by Bimkom and Ir Amim, are high not only for Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah who are being targeted at this time, but also for Palestinians across East Jerusalem, as any land registration process – let alone a secretive process undertaken for the benefit of Israeli Jews – can lead to “widespread Palestinian dispossession in the city.”

On May 2nd, Ir Amim and Bimkom filed an urgent petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice asking the Court to freeze the registration process and “expunge all invalid land registration as a result of this unethical procedure”. On May 3rd, the Israeli court issued a temporary injunction stopping the process at least until a ruling can be made on the case. The State has until June 3, 2021 to submit a response to the petition. 

Har Homa E Settlement Plan Granted Approval, With Minor Conditions

Ir Amim reports that the Jerusalem District Committee has granted its conditional final approval to a plan to build 540 new settlement units in the new Har Homa E settlement. The conditions outline a few minor modifications to the plan (like more clearly marking bike trails) which will not take much time. Once those modifications are made the plan will be formally approved via publication without requiring another meeting of the Committee.

Because the land on which the new settlement will be built is privately-owned, building plans will not be subject to a government-run tender process. Ir Amim reports that once the plan is published, building permits can theoretically be issued any time (though technical obstacles might delay things but not change the inevitability of construction). 

Reminder: Although the Har Homa E plan is framed as merely an expansion of the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem, it is more properly understood as a new settlement since the buildings will be built in an open area that is not contiguous with the built-up area of Har Homa. The plan calls for 540 new settlement units to be built in the area between the Har Homa settlement and the site of the planned Givat Hamatos settlement (tenders for which were issued in January 2021). Meaning that the new construction is a significant step towards completing a ring of Israeli settlements on Jerusalem’s southern edge and encircling the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

Knesset Attempts Fast-Track Vote on Two Key Bills: One to Authorize Outposts; Another to Cancel 2005 Disengagement

On May 4th, the Knesset Arrangements Committee voted in favor of fast-tracking two settlement-related bills. The first would cancel the 2005 Disengagement Law, thereby allowing settlers to re-establish the four settlements in the northern West Bank which were evacuated under that law (which settlers have been attempting to do on their own, illegally but with significant political support, for years).  The second would grant retroactive authorization (i.e., legalize) the nearly 70 outposts that Israel has failed to find any other way to legalize (because they were built on land even Israel recognizes is privately owned by Palestinians).  Now on a fasttrack, the bills can be called for its first vote at any time after May 5th (to pass, all bills most be voted on three times in the Knesset and sent to committees for approval).

The fast-tracking of these bills at this time is an attempt to get the bills passed into law before a new government is formed or new elections are called, and to use the issue of settlements as a political weapon against parties that oppose the bills. The Times of Israel reports that internal politics will likely see the bills languish as parties jockey to form a new governing coalition. The bills are a source of division between parties that are currently deep in negotiations to form a governing coalition – led by Yair Lapid and the Yesh Atid party (which opposes the bill). 

When asked for comment on the outpost legalization bill by the Times of Israel, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department gave its most substantive comments on settlements yet, saying: 

 

“We are deeply concerned about the potential ‘legalization’ of outposts that have long been deemed illegal under Israeli law…As we have long said, it is critical that Israel refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions or take us further away from peace. This includes evictions, settlement activity and home demolitions, and certainly includes the legalization of Israeli outposts in the West Bank that have long been illegal even under Israeli law.”

 

Bibi Reportedly Dismisses U.S. Concerns Over Settlements

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 News, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has on three separate occasions over the past month rebuffed U.S. diplomats’ concerns regarding Israel’s settlement activities.

The first communication was from Jonathan Shrier, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy (the ranking U.S. diplomat in Israel, in the absence of an Ambassador). Shrier was reported to have relayed U.S. concerns over the approval of the Har Homa E settlement plans earlier this month, but the concerns were dismissed.

The second communication came from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (a top official in the Biden White House), who reportedly expressed U.S. concerns over the approval of the Har Homa E settlement as well as settlement construction in the West Bank. The Times of Israel reports that Netanyahu responded, “Jerusalem is not a settlement, but the capital of Israel.”

The third communication came May 5th regarding the violence in Sheikh Jarrah; that communication was reportedly also rebuffed. Perhaps suggesting that there is growing frustration with the issue inside the Biden Administration, a day later, on May 6th, the U.S. the Department of State issued its most pointed public statement on Israeli settlement activity yet.

Construction Begins on New “Legal” Settlement in Southern West Bank, Foreshadowing More to Come

This week settlers celebrated the start of construction on 164 settlement units in the new (or at least, newly-legal under Israeli law) Ibei Hanachal settlement, located between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. This comes nearly one year after Israel began clearing the land to prepare for construction.

Ibei Hanachal was established illegally by settlers in 1999, but was granted retroactive approval as a neighborhood of the Ma’ale Amos settlement by the Israeli government in August 2019. Declaring illegal outposts to be neighborhoods of settlements – even outposts that are non-contiguous with the allegedly parent settlement, as is the case with Ibei Hanachal – is one of the legal mechanisms that Israel has found to retroactively “legalize” illegal outposts. In this way, Israel has not only been “legalizing” construction by settlers that violates Israel law, but has in effect been establishing brand new settlements – like Ibei Hanachal.

Elsewhere, construction has reportedly started on 164 units in the Neve Daniel settlement, located on the southwestern border of lands belonging to Bethlehem

The news of these new construction starts is a reminder that the massive number of settlement approvals the Israeli government granted during the Trump era will soon potentially translate into a massive number of settlement construction starts during the Biden Administration. The AP reported earlier this month:

“Israel has also laid the groundwork for a massive construction boom in the years to come, advancing plans for 12,159 settler homes in 2020. That was the highest number since Peace Now started collecting data in 2012. It usually takes one to three years for construction to begin after a project has been approved. Unlike his immediate predecessors, who largely confined settlement construction to major blocs that Israel expects to keep in any peace agreement, Netanyahu has encouraged construction in remote areas deep inside the West Bank, further scrambling any potential blueprint for resolving the conflict. Settler advocates have repeatedly said that it would take several years for Trump’s support to manifest in actual construction. Peace Now said that trend is now in its early stages and expected to gain steam. “2020 was really the first year where everything that was being built was more or less because of what was approved at the beginning of the Trump presidency,” said Peace Now spokesman Brian Reeves. “It’s the settlement approvals that are actually more important than construction.””

Following Deadly Drive-By-Shooting, Settlers Establish New Outpost & Terrorize Palestinians Near Nablus

In the wake of a drive-by-shooting at a junction in the northern West Bank that left one Israeli dead and two others injured, settlers have been exacting their revenge. In addition to raiding a village and allegedly setting fields on fire in Burin – settlers have also established an outpost south of Nablus, on a hilltop known as Jabal Sbeih.

The new outpost consists of a few mobile homes, which settlers were able to move into the area uncontested while the IDF enforced a closure in the Nablus area while hunting down the suspect of the drive by shooting.

Al Haq Report on Palestinian Workers in Settlements & the Complicity of Multinational Corporations

In a new report entitled “Captive Markets, Captive Lives: Palestinian Workers in Israeli Settlements,” Al-Haq explains the circumstances that Palestinians who work in settlements face, including discrimination, dangerous conditions, violence, and shame. In 2019, Al Haq estimated there were between 23,000 and 34,000 such workers.

The report also briefly examines the activity of two multinational corporations in the settlement economy – Heidelberg Cement and General Mills. The report directly addresses and repudiates the claim put forth by settlers and these corporations that jobs are a net gain for Palestinians who would otherwise be unemployed if not for jobs in settlements.

Al-Haq writes:

“Palestinian labour rights in Israeli settlements are almost non-existent. The deliberate lack of regulation of labour rights by Israeli authorities empowers settlers by encouraging further violations of Palestinian workers’ rights with no accountability. Palestinians working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank are treated under the outdated Jordanian labour law while their Israeli counterparts are treated under Israeli labour law leading to a complete denial of access to social and health benefits. Many workers are denied health care when injured while on-duty. Workers with permanent disabilities due to work related injuries are not compensated. Meanwhile families of victims are not even compensated in the event of death on duty. As this report has shown, Palestinian workers are not provided with the necessary protective equipment and are constantly exposed to hazardous waste and material. At the same time, Palestinian workers’ unions are targeted by Israeli employers in an attempt to thwart unionization efforts. Accordingly, this report dispels the myth that international companies provide necessary work and benefits to the Palestinian workforce that justifies their illegal operations in the OPT. Instead, the ugly truth unfolds of international and Israeli companies exploiting a captive Palestinian workforce in a captive economy, in companies operating on unlawfully appropriated Palestinian lands, pillaging the natural resources and subsistence of the Palestinian people, and maintained by a lethal military occupation and apartheid regime under the wilful profiting eye of the international community.”

Bonus Reads

1. “This Checkpoint Revitalized the Palestinian City of Jenin. Why Has Israel Refused to Reopen It?” (Haaretz)
2. “Settlers to sue B’Tselem for alleging they set Palestinian fields ablaze” (Jerusalem Post)
3. “Palestinian fears rise as settlers visit synagogue ruins in Jericho” (Al-Monitor)
4. “Jerusalem’s Jewish majority hits new low” (Arutz Sheva)
5. “Israel Blew Up Their Houses in 1966. Now It Claims Their Village Never Existed” (Haaretz)
6. “Over 180 Israeli Intellectuals, Scientists Warn ICC: Don’t Rely on Israel to Probe War Crimes” (Haaretz)

 

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

April 15, 2021

1. New Satellite Imagery Shows Massive Growth of Amichai, Bruchin Over Past Five Years
2. Israel Hastens Approval of New East Jerusalem Settlement “Har Homa E”
3. Jewish National Fund Pushes Forward Plan to Legalize West Bank Land Purchases
4. In-Depth Report on Pending Demolitions in Al-Bustan (Silwan)
5. Bonus Reads

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

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New Satellite Imagery Shows Massive Growth of Amichai, Bruchin Over Past Five Years

The Associated Press has published new satellite imagery (captured by Planet Labs Inc.) showing the expansive, transformative growth of the Amichai and Bruchin settlements over the past five years – a period defined by the Trump Administration’s pro-settlement policy.

The AP story offers analysis on the predicament facing the Biden Administration, which has articulated support for a two state outcome but has not specifically taken Israel to task for its ongoing settlement construction. The Amichai and Bruchin settlements illustrate this point – both are located in the Shilo Valley region of the West Bank, in a finger of continuous settlements that extends from the 1967 Green Line to the Ariel settlement in the very center of the northern West Bank, cutting the northern West Bank in half. It’s worth recalling that, when the Amichai settlement was built, a settler proudly proclaimed that the settlement would nullify the possibility of a two state outcome.

The new aerial imagery of the Amichai settlement – which was approved in 2017, making it the first new settlement formally approved by the Isareli government in 25 years – is particularly jarring. The images (one from 2017 and the second from 2021) show a previously empty hilltop with cultivated fields nearby transformed into a sizable suburban neighborhood. In addition to the pictured new construction, Amichai was also massively expanded, subsequent to its initial construction, when the Israeli Civil Administration announced that its plan to retroactively legalize the Adei Ad outpost by significantly expanding the borders of the Amichai settlement to turn Adei Ad into a (non-contiguous) neighborhood. In effect, this was a slight-of-hand by Israel to turn the Adei Ad outpost into an entirely new official, legal settlement.

Israel Hastens Approval of New East Jerusalem Settlement “Har Homa E”

Ir Amim reports that the Jerusalem District Planning Committee will now meet on April 20th — one day earlier than previously scheduled — to hear objections filed by members of the public (one of which has informed the Court that they are not available on that date) against a plan to build the Har Homa E settlement. Simultaneously, the District Planning Committee set a date for a second meeting on the plan for April 27th, at which time the committee is able to grant final approval (and is expected to do so).

Ir Amim explains:

“Although one of the individuals who filed an objection to the plan is not available on the new date, the District Committee refused to reschedule. It should be noted that this move is uncharacteristic and underscores the acute pressure on the authorities to approve the plan…While the convening of two separate sessions does seldom take place, the scheduling of the second discussion so rapidly is unordinary and again indicates the immense pressure to expedite approval of the plan.”

Although the Har Homa E plan is framed as an expansion of the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem, it is more properly understood as a new settlement since the buildings will be built in an open area that is not contiguous with the built-up area of Har Homa. The plan calls for 540 new settlement units to be built in the area between the Har Homa settlement and the site of the planned Givat Hamatos settlement, tenders for which were issued in January 2021. Meaning that the new construction is a significant step towards completing a ring of Israeli settlements on Jerusalem’s southern edge and encircling the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

Jewish National Fund Pushes Forward Plan to Legalize West Bank Land Purchases

As anticipated, the executive committee of the Board Directors of the Jewish National Fund (called the JNF-KKL) voted in favor of approving the adoption of a policy to officially make the purchase of land in the West Bank a part of the group’s mission. The policy will next be voted on by the full Board of Directors, which JNF Chairman Avraham Duvdevani hopes to see happen next week. As a reminder, the JNF-KKL voted in February 2021 to allocate $12 million towards the purchase of land in the West Bank, even though the policy had not been formally approved.

Notably, Duvdevani also intends to have the new policy, assuming it is adopted, applied retroactively to land purchases the JNF made in that past that fell outside of the group’s publicly stated mission. This intention demonstrates once again that this new policy is nothing more than a shift in public relations, given that the JNF has long worked in support of settlements, but until this point has left settlement-related activities deliberately obscured. 

Haaretz also reports that the policy voted on by the Executive Committee this week does not have a restriction on the JNF’s ability to purchase land in the Nablus and Jenin areas. That restriction was cut out of the newest iteration.

In-Depth Report on Pending Demolitions in Al-Bustan (Silwan)

Terrestrial Jerusalem has published a comprehensive look into the recent news that the Jerusalem Municipality is planning to demolish 70+ Palestinian homes in the al-Bustan section of Silwan, in a move that appears to contradict over ten years of agreement between the municipality and Palestinians to find alternate housing for the targeted families. In addition to recapping what exactly happened and adding more details to what has been reported thus far (the report is must-read), Terrestrial Jerusalem explains how this situation came about. 

Terrestrial Jerusalem writes: 

“Al-Bustan is a target because more than any other Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, it is an obstacle standing in the way of one of the most important settler/government projects anywhere in East Jerusalem and the West Bank: the socalled restoration of purportedly biblical Jerusalem through genuine artifacts, invented facsimiles, and attractions reminiscent of the pseudo-biblical theme park. Al-Bustan is right in the middle of it.”

Emphasizing the significance of the demolitions pending in Al-Bustan, Terrestrial Jerusalem writes:

“Our analysis above leads to cautious and tentative conclusions indicating that the Bustan demolitions, as abhorrent as they are, have not yet become an acute issue. An important caveat is to be added to this conclusion: over the last few years, the government of Israel has started deviating from policies of restraint that have been a constant since 1967, and is engaging in actions that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The demolition of al-Bustan is highly compatible into these new policies.Since 1967, Israel was able to transfer 220,000 of its residents to the settlement neighborhoods of East Jerusalem without the largescale displacement of Palestinians. 

“The last such largescale displacement took place on the night of June 10, 1967, when the Mughrabi Quarter was razed, and its residents expelled. Nothing remotely similar has taken place in East Jerusalem since then. This, by no means, is meant to detract from the devastating impact the settlement enterprise has had on individual families that have been targeted and displaced by settlers, and the impact this has had on entire Palestinian collective in East Jerusalem. However, the policy of refraining from largescale displacement has recently changed, and is no longer a taboo…”

“The staggering humanitarian implications of mass demolitions in these areas are accompanied by compelling geopolitical ramifications. For the first time since 1967, settlement enclaves that were dis-contiguous with Israel are now becoming extensions of pre-67 Israel, and in a pincer movement: the Old City is being surrounded both on the north and the south by built up Israeli areas.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Intimidation. Extortion. Eviction: This Is the Brutal Reality for Palestinians in Silwan, Jerusalem” (Haaretz)
2. “New task force hopes to bolster Abraham Accords through entrepreneurship” (Israel Hayom)
3. “Jewish population at lowest percentage since founding of Israel” (Jerusalem Post) 

 

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

April 8, 2021

1. Israel Advances Plan to Build New Har Homa E Settlement, In 1st East Jerusalem Settlement Advancements Under Biden
2. IDF Helps Settlers Stage Midnight Move-In to Three Buildings in Silwan
3. Data Proves Discriminatory Nature of Israel’s West Bank Demolition Policy (Not that it Was In Doubt)
4. JNF Expected to Give Final Approval for West Bank Land Purchases
5. Bonus Reads

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

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Israel Advances Plan to Build New Har Homa E Settlement, In 1st East Jerusalem Settlement Advancements Under Biden

On April 7th the Jerusalem Local Planning Committee advanced a plan to build 540 new units in what is framed as an expansion of the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem. However, the new units will be built in an open area –  non-contiguous with the current built-up area of Har Homa – between the Har Homa settlement and the site of the planned Givat Hamatos settlement, tenders for which were issued in January 2021. Meaning that the new construction is more properly understood as a new settlement – called Har Homa E (and sometimes called Har Homa West) – and is a significant step towards completing a ring of Israeli settlements on Jerusalem’s southern edge, and encircling the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

Ir Amim explains:

“Along with Givat Hamatos, construction of Har Homa E will serve as another step in linking the existing Har Homa and Gilo neighborhoods/settlements to create an Israeli sealing-off effect along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem. This will fracture Bethlehem and the southern West Bank from East Jerusalem, while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa and depleting the remaining land reserves for further development of the neighborhood. If carried out, these measures will constitute a major obstacle towards the future establishment of a contiguous independent Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem.”

Ir Amim researcher Aviv Tatarsky said in a statement: 

“The plan’s advancement is a worrying sign for those who believed that the change in power in the United States would force Israel to restrain settlement construction.”

As of publication of this FMEP update, the Biden Administration has not issued a comment on the advancement of the Har Homa E plan.

Now that the Jerusalem Local Planning Committee has approved the plan, the plan awaits final approval by the Jerusalem District Planning Committee. That committee is scheduled to meet on April 21st. Ir Amim notes that:

“because the land in question is not state land but rather belongs to private Israeli landowners who claim to have purchased it, the plan’s final approval does not require a tendering stage in order for construction to begin.”

The Har Homa E plan provides the constriction of several highrise buildings – two 30-floor towers and three 12-floor buildings – in addition to a large public green space, a new road, spaces designated for future public buildings, and another open space for the preservation of an ancient aqueduct.

IDF Helps Settlers Stage Midnight Move-In to Three Buildings in Silwan

In the pre-dawn hours of April 8th, Israel security forces escorted 15 settler families affiliated with the Ateret Cohanim organization as they moved into three buildings in Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem in the shadow of the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount. The buildings are specifically in the Yeminite quarter of Silwan, where Ateret Cohanim is waging a campaign to take over more and more land and property largely (but not entirely) based on the revival of an old Yemenite land trust.

According to Haaretz, a member of the Palestinian Abu Dihab family, which owned the three buildings, sold them to the settlers; having gained control of the properties, Ateret Cohanim renovated the buildings to accomdate at least 16 total units. The family has issued a statement condemning that member for selling the properties to settlers. 

Data Proves Discriminatory Nature of Israel’s West Bank Demolition Policy (Not that it Was In Doubt) 

In response to a freedom of information petition filed by two human rights groups – Bimkom and Haqel –  the Israeli Civil Administration issued new data that shows exactly how discriminatory Israel’s demolition enforcement is against Palestinians in the West Bank.  Out of 187 demolition orders issued by the Civil Administration from 2019-2020, 159 orders (85%) were issued against Palestinian buildings, while just 28 (15%) were issued against settler structures. The discrimination is even greater when taking into account the data on the implementation of these orders. Of the 28 orders issued against Israeli structures, only two-thirds have been carried out (so far); of the 159 orders issued against Palestinians, three-quarters have been carried out (so far).

The data also shows that Israel sharply increased the issuance of expedited demolition orders under Military Order 1797, using this military order for 19 demolitions in 2019, and for 134 demolitions in 2020. This data underscores the discriminatory nature of Israel’s policy of expedited demolitions of new structures under Military Order 1797, and the discriminatory manner in which Israel is exercising this extraordinary new power (that it granted to itself in 2018). As a reminder: Military Order 1797 empowers Israel to summarily demolish buildings within 96 hours of the issuance of a demolition order, and all but eliminates any legal recourse for Palestinians.

Alon Cohen Lipshitz, who coordinates Bimkom’s activity in Area C, said: 

“[Israel] is failing in its job to provide protection to protected communities and residents, and undermines basic human rights, like the right to a roof over one’s head. Tens of thousands of demolition orders and thousands of demolitions aren’t enough for the regime; it chooses to circumvent the law by creating new orders that allow homes to be demolished within a few days, without allowing for the defense of rights. This selective enforcement does deep and broad harm almost exclusively to the most sensitive Palestinian population – the shepherding community.”

JNF Expected to Give Final Approval for West Bank Land Purchases

In a vote scheduled for April 11th, the Board of the Jewish National Fund (known as the JNF-KKL in Israel) is expected to approve the adoption of a policy to officially make the purchase of land in the West Bank a part of the group’s mission. Ahead of the formal vote, a coalition of liberal Zionist groups threatened to boycott the JNF if it formalizes its policy on set. The letter was signed by 24 organizations and 7,000 individuals.

As FMEP has previously reported, if this new policy is indeed adopted, the JNF will officially make financing the Israeli settlement enterprise a loud-and-proud part of its mission. This would be a shift not so much in policy as in public relations, given that the JNF has long worked in support of settlements, but until this point has left settlement-related activities deliberately obscured. The shift in approach that will culminate in Sunday’s vote is in line with the JNF’s new right-wing, settler leadership (which effectively took control of the organization in October 2020). 

According to a February 2021 report, the proposed JNF policy – which could see hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the settlement enterprise – includes directives for the organization to purchase land subject to the following conditions:

• The land is privately owned by Palestinians. 
• The land will be used to expand existing settlements, not build new ones (this presumptively includes purchasing land to build outposts).
• The land is in Area C (some 60% of the West Bank),  not land in Areas A and B.
• The land is located inside of a settlement’s jurisdiction or adjacent to it.
• Focus will be on purchasing land in areas identified as a priority, including the Jordan Valley, the Etzion settlement bloc, areas around Jerusalem, the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, the South Hebron Hills, and areas adjacent to the pre-1967 border. The draft specifically says that no land shall be purchased in the Nablus or Jenin areas.
• Foreign donations will only be used to purchase land in the West Bank if the laws of the donor’s country permit it.

Bonus Reads

1. “PA urges action against Israel settlements“ (MEMO)
2. “Liberal Jewish groups threaten boycott of JNF-KKL if it buys West Bank land” (The Forward)
3. “Palestinian village becomes prison for residents” (Al-Monitor)

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

SHAMELESS PLUG: On 1/29/21 FMEP hosted a webinar focusing on settlement construction in East Jerusalem. The talk featured Zena Agha (Middle East Institute), Daniel Seidemann (Terrestrial Jerusalem) and was moderated by Kristin McCarthy – the author of this settlement report. You can find a recording of the webinar and a list of resources online here.

January 29, 2021

1. Israel Advanced Plan for “Har Homa E” Settlement in East Jerusalem
2. Settler Population Grew 13% Over Past Four Years
3. Bonus Reads

Comments and questions? Contact Kristin (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Israel Advanced Plan for “Har Homa E” Settlement in East Jerusalem

Ir Amim reports that Israeli authorities quietly expedited the planning process for the new Har Homa E settlement in East Jerusalem by depositing the plan for public review on December 4, 2020 – just 11 days after the plan was approved for deposit. The sixty day period for public commenting is set to close next week, on February 4th, after which Ir Amim expects the Jerusalem planning authorities to move quickly to hold a final hearing on the plan in the next few weeks.

The plan outlines the construction of 540 new settlement units on an open area of land which will significantly expand the Har Homa settlement to its west, tightening the noose around the East Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. Har Homa E will solidify a continuum of Israeli settlement construction within the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem – from Har Homa, to Givat Hamatos, to Gilo – detaching East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and completing the encirclement of Beit Safafa.

Ir Amim explains the Har Homa E (also called Har Homa West) settlement plan:

“While presented as an extension to the existing neighborhood/settlement of Har Homa, the plan will rather establish an entirely new residential area in between Har Homa and Givat Hamatos. This new residential location would be built along the northwestern edge, just 400 meters from the area in Givat Hamatos designated for the planned 1257 housing units. The plan’s deposit for objections occurred just 11 days after the District Planning Committee approved the plan for deposit on November 23.”

On the importance of the plan, Ir Amim writes:

“The swift promotion of this plan along with the Givat Hamatos tender is indicative of the Israeli government’s intent to continue to fast-track as many settlement construction projects as possible in East Jerusalem and its vicinity even after the change in the US administration last week. Along with Givat Hamatos, construction in Har Homa E will serve as another step in linking the existing Har Homa and Gilo neighborhoods/settlements to create an Israeli sealing-off effect along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem. This will fracture Bethlehem and the southern West Bank from East Jerusalem, while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa and depleting the remaining land reserves for further development of the neighborhood. If carried out, these measures will constitute a major obstacle towards the future establishment of a contiguous independent Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem.”

Settler Population Grew 13% Over Past Four Years

New Israeli government data – as released in a report by a settler group – shows that the West Bank settler population growth rate soared during the Trump Administration, growing 13% over the past four years to a total of 475,481 settlers. This number doesn’t include settlers living in East Jerusalem settlements, as the Israeli government does not regard East Jerusalem as occupied territory (Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 war, in violation of international law). Based on the 2019  estimate of around 218,000 settlers living in East Jerusalem, this means that the total number of settlers living in what international law regards as occupied territory is north of 675,000.

Despite the apparent correlation between the Trump presidency and settler population growth, one of the report’s authors was dismissive of the idea that settler population trends are directly linked to the policies of any U.S. president, saying:

“I don’t think any American president can influence that much, because growth on the ground is (dependent on) internal Israeli government decisions on how much construction to do and not to do…The facts on the ground are stronger than any American foreign policy.”

Peace Now disagrees, having previously described (in a November 2020 report) the legacy of the Trump Administration on Israeli settlements and annexation:

“Israel’s policy in the West Bank is determined by the Israeli government, yet the United States’ influence on this policy is paramount. In President Donald J. Trump’s four years in office, there have been far-reaching changes in the American position on Israeli settlements that have shattered the international consensus around a two-state solution, and which have promoted annexation in all but name. The de facto annexation has manifested itself in high levels of settlement unit approvals, transgressions of informal international red lines in highly sensitive areas like the Jerusalem environs and Hebron, and the building of over 30 new outposts. Consequently, de jure annexation became a legitimate topic in the Israeli and American governments, while Israel has created for itself and the Palestinians a near permanent, undemocratic one-state reality…The Trump administration lent the power of the United States to the benefit of the narrow interests of a small, radical group of settlers, and has done enormous damage to Israel. We expect the incoming administration of President-Elect Biden to be attentive to the peace-seeking majority in Israel and to restore the United States to its status as a constructive intermediary for a two-state solution.”

Bonus Reads

1. “All Foreseen and Not Prevented: Spike in settler violence backed and encouraged by state” (B’Tselem)
2. “West Bank settlers pressure Netanyahu ahead of March vote” (Al-Monitor)
3. “Israeli settlers threaten Palestinian archaeology in historic town of Sebastia” (Al-Monitor)
4. “Cogs in the Israel Settlement Defense Forces” (Haaretz)
5. “Efrat resident seeks Labor Party seat to return party to roots” (Arutz Sheva)

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

December 4, 2020

1. Israeli Courts OK (Again) Settlers’ Mass Displacement of Palestinians from Silwan, Eviction Notices Issued to 8 Palestinian Families
2. Har Homa E Settlement Plan Approved for Deposit
3. High Court Rules Against Ottoman Land Registration Laws, Paving Way for More Retroactive Legalizations and Presaging Ugly Land Registration Battle
4. Planning Committee Rejects Appeal Against Overtly Political Hebron Elevator Project
5. Likud Minister Calls For Israel to Enforce “Symmetry” of Construction in Area B + C of West Bank
6. Benny Gantz Make Clear His Support for Retroactive Legalization of Outposts on “State Land”
7. Bahrain: No Annexation. Also Bahrain: Settlements Are Israel
8. Aid to Amb. Friedman Appointed to Key Post, Will Stay In Control of U.S. Normalization Programs
9. Bonus Reads

Questions/Comments? Email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Israeli Courts OK (Again) Settlers’ Mass Displacement of Palestinians from Silwan, Eviction Notices Issued to 8 Palestinian Families

On November 30th, eight Palestinian families (45 individuals) received eviction notices ordering them them to vacate their longtime family homes as early as December 18, 2020, and if they do not they may be forcibly removed by Israeli forces any time between December 18, 2020-January 1, 2021. Ir Amim reports that the families intend to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court, but there is no guarantee that the Court will agree to hear the case.

The issuance of eviction notices follow two significant court rulings on cases in late November 2020. In both cases, Israeli courts sided with the Israeli settler group Ateret Cohanim in seeking the eviction of a total of eight Palestinian families (45 individuals) from their long time homes in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan, located on the southern slope just outside of the Old City in East Jerusalem. The rulings further consolidate growing Israeli case law recognizing Ateret Cohanim as the legal owner of a significant amount of land in Silwan (and the buildings on it), entitling the group to pursue the eviction of as many as 700 Palestinians who in many cases have lived on that land for generations. If executed, this would be the largest displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem since 1967.

Ir Amim explains:

“The Ateret Cohanim settler organization is waging one of the most comprehensive state-backed settler takeover campaigns in East Jerusalem through initiating mass eviction proceedings against Palestinian families in Batan al-Hawa. Eighteen families have already lost their homes with over 80 other households facing eviction demands, placing some 600-700 individuals of one community at risk of displacement.  See Ir Amim’s and Peace Now’s joint report, “Broken Trust” for further details and analysis.

Peace Now said:

“This is an attempt to displace a Palestinian community and to replace it with an Israeli one, in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The settlers could not have succeeded without the Israeli authorities’ close support and assistance. In addition to the hard blow to the prospects for a two-state solution by preventing a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, this is an injustice and an act of cruelty to throw out families who have lived lawfully in their homes for decades. For every dunam in East Jerusalem that was owned by Jews and had been lost in the 1948 war, there are tens of thousands of dunams in Israel that were owned by Palestinians who lost them in the 1948 war. The settlers’ demand to disposes the Palestinians based on pre-1948 ownership is a strategic threat on the moral justification of hundreds of thousands of Israelis living on lands that were owned by Palestinians.”

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. This claim is based on Ateret Cohanim having gained control of the historic Benvenisti Trust, which oversaw the assets of Yemenite Jews who lived in Silwan in the 19th century. Palestinians have challenged the legitimacy of the Benvenisti Trust’s claims to the currently existing buildings, saying that the trust only covered the old buildings (none of which remain standing) and not the land. Israeli Courts have continued to rule in support of Ateret Cohanim’s claims and against Paelstinians who have been living there for decades. Taking a different approach, in June 2020 Palestinians filed a new petition challenging the legality of the functional operations of the Trust/Ateret Cohanim, asserting that Ateret Cohanim is using the Benvenisti Trust as nothing more than an (illegal) front for displacing Palestinians, pointing out that the trust does not have a separate organizational structure, bank account,  lawyer, or accountant – and that Ateret Cohanim has folded the operations of the trust into its own operations and there is no distinction between the management or assets of the two entities.

As a reminder, 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/Ateret Cohanim. Since then, Ateret Cohanim has accelerated its multifaceted campaign to remove Palestinians from their homes, claiming that the Palestinians are illegally squatting on land owned by the trust. 

Har Homa E Settlement Plan Approved for Deposit

As expected, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee approved for deposit for public review the Har Homa E settlement plan which provides for the construction of 540 units on an open area of land which will significantly expand the Har Homa settlement to its west, tightening the noose around the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa in East Jerusalem.

The plan has been approved for deposit but as of this writing not yet deposited; Ir Amim predicts the Committee will deposit the plan in short order in light of the impending U.S. presidential transition. Once deposited, a sixty day comment period begins after which the Committee can reconvene to issue final approval for the plan. Ir Amim writes:

“As demonstrated by the swift developments in plans for Givat Hamatos and Har Homa E, it is likely that Israel will continue to exploit this narrow window of time before the US presidential inauguration to advance further measures the Biden administration is anticipated to oppose, including advancements in the E1 area.”

The plan for 570 units currently set for deposit represents the first detailed plan under a much larger Master Plan for Har Homa E, which involves a total of 2,200 units. Plans to build the remaining units permitted under the Master Plan are not yet being advanced.

The construction in Har Homa E will solidify a continuum of Israeli settlement construction within the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem – from Har Homa, to Givat Hamatos, to Gilo – detaching East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and completing the encirclement of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

High Court Rules Against Ottoman Land Registration Laws, Paving Way for More Retroactive Legalizations and Presaging Ugly Land Registration Battle

On December 1st, the Israeli High Court of Justice issued a ruling that provides yet another basis on which the State is permitted to grant retroactive legalization to outposts and settlement structures built on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The ruling also, and perhaps even more significantly, establishes the Court’s willingness to sidestep Ottoman and Jordanian land registration practices when deciding land ownership claims (which since 1967 Israel has recognized as applicable in the West Bank and East Jerusalem) . This latter fact is particularly alarming given Israel’s reported intention to begin a new land registration process in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The specific case before the Court related to structures in the Kochav Yaakov settlement built on land that was declared to be “state land” by Israel in 2013. Palestinians petitioned the Court to reverse the state land declaration, arguing that they are the rightful owners of land. Their ownership claims are based on their having cultivated the land for at least ten years prior to 1967, and the fact that they were in the process formally registering their ownership of that land through the Jordanian real estate registration procedure – a procedure that was frozen by Israel shortly after it occupied the West Bank. 

The lawyer representing the Kochav Yaakov settlement, Harel Arnon, argued that the Court should care more about what has happened on the land since the Jordanian land registration process was frozen, not on what existed at the moment the law was frozen. This argument, by design, favors the settlements and the settlers, who have been able – with the backing of the state and the permission of the Courts – to illegally establish settlements and outposts while also preventing Palestinians from accessing their land.

Rejecting the significance of the Palestinians’ attempt to register their ownership of the land under Jordanian law (which was still in process and not complete at the time the process was frozen by Israel), the Court ruled on the basis of aerial photos which showed the land was not cultivated between 1969-1980. The ruling punishes Palestinians who, having cultivated land during the period before Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, did not (and likely could not) continue to cultivate that land following the 1967 war.  It establishes a new legal precedent according to which Palestinians who established land ownership under Ottoman law through the cultivation of that land for 10 years, can now have that ownership declared “lost” if they have subsequently left the land uncultivated for three or more years.

Shlomi Zacharia, a lawyer from Yesh Din that is representing the Palestinian petitioners, explained:

“The ruling offers a wide opening for a huge takeover of Palestinian land, and in effect this is a cancellation of Jordanian regularization procedures, just at a time when Israel is interested in renewing regularization procedures. The ruling contradicts itself on numerous points, and fails to address the huge complexity of the issue, certainly in light of the fact that the area is occupied territory. The undermining of Palestinian rights, with an emphasis on absentees, but not exclusively, is major, and it is evident that the court is aware of that but chooses nevertheless to approve a practice that already four decades ago was ruled illegal.”

After the court decision on Tuesday, Israel was reportedly planning to legalize two additional outposts, Netiv Ha’avot and Sde Boaz, as well as structures in as many as 20 settlements, using the same legal basis.

The Netiv Ha’avot outpost, in particular, has a long history of being at the forefront of Israel’s hand-wringing over its desire to retroactively legalize even outposts clearly built on land that even Israel recognizes is privately owned by Palestinians. See Peace Now’s comprehensive recap of the Netiv Ha’avot saga, in addition to FMEP’s reporting.

Planning Committee Rejects Appeal Against Overtly Political Hebron Elevator Project

On November 19th, the Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Council rejected two appeals against a plan to build accessible infrastructure, including an elevator, at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarch in Hebron — a plan which requires Israel to seize land from the Islamic Waqf. The Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, which was behind one of the rejected petitions, raised several objections to the plan’s archeological and planning deficits. The Palestinian Municipality of Hebron submitted a second objection (now rejected) citing how the plan and Israel’s advancement of it violates agreements signed by Israel relating to governance and planning in Hebron. 

Emek Shaveh announced that it will not pursue further legal appeals against the plan, citing the consequences of a law passed by the Knesset in July 2018 which brought West Bank land disputes under the domestic jurisdiction of the Jerusalem District Court. Before the passage of that law (and since 1967), the court of first jurisdiction for cases related to Palestinians living in the West Bank — such as cases in which Palestinians want to challenge State actions (and inactions) regarding planning and construction, travel permits, freedom of information, and freedom of movement — was the Israeli High Court of Justice, reflecting the extraordinariness of Israeli judges issuing extra-territorial legal rulings. The 2018 law stripped Palestinians of this direct avenue to the High Court of Justice and compelled Palestinians living in the West Bank to file petitions with the Jerusalem District Court. The High Court of Justice now only hears Palestinians’ cases on appeal from the district court, adding more time and higher costs to any potential appellant. In a statement, Emek Shaveh said that it fears that if it brings this specific case to the Jerusalem District Court – which has a clear pro-settlements bent, openly manufactured by former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked – it risks setting a “dangerous precedent for building at holy sites.”

Emek Shaveh further said:

“Following a prolonged process which revealed that the plan to build a lift at the most important ancient site in the West Bank was approved without serious attention to the historical, archaeological, and architectural aspects, the Civil Administration has decided to approve the plan. The frequent statements by politicians that they had instructed the planning bodies and the Civil Administration to approve the plan as soon as possible, and the speed of the approval process do not leave any room for doubt that political motivations were driving of this decision. The decision to violate the status quo of the fragile arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians may have long-term implications. Unfortunately what happens in Hebron does not remain in Hebron. Often, the dynamics at the Tomb of the Patriarch correspond with developments at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem. The approval of the plan and the involvement of politicians in the planning processes could constitute a precedent that will impact other sites. We have looked into our legal options and decided not to pursue a petition to the Jerusalem District Court. In the past, petitions pertaining to the West Bank were discussed at the High Court of Justice, but this is no longer the case. It is our understanding that a hearing at the Jerusalem District Court will not improve our chances of reversing the plan and may even create a dangerous precedent for building at holy sites.”

Benny Gantz Make Clear His Support for Retroactive Legalization of Outposts on “State Land”

Two noteworthy events over the past week have led Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Blue & White) to clarify his position with respect to support for granting retroactive authorization to some of the 124 outposts and settlement structures that were built without Israeli authorization. The events highlight a growing division within the Blue & White Party, which was previously seen as representing a liberal-centrists ideology within the currency (crumbling) coalition government.

First, on November 25th, Israeli Community Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) announced that he is working with Blue & White Defense Ministry official Michael Biton to prepare a government decision to grant authorization to the outposts. Hanegbi’s insinuation that Blue & White is advancing a plan to issue a broad authorization for illegal outposts elicited a contradiction from Biton, who quickly distanced himself (and his party) from Hanegbi’s comments, insisting that he would only consider a decision that has the support of Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and that Hanegbi did not coordinate the announcement of that project with him.

Following that incident, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Omer Yankelevich (Blue & White) caused even more controversy when she not only offered her support for the retroactive authorization of settlements to a crowd of pro-settlement protestors, but also told the protestors – who were gathered outside of the Prime Minister’s office to push for outpost regulation –  that Benny Gantz supports the move as well. 

Yankelevich’s comments resulted in a discussion of the matter at the recent Blue & White faction meeting, during which Gantz reportedly clarified for members of his party that he only supports granting retroactive legalization to outposts built on “state land.” Gantz also said that Michael Biton’s work concerns sorting out what outposts are built on state land and which have more complicated land ownership claims (i.e., outposts built on land that even Israel has been forced to recognize is privately owned by Palestinians).

The statements and reports about Blue & White party members over the past week suggest that Gantz’s party has lined up behind the position of Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit (known as “market regulation”) which is not as sweeping as most settlers would like to see, but nonetheless stands to see some 2,000 illegal structures magically become legal.

Adding to the crescendo of voices pushing for Netanyahu to act on outpost legalization, longtime right-wing settlement supporter and Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett called on Netanyahu to issue the approval swiftly. Politically, Bennett is on the ascent according to Israeli public polling, and is predicted to gain seats for his right wing alliance if new elections are indeed held. Clearly politicizing his position, Bennett said:

“There are more than 60 fledgling settlement communities…The Prime Minister promised in public to apply sovereignty over every settlement, but in practice hasn’t extended sovereignty over a single inch [of Judea and Samaria]….Don’t be afraid. They tried to scare me off of approving the establishment of a new neighborhood in Hebron, but I made the decision, ending 20 years of a building freeze. We are currently in a window of opportunity that will be closing. For years we heard all sorts of excuses. But the truth is, the decision is up to the prime minister.”

Likud Minister Calls For Israel to Enforce “Symmetry” of Construction in Area B + C of West Bank

During a tour of Area C in the West Bank – where settlers and their allies allege that the Palestinian Authority is orchestrating a brilliantly effective campaign to “steal” land from Israel – Likud MK and former Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat said that Israel should not only undertake a concerted effort to stop Palestinian construction in Area C but should enforce “symmetry” in Area B construction as well, enabling equal construction by settlers and Palestinians. 

As a reminder, Area B (in which Israel retains security control, but the Palestinians have civilian control) makes up some 21% of the West Bank; Area C (in which Israel retains full control) accounts for around 60% of the West Bank. In effect, Barkat is calling for Israel to treat Area B the same as it treats Area C — that is, to assert settlers’ right to build on fully 81% of the West Bank (meaning all of the West Bank except Area A, the 18% of the West Bank comprised of the narrowly-defined built-up area of Palestinian cities and adjacent villages). 

Barkat said:

“Today’s tour showed me that we need to perform a large series of actions to make sure that in the open areas, both in Area C and in Area B and in Judea and Samaria in general, there is symmetry between the activities we do and those of the Palestinians. It cannot be that one side blatantly builds in the open spaces and the other side converges inward into the settlements. This is unthinkable. In Jerusalem I was very strict about symmetry. What is good for Jews is good for Arabs. When you go up here you can also go up there. This symmetry is the key to success in looking ahead. I’m glad I was here today on the tour. I’m happy about the determination and what I saw. I will do everything I can with the tools I have, to see how they take the plan I made, the Barkat development plan for two million people for settlement. On this plan should now be added a second phase. Make sure the open spaces aren’t no man’s land. That Israelis and Palestinians use it appropriately – either no one uses or both sides use it symmetrically. This will be a key to what we need to do going forward.”

Bahrain: No Annexation. Also Bahrain: Settlements Are Israel

In a not-so-surprising yet shocking announcement, a senior Bahraini official announced that Bahrain will not differentiate between Israel and its settlements, in effect recognizing Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. The Bahraini announcement – which relates to how Bahrain will require Israel to label goods imported into the country – follows the significant shift in U.S. policy on labelling a few weeks ago. With respect to settlement products, Bahraini Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani said: 

“we will recognize them as Israeli products. And all Bahraini products, hopefully, will be recognized in Israel as Bahraini products. I don’t see, frankly, a distinction on which part or which city or which region it was manufactured or sourced from.”

Efrat settlement leader Oded Revivi rejoiced at Bahrain’s support for settlements, saying:

“Now we must adopt this view with our neighbors within and without Israeli borders. Buying products from Judea and Samaria strengthens the joint industrial areas, brings together cultures and actually strengthens peace. This is a message to Israelis and the world.”

Aid to Amb. Friedman Appointed to Key Post, Will Stay In Control of U.S. Normalization Programs 

Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone – who has served as a key aide to Ambassador David Friedman – has been installed as the Director of the Abraham Fund, a new investment fund that is the direct outgrowth of the normalization agreement signed by the U.S, Israel, and the UAE. Prior to serving in government, Lightstone was a prominent fundraiser for the radical far-right, proto-fascist Israeli group Im Tirtzu. Im Tirtzu makes it its business to attack and smear human rights organizations, accusing groups like the New Israel Fund and Breaking the Silence (and the individuals who work there) of being anti-Israel and seeking to defund them.

The fund is supposed to serve as the vehicle by which the U.S. advances business ties and investments between Israel, the U.S., and the Arab world – and has already raised $3 billion. The Fund, according to JTA, has been directly attached to the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC), the U.S. government’s development bank. The relationship between the Fund and the DFC has already alarmed at least one Democratic Senate aide, who told JTA that the DFC must act in a strictly non-political manner, whereas the Abraham Fund is already engaging in highly political issues with its first project devoted to “modernizing” checkpoints across the West Bank.

JTA reports that Democrats in Congress are alarmed at Lightstone’s appointment to this post because it is a career government role, not a position which can be easily replaced by the incoming Biden Administration. Lightstone’s leadership at the Abraham Fund is clearly an effort to ensure that the Trump Administration’s legacy of pro-settlement, pro-annexationist policies will continue to be a part of how the U.S. will engage the region.

Bonus Reads

1. “Trump administration to name political appointee with ties to Israel’s right wing to Middle East development post” (JTA)
2. “Inside Trump and Netanyahu’s ‘end of season’ settlement bonanza” (+972 Magazine)
3. “Israel and PA push for control of West Bank’s Area C via land registration” (Jerusalem Post)
4. “Eight climate activists arrested in protest against new West Bank industrial zone” (+972 Magazine)
5. “Palestinians voice concern over new colonial settlement in Hebron’s Old City” (Wafa)
6. “Jerusalem cable car taken to Israel’s highest court” (Al-Monitor)
7. Would Trump Recognize Israeli Sovereignty in East Jerusalem? – analysis” (Jerusalem Post)
8. “Trump-Heights settlement in Golan here to stay” (Al-Monitor)
9. “A Life Exposed: Military invasions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank” (Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, Breaking the Silence)

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

November 20, 2020

1. Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 1: Historic Shifts in US Settlements Policy
2. Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 2: Full Steam Ahead on Givat Hamatos Settlement
3. Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 3: Israel Expected to Advance Har Homa E Settlement Plan
4. Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 4: Israel Set to Start Process of Land Registration in East Jerusalem
5. Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 5: Settlers Push to Re-Establish Abandoned Settlements in Northern West Bank
6. Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 6: Bibi Seeks U.S. OK for More Settlement Projects, Settlers Push for Outpost Authorization
7. Israeli Education Minister Celebrates New Settlement Yeshiva
8. IDF Pays for Use of Yeshiva After Settlers Destroy Army Base
9. Impending Sheikh Jarrah Evictions
10. Bonus Reads

Questions/Comments? Email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 1: Historic Shifts in US Settlements Policy 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Israel on November 19th for a two-day visit in which he made history with respect to U.S. support for settlements, delivering a series of extraordinary (though entirely predictable) victories to Israeli settlements and Israel’s Greater Israel pro-annexation movement. 

First, Pompeo became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit the Israel-occupied Golan Heights since the Trump Administration recognized Israeli sovereignty there in March 2019, . 

Second, Pompeo became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit a West Bank Israeli settlement, in a visit publicly framed as establishing the legitimacy of settlements. Pompeo’s visit to the Psagot Winery – located near Ramallah – flouted international law and international consensus, which views Israel’s settlement enterprise as illegal [for a deep dive in the history of the Psagot settlement and the significance of Pompeo’s visit – check out this FMEP podcast with Dror Etkes, Fadi Quran, and Lara Friedman]. 

Third, in conjunction with his visit to the Psagot Winery settlement, Pompeo announced new U.S. guidelines that require products made in all areas under Israeli control to be labelled as “Made in Israel” (or iterations thereof) when being exported to the U.S. This is a massive and highly consequential shift in U.S. policy that offers recognition of Israeli sovereignty not only over settlements (as the Trump Administration has previously done) but over all of Area C – some 60% of the West Bank. The announcement was urged on by a group of four Republican Senators ahead of Pompeo’s trip. The policy, which if focused on territory, not people, would require even Palestinian-made goods originating from villages in Area C to be labelled as “Made in Israel”. Roughly 150,000 Palestinians live in Area C, where they are subjected to an escalating Israeli campaign to make life untenable for them via discriminatory planning policies and demolitions. 

Laying out the new policy, the State Department issued a statement saying:

“Today, the Department of State is initiating new guidelines to ensure that country of origin markings for Israeli and Palestinian goods are consistent with our reality-based foreign policy approach.  In accordance with this announcement, all producers within areas where Israel exercises the relevant authorities – most notably Area C under the Oslo Accords - will be required to mark goods as ’Israel’, ’Product of Israel’, or ‘Made in Israel’ when exporting to the United States.  This approach recognizes that Area C producers operate within the economic and administrative framework of Israel and their goods should be treated accordingly.  This update will also eliminate confusion by recognizing that producers in other parts of the West Bank are for all practical purposes administratively separate and that their goods should be marked accordingly.”

Pompeo made this announcement following his visit to the Psagot winery – which not only named a vintage after Pompeo but has also been at the center of Israel’s global effort to push nations to treat Israeli settlements as indistinguishable from sovereign Israeli territory, with the winery involved in international legal battles over how Israeli businesses located in the settlements are required to label their products. U.S. labelling requirements will now stand at odds with European policy on the matter, which requires differentiation between products made in Israel and products made in settlements. 

As part of the major change in U.S. labelling policy, Pompeo also changed how Palestinian-made products (produced in Areas A & B, and in the Gaza Strip) must be labelled, replacing the “West Bank/Gaza” label with separate “West Bank” and “Gaza” labels – another symbolic move laced with antagonism towards Palestinian rights and national aspirations. The change also contradicts the Oslo Accords, under which the Gaza Strip and West Bank are to be treated as a single territorial entity. The U.S. State Department statement on the labelling policy reads:

“We will no longer accept ’West Bank/Gaza’ or similar markings, in recognition that Gaza and the West Bank are politically and administratively separate and should be treated accordingly.”

Fourth, in a press conference alongside PM Netanyahy, Pompeo announced that the U.S. holds the “global BDS campaign” to be anti-Semitic, and said that the U.S. will “immediately take steps to identify the organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct and withdraw US government support from such groups.” Pompeo called BDS a “cancer.” This is particularly relevant to settlement and annexation watchers because the new U.S. designation makes no distinction between boycotts aimed at Israel and boycotts limited to Israeli settlements – yet another legal step towards offering official U.S. recognition of Israel’s annexation of the settlements. It had previously been reported that the U.S. State Department were preparing to label Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, and Amnesty International as anti-Semitic organizations, based on the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.

Fifth, under the protection of a large Israeli security escort, Pompeo visited the Elad settler organization’s archeological projects in the City of David, an Israeli national park which was declared on top of the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, located right outside of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Under Elad’s direction, and with the support of the Israeli government and the Trump Administration, archeology is being weaponized to erase the historic memory and the modern presence of Palestinians, while emphasizing the Jewish heritage at that site. At the same time, settler organizations including Elad and Ateret Cohanim are battling to implement the mass eviction of Paelstinians from their longtime homes in Silwan.

Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh – a group of expert archaeologists – previously explained:

“The use of archaeology by Israel and the settlers as a political tool is a part of a strategy to shape the historic city and unilaterally entrench Israeli sovereignty over ancient Jerusalem. It is a process which is likely to produce devastating results for both Israel and the Palestinians.  It is inexcusable to ignore the Palestinian residents of Silwan, carrying out extensive excavations of an underground city and to use such excavations as part of an effort to tell a historic story that is exclusively Jewish in a 4,000 year-old city with a rich and diverse cultural and religious past.”

And in a piece entitled “Israel Is Using Archeology To Erase Non-Jewish History,” Emek Shaveh further explained:

“The exploitation of archaeology in Jerusalem has been spearheaded by the Elad Foundation, a group of settlers turned archaeology entrepreneurs, who are using ancient sites to take over land and shape the historical narrative. Elad, which emerged 30 years ago with a mission to settle Jews in Palestinian homes in the neighborhood of Silwan, manages the popular archaeological park, the City of David. Visitors to the site are treated to a heavily biblical narrative where discoveries that resonate with the story of King David or the Kingdom of Judea are highlighted. The fact the archaeologists dispute the evidence of a kingdom in the 10th century BCE often goes unmentioned. Furthermore, not many of the half a million people who visit the park annually know about life in the Palestinian neighborhood since Elad arrived on the scene. They will probably never hear about how Elad took over 75 homes in the neighborhood, or closed off virtually the last of the public areas used by the residents and annexed it to the archaeological park. With an annual budget of approximately 100 million shekels, the Elad Foundation now commands several excavation projects in the City of David, including tunnels along an ancient Roman street, which it is marketing as a Second Temple era pilgrims’ route to the Temple. It has recently branched out to establish new projects within the Old City and in other areas throughout the Historic Basin. But Elad couldn’t have done it on their own. If at first they were greeted with mistrust by the authorities in the 1990s, today they have an open door to many government agencies and ministries. From the Israel Antiquities Authority, which is in charge of most of the excavations at the City of David, and the Nature and Parks Authority, which subcontracted Elad to run the site, to the minister of tourism, who is aggressively advancing a cable car to link West Jerusalem to the City of David, to the mayor of Jerusalem, the government and all the relevant agencies are committed to the project of shaping a large tourist zone dedicated to the First and Second Temple periods.”

Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 2: Full Steam Ahead on Givat Hamatos Settlement

On November 15th, the Israel Land Authority published the long-feared/long-awaited (depending who you are) tender for the construction of the Givat Hamatos settlement in East Jerusalem. The tenders provide for the construction of 1,257 settlement units, which is about 200 units more than expected. The tender is set to close for bids on January 18, 2021 – exactly two days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. In a carefully worded statement to the press, Netanyahu acknowledged that the publication of the Givat Hamatos tender had been coordinated with the Trump Administration (but not the Biden transition team).

Terrestrial Jerusalem writes:

“The decision to proceed with the construction of Givat Hamatos is the most defiant and inflammatory settlement move in recent memory, and should be treated as such. The construction of Givat Hamatos will create a buffer, contributing to an effective seal between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem. In addition, Givat Hamatos will, for the first time, completely surround an East Jerusalem neighborhood, Beit Safafa, with Israel construction, making the implementation of the Clinton parameters in East Jerusalem impossible.  Givat Hamatos will have a devastating impact on the very possibility of a future two-state outcome.”

Ir Amim writes:

“The opening of the tender significantly decreases the potentiality to effectively block Israeli building in the area. Concerted opposition and pressure to freeze the tender is therefore vital in this limited window of time. If carried through, Givat Hamatos would become the first new settlement in East Jerusalem in 20 years. Located in a particularly strategic area, Givat Hamatos (along with Har Homa E and E1) has constituted a longstanding international red line due its impact on the prospects of a viable two-state framework with two capitals in Jerusalem. By creating a contiguous Israeli built-up area between the existing settlements of Gilo and Har Homa, construction in Givat Hamatos will serve to seal off the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and the southern part of the West Bank, while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. The next two months in lead-up to the change in the US Presidential Administration will be a critical period. We believe that Israel will attempt to exploit this time to advance moves that the incoming administration will potentially oppose. It is crucial that the international community remain vigilant.”

Peace Now writes:

“Construction in Givat Hamatos will severely hamper the prospect of a two-state solution because it will ultimately block the possibility of territorial contiguity between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem–the main Palestinian metropolitan area–and will prevent Palestinian Beit Safafa from connecting with a future Palestinian state…The meaning of the publication of the Tender Booklet is that now the tender is open for bids and contractors may submit their proposals to win the right to build the units in Givat Hamatos. The final day for submitting the proposals is January 18th, 2021, three days before the change in the US administration…This is a major blow to the prospects for peace and the possibility of a two-state solution. This Netanyahu-Gantz government was established to fight the coronavirus but instead it is taking advantage of the final weeks of the Trump administration in order to set facts on the ground that will be exceedingly hard to undo in order to achieve peace. This tender can still be stopped. We hope that those in this government who still have some sense of responsibility for our future will do what they can to cancel the tender before bids are submitted.”

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said: 

“Israel is trying to benefit from the unlimited support of the current U.S. administration, which has provided it with all possible support for the sake of settlement expansion and the takeover of more Palestinian lands.”

PA Prime Minister Muhammed Shtayyeh said in a statement:

“There appears to be an escalating and intensive assault plan for the next 10 weeks in a race against time to create a new fait accompli before Donald Trump leaves the White House on January 21. We look with concern at the frequent reports about new colonial settlement projects in Arab Jerusalem and the West Bank, which aim to encircle and stifle the Palestinian Arab neighborhoods and prevent interaction between them and the rest of the West Bank and to completely isolate the city of Jerusalem.”

International reaction to Israel’s decision to publish the tender for the construction of the Givat Hamatos settlement — long treated as a red line by the international community — was predictably tempered. Several foreign governments issued statements of “concern,” including Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, the UK, Russia, and Italy, in addition to statements from UN Envoy Nikolay Mladenov and European Union High Commissioner Josep Borrell. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution – by an overwhelming majority — calling on all governments to refrain from treating Israel’s settlements in the West Bank or East Jerusalem as part of sovereign Israeli territory. B’Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad urged European governments to move from words to action.

Meanwhile, a delegation of European Union representatives received a hostile greeting from right-wing settlement supporters organized by hardline Israeli NGO Im Tirzu when the delegation attempted to visit the site of the future Givat Hamatos settlement on November 16th. The diplomats’ caravan was actually chased off by the right-wing protestors, which included Jerusalem city councilman and settlement empresario Ariyehh King, who shouted “Go home, anti-Semites!” at the visiting EU diplomats.

Though many settlers celebrated the publication of the Givat Hamatos tender, settlers who are currently living in the area of Givat Hamatos remain skeptical that the government will actually follow through. It’s worth noting that the government has provided mobile homes to about 30 families who live in the Givate Hamatos hillside as squatters, having waited 30 years since the Givat Hamatos plan was given final approval for construction to happen. Wall-to-wall international opposition to the settlement plan deterred the Israeli government from publishing them.

MK Miki Zohar (Likud) celebrated the new tender in a tweet saying:

 “Now we can talk about it. Before the last elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised me that he would publicize the building tender in Jerusalem’s Givat Hamatos; this neighborhood is in a strategic location between Beit Safafa and Hebron road. It important to build there in order to maintain a Jewish land continuum … We have a one-time opportunity these days to strengthen our hold in the land of Israel. I am sure that our friend, President [Donald] Trump, and Prime Minister Netanyahu will be wise enough to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 3: Israel Expected to Advance Har Homa E Settlement Plan 

As anticipated in last week’s Settlement Report, the Israeli government has decided to press forward with a highly controversial and consequential plan to expand the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa westward, toward the site of the future Givat Hamatos settlement (discussed above). Ir Amim reports that on November 23rd, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee is scheduled to take up the plan for 570 new units – called Har Homa E – for the second time this year, and is expected to approve the plan for deposit for public review, one of the final steps before implementation.

Ir Amim warns: 

“The rapid advancement of this plan is indicative of the Israeli government’s intent to accelerate as many settlement construction projects as possible in East Jerusalem and its vicinity in the waning days of the Trump administration.”

The construction in Har Homa E will solidify a continuum of Israeli settlement construction within the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem – from Har Homa, to Givat Hamatos, to Gilo – detaching East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and completing the encirclement of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

The plan for Har Homa E was last discussed in September 2020, when the District Planning Committee signaled its support for approving the plan for deposit, but requested several amendments prior granting that approval. With the modifications made, the expectation is that the committee will now give its formal approval, setting off a period of 60 days during which the public can submit objections to the plan.

The plan for 570 units currently set for approval represents the first detailed plan under a much larger Master Plan for Har Homa E, which involves a total of 2,200 units. Plans to build the remaining units permitted under the Master Plan are not yet being advanced.

Ir Amim writes:

“Construction in Har Homa E will serve as another step in connecting the existing Gilo and Har Homa neighborhoods/settlements and create a contiguous Israeli built-up area along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem. This will likewise detach Bethlehem and the southern West Bank from East Jerusalem while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. In line with the new reality created by the Trump Plan and its unilateral recognition of Israeli sovereignty of East Jerusalem, these developments will constitute a major obstacle towards the future establishment of a Palestinian capital in the city and the prospect of a viable two-state framework.”

Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 4: Israel Set to Start Process of Land Registration in East Jerusalem

In an interview celebrating the publication of a tender for Givat Hamatos settlement project, Jerusalem Affairs & Heritage Minister Rafi Peretz connected the project to a larger Israeli effort to begin registering all East Jerusalem land in Israeli records, an effort which Peretz is spearheading. Al-Monitor reports that, as part of the Givat Hamatos project, the Israeli Finance and Justice Ministry’s acted swiftly to approve a budget, remove legal impediments, and finalize “financial compensation packages with the Palestinian land-owners” so that the land can be properly registered in Israeli government books.

Perez stated:

“The fact that almost all of the land in the eastern part of Jerusalem is not registered properly is something that should have been addressed a long time ago already. The plans that I have developed for registering land plots and properties have now been adopted by the various government ministries concerned, and once they are implemented, they will go a long way to improving the situation for the residents of these areas. A united Jerusalem is not a slogan – it’s a vision, and one that needs to apply to the eastern part of the city just as it applies to the west.”

The Israel-run process of registering ownership of land in East Jerusalem land will have far-reaching consequences for Palestinians, who have not had a formal legal avenue for registering land ownership with the Israeli government since East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel in 1967. Palestinians who wanted/needed to prove their land ownership were forced to rely on the “mukhtar protocol” — a procedure in which Palestinians in East Jerusalemites document/prove ownership by collecting signatures from local Palestinian leaders acknowledging that the land in question does, indeed, belong to them. This policy was developed by the Israeli government as an alternative to the formal land-registration process, which was frozen in East Jerusalem since 1967. 

In 2019, a mini-saga over the “mukhtar protocol” revealed the uphill battle facing Palestinians if formal registration proceeds. In March 2019, the Jerusalem Planning & Building Committee, at the urging of the Regavim settler group (acting with the clear goal of preventing Palestinian development and undermining Palestinian land ownership claims to land in the city), annulled the mukhtar protocol as a legally acceptable basis for establishing land ownership in the eyes of the Israeli government, putting Palestinian land ownership in East Jerusalem in limbo. The result: having no recognized means to prove their land ownership, Palestinians were prevented from building in East Jerusalem. One month later, the Israeli authorities reversed the decision and again recognized the mukhtar protocol, reportedly following appeals to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon by a city council member.

This news about starting the land registration process in East Jerusalem comes only a few weeks after Israel was reported to be advancing plans to begin a process of land registration for Area C of the West Bank — a process that opens another door for Israel to seize more Palestinian land. The registration process in East Jerusalem is expected to have similar results.

Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 5: Settlers Push to Re-Establish Abandoned Settlements in Northern West Bank

A group of 100 settlers, including children, invaded and set up camp at the abandoned site of the Sa-Nur settlement in the northern West Bank in an attempt to pressure the government to allow them to re-establish the settlement, which the state dismantled as part its 2005 disengagement from Gaza. After the Israeli army arrived at the site to evict the trespassers, MK Miki Zohar (Likud) persuaded the settlers to abandon their illegal campsite and leave the area, with the promise of raising the issue of Sa-Nur’s re establishment directly with Netanyahu.

MK Zohar is a staunch supporter of reestablishing Sa-Nur, along with three other settlements in the area that were likewise dismantled by the Israeli government in 2005 (Homesh, Ganim, and Kadim). Zohar has participated in previous visits to the site to support the settlers’ bid, frequently accompanied by his Likud colleagues, including former Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein. In July 2018, the Israeli Cabinet had the opportunity to lend government backing to a bill that would have cancelled the 2005 disengagement and allowed the settlers to rebuild those settlements – but the Cabinet blocked the bill. The settlers and their allies are no doubt raising this issue now, at a time when it seems like the wildest wishes of the settler enterprise are being fulfilled one after another.

As a reminder, even though Israel evacuated the four settlements in the West Bank, the IDF issued military orders barring Palestinians from entering the areas, preventing Palestinians from taking control over the area and building there. At the same time, settlers have regularly entered the areas and even repeatedly built a yeshiva at the Homesh site.  

Final Days of Trump Admin, Part 6: Bibi Seeks U.S. OK for More Settlement Projects, Settlers Push for Outpost Authorization

In addition to the extraordinary settlement plans unleashed over the past two weeks, Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is seeking the blessing of the Trump Administration to push forward additional East Jerusalem settlement projects in the immediate future. Israel’s Kan News Radio reported that Netanyahu planned to raise the settlement projects with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his trip to Israel this week. With developments related to Givat Hamatos and Har Homa E making the news this week, we can speculate that Netanyahu might be asking specifically about the Atarot settlement plan (northern tip of Jerusalem) and/or the E-1 settlement plan (just east of Jerusalem) – as FMEP laid out last week.

Another possibility is, of course, outpost legalizations. Settlers and their allies in the Israeli government are continuing their campaign to pressure Netanyahu to grant retroactive authorization to all of Israel’s outposts and illegal settler construction across the West Bank before Trump leaves office. Since FMEP’s last reporting two weeks ago, the Israel Land Caucus has begun collecting signatures on a petition calling on Netanyahu to act immediately on this matter. According to the Times of Israel the petition states that the Knesset committee, which includes senior members of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party, is “united in the position that the regulation of young settlements must be done now…it is not fair, reasonable or responsible to leave the settlements without status and the tens of thousands of their residents deprived of their rights.”

Just this week Defense Ministry legal advisor Moshe Frucht stated that a government declaration authorizing the outposts is required prior to any actions that treat the outposts as legal communities – specifically rebuffing the request by settlers for the Defense Ministry to connect unauthorized outposts to Israeli state utilities. Frucht’s statement, combined with Netanyahu’s lack of action, enraged MK Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina) who sharply scolded Netanyahu’s top settlements advisor in a Knesset hearing this week.

Israeli Education Minister Celebrates New Settlement Yeshiva

Israeli Minister of Education Yoav Galant (Likud) attended the opening of a new religious school (yeshiva) in the Bruchin settlement, located in a finger of continuous settlements that extends from the 1967 Green Line to the Ariel settlement in the very center of the northern West Bank.

Making it clear that opening yeshivas is part of Israel’s entrenchment and expansion of settlements across the West Bank, Galant said at the event:

“I am delighted to be here in order to celebrate the inauguration of this new building for a yeshiva high school in Bruchin, together with my good friend Yossi Dagan, who has done so much to develop Jewish settlement in the Samaria region and specifically to advance the educational network here. This new building will serve all the students of the local communities and neighborhoods that have been established in the area in the last few years. I am deeply committed to promoting Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria. As Education Minister, I will continue to do all I can to further settlement here, just as I did when I was Housing & Construction Minister – and, indeed, as I have done throughout my life. It’s time that we settled the entire Land, from the Jordan River to the sea. I hope that the students who come to learn here will be able to commence their studies this winter.”

IDF Pays for Use of Yeshiva After Settlers Destroy Army Base

The Times of Israel reports that Israel has agreed to pay the operators of a violent yeshiva associated with the Yitzhar settlement a sum of $118,750 (400,000 NIS) to cover the cost of the building’s use by security forces over the past six years.

In 2014, a mob of violent settlers stormed an army base near the Yitzhar settlement, leaving several officers wounded and destroying all military equipment at the site. After the attack, the IDF seized the yeshiva to use as a temporary base (since theirs was destroyed). It has continued to use the yeshiva since that time, and will now pay the settlers for the inconvenience.

Impending Sheikh Jarrah Evictions

Earlier this month, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s court notified four Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah that they must vacate their longtime homes by November 24th, or else be forcibly evicted. One of those families is the Sabbagh family, whose legal struggle against Israeli settler groups has previously caught international attention and sparked weekly protests in Sheikh Jarrah to stop their eviction. 

The Sabbagh family has lived in their home for over 64 years, and have been battling the settler organization Nahalat Shimon for their right to remain in their home. Nahalat Shimon was awarded ownership rights of the Sabbagh’s house through the use of the “Legal and Administration Matters Law,” which allows Israeli Jews (but not Palestinians) to reclaim property lost/abandoned during the 1948 war. Nahalat Shimon managed to find the Jewish Israeli family who owned the home prior to the 1948 War and convinced that family to hand over their ownership rights.

Muhammed al-Sabbagh told the Middle East Eye recently:

“I know that the Israeli court will not do justice to me. They will not be on my side against Israeli settlers. But I will fight until the very end to protect my home where I grew up, the only safe haven for me and my family.”

Sami Ershid, the family’s lawyer, told Middle East Eye: 

“For years, these [families] wake up thinking what the court will rule against them. They live a life completely devoid of stability, thinking when they will be forcibly expelled from their homes. The [Israeli] goal is clear: to create a new settler neighbourhood on the rubble of their homes.”

Just Vision – who shared one Sheikh Jarrah family’s story in the docuseries “My Neighborhood,” said in an email drawing attention to these evictions:

“While the cases in Sheikh Jarrah are thinly veiled as a legal matter, the political motivations are clear. This latest round of evictions is part of a broader attempt by the Israeli state to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The process is methodical and impacts thousands of lives on a daily basis. In the past month alone, Israel hid under the US election media frenzy to undertake the largest demolition of Palestinian homes and structures in a decade, and just yesterday, announced a new settlement, Givat Hamatos, that would effectively cut East Jerusalem off from Bethlehem. This all happens under the United States’ watch – subsequent US administrations have done little to hold the Israeli government to account, and the latest administration has given a carte-blanche for unjust activity like this.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Occupied Thoughts: “Pompeo in Psagot” ft. Fadi Quran, Dror Etkes, & Lara Friedman” (FMEP)
2. “Israel Impounds Palestinian’s Cows Grazing on Nature Reserve, Ignores Settlers’ Cows” (Haaretz)
3. “Israeli settlers in the West Bank confront the Biden reality and dig in for a fight” (Washington Post)

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

October 16, 2020

1. No Annexation, No Problem – Israel Advances Nearly 5,000 New Settlement Plans, Including New Settlement South of Jerusalem
   • Overview
   • Record-Setting Settlement Activity in 2020
   • Har Gilo West Approved for Deposit w/ Plan to Seal Off Al-Walajah
   • Two Outposts Advance Towards Retroactive Legalization
   • Not Just Residential Units – Council Advances Settler Tourism & Infrastructure Projects
   • Location of Approvals
   • Reactions
2. Plan for 570 Units in East Jerusalem Settlement Approved for Deposit
3. Israel Approves Construction of Elevator at Tomb of the Patriarchs
4. Israel Delivers Confiscation Notices to Palestinians Living in the Heart of Hebron
5. Palestinians Report Newly Established Outposts & Land Confiscations
6. Targeting Palestinians Construction in Area C: State Devotes $6 million to Mapping Program
7. In First, Palestinian Authority Courts to Hear Lawsuits Against Settlers
8. NF, Elad Face International Heat Over Sumarin Family Eviction Case – Will it Matter?
9. Report: U.S. Will Not Back De Jure Annexation Until 2024 [Friedman Says 2021 in Play]
10. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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No Annexation, No Problem – Israel Advances Nearly 5,000 New Settlement Plans, Including New Settlement South of Jerusalem 

Overview

During meetings held October 14th and 15th, the Israeli High Planning Council advanced plans for a total of 4,948 new settlement units. Of that total, plans for 2,688 units were granted final approval and plans for 2,260 units were approved to be deposited for public review (a late stage in the planning process). The latter approvals include a plan to build a new settlement, “Har Gilo West,”  just beyond Jerusalem’s southern border. In addition, the Council granted retroactive approval to 340 existing illegally-built settlement units in the unauthorized outposts of Peni Kedem and Tapuach West, paving  the establishment of two new official West Bank settlements (through post-facto legalization of the illegal outposts).

These were the first meetings of the High Planning Council since February 2020, at which time settlement planning was put on pause in favor of attempting to implement annexation plans as designed by Trump’s “Deal of the Century.” Under annexation, authority over the settlement planning/approval process could have been shifted from the Israeli Civil Administration (the branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry, in charge of the administration of affairs in the West Bank, – i.e., Israel’s occupation) into Israel domestic planning mechanism. Such a shift has long been a goal of settlers and their political allies.

In addition to advancing construction of new residential settlement units, the High Planning Council also advanced plans for the construction of new settlement projects that support tourism, further entrench the permanency of settlements, and that continue the exploitation of West Bank land and resources.

Record-Setting Settlement Activity in 2020

With the huge advancement of settlement plans this week, the Israeli government has advanced plans for 12,159 settlement units so far in 2020. With over two months to go, the settlement watchdog group Peace Now reports that this is already the highest total number settlement advancements in any year since Peace Now began tracking totals in 2012. Peace Now also reports that it is possible that the High Planning Council will convene one more time before the year ends.

Har Gilo West Approved for Deposit w/ Plan to Seal Off Al-Walajah

The High Planning Council approved for public deposit a plan to build 560 units at the Har Gilo West settlement site, located just south of Jerusalem. The Council is treating this plan as merely an expansion of the existing Har Gilo settlement, but in actuality it represents the construction of a new settlement on Jerusalem’s southern border, as the two areas of construction (Har Gilo and Har Gilo West) would not be contiguous. The plan for 560 units in Har Gilo West is part of a larger plan to construct around 952 units in the new settlement, extending the its borders right up to the Jerusalem municipal boundary, with dire consequences for the long-beleaguered Palestinian village of Al-Walajah. 

The discussion on October 14th further revealed  that, in order to build Har Gilo West, Israel plans to extend the separation barrier in that area to completely encircle al-Walajah, which is surrounded on three sides by the separation wall already. The new section of the barrier would be a 7-meters high concrete slab along the western edge of the built-up area of Al-Walajah. That would leave Al-Walajah completely encircled by the separation barrier and Israeli construction beyond it.

Ir Amim explains:

“In the past decade a series of Israeli moves have taken over more and more of Al-Walaja land and gradually isolating it. These are now culminating with the intention to construct the new settlement on the land reserves on the western side of Al-Walaja and to extend the separation barrier so as to complete the encircling of the village. As Al-Walaja will turn into an isolated enclave which lacks an outline plan its residents will be especially vulnerable to increasing home demolitions and other Israeli sanctions. Since the village will separate the new settlement from the existing Har Gilo we are likely to see increasing Israeli actions against Al-Walaja and its residents which will put their future existence at risk.”

Peace Now writes:

“The current plan of 952 housing units to be advanced will create a brand new neighborhood that will be larger than the existing settlement, and will exploit the land cut off by the West Bank barrier to further break up the western Bethlehem metropolitan area, including the land connecting al-Walaja and the town of Battir, as well as Battir and Bethlehem. This land also constitutes some of the only uninhabited fertile land reserves for Bethlehem, which currently is cut off by the West Bank barrier to its immediate north and west.“

FMEP has repeatedly documented various Israeli efforts to seal off al-Walajah from Jerusalem. Residents of al-Walajah have fought the growing encroachment by the nearby Etzion settlement bloc and the Israeli government’s attempt to de facto annex the bloc as part of “Greater Jerusalem.” Ir Amim explains several prongs of this effort, including a particularly unbelievable section of Israel’s separation barrier planned to almost completely encircle the village, to turn its valuable agricultural land into an urban park for Jerusalem, and construction of a highway that will connect the Etzion settlement bloc to Jerusalem with Israeli-only bypass roads.

Two Outposts Advance Towards Retroactive Legalization

The High Planning Council approved for deposit two plans that would, if implemented, have the effect of retroactively legalizing two outposts – bestowing upon those outposts legitimacy in the eyes of Israeli law and, in effect, establishing two new, official settlements. Those plans are:

1. Pnei Kedem: A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 120 units in the Pnei Kedem farm outpost by recognizing the outpost as a “neighborhood” of the Metzad/Asfar settlement. This is despite the fact that the two areas of construction are non-contiguous. Pnei Kedem is located halfway between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. Settlers were particularly gleeful about this plan being advanced
2. Tapuach West: A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 133 units in the Tapuach West outpost, located south of Bethlehem. 

Not Just Residential Units – Council Advances Settler Tourism & Infrastructure Projects

The High Planning Council also advanced plans for the construction of new settlement projects that support tourism, further entrench the permanency of settlements, and that continue the exploitation of West Bank land and resources.

The Council granted final approval to:

1. A plan for new shops and an educational site (to include an agricultural farm) in the Kochav Yaakov settlement – located between Jerusalem and Ramallah; and,
2. A plan to grant retroactive authorization to a motor park and 120 hotel rooms in the Petza’el settlement, located in the Jordan Valley. As FMEP has covered in the past, this state-of-the-at racetrack and hotel complex is being built partially on land that the Israeli army previously declared a closed firing zone, a designation which resulted in the forcible displacement of Palestinians who lived there. The land remains under this designation today. Rather than halting the construction of this complex, the Israeli authorities instead created a Master Plan for the area in order to enable even more construction in the area.

Plans the Council granted final approval for public deposit include:

1. A plan for an industrial zone near the Mishor Adumim settlement; and,
2. A plan to build a new commercial area and 50 hotel rooms in the Maale Adumim settlement;

Location of Approvals

Included in the total number of units receiving final approval and/or retroactive legalization (3,028 units) are  (in descending order of number of units): [map]

1. 382 units in the Beit El settlement, located in the heart of the northern West Bank. This includes retroactive legalization for 36 units which had been previously built without authorization and the construction of 346 units in highrise buildings with 9 or 10 floors (building up, not out in Beit El) [as a reminder, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has deep ties to the Beit El settlement];
2. 357 units in the Geva Benyamin (Adam) settlement, located just north east of Jerusalem, just beyond the separation barrier. Israel has been steadily building the Adam settlement in a manner meant to unite the settlement more seamlessly with East Jerusalem settlements and infrastructure, erasing the Green Line;
3. 354 units in the Nili settlement, located in the northern West Bank;
4. 213 units in the Shiloh settlement, including the retroactive legalization of 21 units built without required approvals. The Shiloh settlement is located in the central West Bank;
5. 211 units in the radical and violent Yitzhar settlement, including some retroactive authorizations (exact number not specified) as well as approval for public buildings. Yitzhar, located just south of Nablus, is associated with the Hilltop Youth movement – and a string of illegal outposts in the area associated with repeated attacks on Palestinians and their property;
6. 205 units in the Nokdim settlement (actually approved for the Kfar Eldad settlement, which is officially within the jurisdiction of Nokdim), located south of Bethlehem;
7. 200 units in the Metzad settlement (also known as Asfar), including the retroactive legalization of an unspecified number of existing units built without necessary approvals;
8. 160 units in the Kochav Yaacov settlement, located east of Ramallah;
9. 140 units in Kerem Reim settlement – located north west of Ramallah. Peace Now has repeatedly challenged the illegal construction of the Kerem Reim outpost, which the Israeli government retroactively legalized by declaring it a neighborhood of the Talmon settlement even though the areas are non-contiguous. Though a court rejected one Peace Now petition, there is an ongoing case against the Amana settler organization which Peace Now alleges engaged in illegal activities to build the outpost;
10. 132 units in Kfar Adumim settlement –  located east of Jerusalem and less than one mile from the Khan al-Ahmar bedouin community which the state of Israel is seeking to demolish;
11. 106 units in the Ma’ale Shomron settlement,  located east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya;
12. 84 new units in the Shima settlement, including retroactive legalization of 14 existing units;
13. 74 units in the Yakir settlement –  located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line deep into the West Bank;
14. 64 units in the Telem settlement – located west of Hebron;
15. Retroactive legalization of 18 units in the Psagot settlement – located east of Ramallah, and home to the Psagot Winery;
16. Retroactive legalization of 2 units in the “Givon Hadasha” settlement;

Plans which were approved for deposit for public review include (in descending order of number of units):

1. 629 units in the Eli settlement, including the retroactive legalization of 61 units – located  south of Nablus and southeast of the Ariel settlement in the central West Bank. Though the Eli settlement previously received Israeli government approval, a “Master Plan” – which officially zones land for distinct purposes (residential, commercial, public) –  has never been issued for Eli, meaning all construction there is illegal under Israeli law;
2. 560 units in the Har Gilo settlement located just south of Jerusalem (covered in detail above);
3. 286 units in the Har Bracha settlement – located just south of Nablus. If implemented, these new units will double the size of Har Bracha;
4. 179 units in the Einav settlement – located northwest of Nablus;
5. 148 units in the Rimonim settlement – located between Ramallah and Jericho in the Jordan Valley;
6. A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 133 units in the Tapuach West outpost, thereby granting approval to the outpost itself (discussed above);
7. A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 120 units in the Pnei Kedem outpost by recognizing the outpost as a “neighborhood” of the Metzad/Asfar settlement although the two areas of construction are non-contiguous. Pnei Kedem is located between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank;
8. 82 units in the Karnei Shomron settlement –  located in the northern West Bank east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya. Israel is planning to continue expanding Karnei Shomron with the stated goal of bringing 1 million settlers to live in the area surrounding the settlement.;
9. 75 units in the Shimaa settlement, including the legalization of 14 units previously built without authorization;
10. 52 units received retroactive legalization in the Kfar Adumim settlement; 
11. 35 units in the Efrat settlement – located south of Bethlehem. As a reminder, Efrat is located inside a settlement block 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;
12. 14 units (in one building) in the Maale Mikmash settlement – located east of Ramallah;
13. 10 units in the Barkan settlement – located about half way between the Ariel settlement and the cluster of settlements slated to be united into a “super settlement” area (Oranit, Elkana, Shiva Tikva, and others).
14. 7 units in the Peduel settlement –  located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley; and,

Reactions

The High Planning Council met only after settlers, who represent a key ally of the embattled Prime Minister, pressured Netanyahu to allow it. Settlers have spent months decrying what they understood to be a freeze on settlement constructed inflicted upon them by Netanyahu. Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne’eman said:

“Sometimes we take our prime minister to task, which we feel is justified as a result of our disappointment in postponing the application of sovereignty over our country. But now something tangible is happening – we are building and developing our communities, and of course, the highlight of today is the full registration in the Land Authority of the young community of Pnei Kedem, 20 years since it was established.”

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said:

“This is a happy day for Samaria. [New construction] in Har Bracha, Yitzhar, Einav and Tapuach is another step on the way to a million residents in this beautiful region of the country…While we’re very content with today’s developments, I call on the Prime Minister not to stop here. We’re overfilled with joy, but it is a drop in the ocean with sovereignty falling off the agenda. The expectation now is that construction and strengthening of the settlement movement will increase tenfold.”

Peace Now responded to the approvals in a statement saying:

“While Israel reels from its second lockdown and economic distress, Netanyahu is promoting construction in isolated settlements that Israel will have to evacuate. Instead of taking advantage of the agreements with the Gulf states and promoting peace with the Palestinians, he is distorting Israel’s priorities and catering to a fringe minority for these settlement unit approvals that will continue to harm future prospects for peace. We call on the Defense Minister and the Alternative Prime Minister Benny Gantz to veto these plans. Far from a ‘settlement freeze,’ the right has been complaining about, the expected settlement approvals announcement next week prove that the settlement enterprise under Netanyahu is moving ahead at full steam toward solidifying the de facto annexation of the West Bank. The move also will be the first major demonstration of Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s bowing to the ‘Greater Israel’ settlement agenda that would in reality bring about a permanent undemocratic one-state reality. By doing so, Israel will be signaling to the world its bi-partisan support for the end to the concept of a two-state solution and a Palestinian state – the paradigm that until now has largely shielded Israel from formal pressure over its 53-year occupation. The settlement enterprise is not in Israel’s national or security interest, and is a strategic mistake at the international level.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh denounced the approvals, saying:

“Every settler unit constitutes a plan to annex our land.”

Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement: 

“We warn against this Israeli policy that will lead the region to the brink of the abyss, and we call on the international community to intervene immediately and urgently to pressure the Netanyahu government to stop this settlement madness that totally eliminates any real opportunity to achieve a just and comprehensive peace to end the occupation and establish the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.”

UN High Representative Josep Borrell said in a statement:

“In recent days, Israel has announced a significant expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, in areas in and around Jerusalem. These plans, which foresee the construction of close to 5.000 housing units, jeopardise the viability and territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian State as the outcome of a negotiated two-state solution, in line with the internationally agreed parameters. Settlements are illegal under international law. As stated consistently, the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties. Settlement activity threatens current efforts to rebuild trust, to resume civil and security cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis and to prepare the ground for an eventual resumption of meaningful and direct negotiations. The Government of Israel should reverse these decisions and halt all continued settlement expansion, including in East Jerusalem and sensitive areas such as Har Homa, Givat Hamatos and E1. The period from March to August 2020 also saw a spike in demolitions or confiscations of Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU reiterates its call on Israel to halt all such demolitions, including of EU-funded structures, in particular in light of the humanitarian impact of the current pandemic. Against the background of normalization of relations between Israel, UAE and Bahrain, Israelis and Palestinians should seize this opportunity and take urgent steps to build confidence and restore cooperation along the line of previous agreements and in full respect of international law.”

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement flagging concern over the advancements, saying:

“We are concerned about the reports of Israel’s settlement advancements in the occupied West Bank and will continue to follow developments closely, as the Israeli High Planning Committee finalizes its meetings tomorrow. The Secretary-General has consistently reiterated that all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace. We urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from such unilateral actions that fuel instability and further erode the prospects for resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements.”

Plan for 570 Units in East Jerusalem Settlement Approved for Deposit

Ir Amim reports that on September 22nd, the Jerusalem District Committee approved for deposit for public review a detailed plan providing for the construction of 570 units in the Har Homa E settlement, located in East Jerusalem. Taken together with the pending construction of the nearby Har Gilo West settlement (discussed in the section above), the Palestinian village of al-Walajah stands to be completely encircled by Israeli settlements. 

If implemented, this plan will extend the Har Homa settlement westward, in the direction of the site of the as-of-yet-unbuilt Givat Hamatos settlement. Ir Amim explains:

“If realized, Har Homa E together with construction in Givat Hamatos will connect Har Homa to Gilo creating a contiguous Israeli settlement area that will disconnect East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and the south of the West Bank.”

Ir Amim also reminds us that the Jerusalem District Committee previously approved a Master Plan for a total of 2,200 units in Har Homa E. The plan for 570 units approved for deposit in late September represents the first detailed plan under this Master Plan allows for. Plans to build the remaining units permitted under the Master Plan are not yet being advanced.

Israel Approves Construction of Elevator at Tomb of the Patriarchs

Emek Shaveh reports that on September 29th the Civil Administration granted final approval to a plan to build accessible infrastructure, including an elevator, at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarch in Hebron — a plan which requires Israel to seize land from the Islamic Waqf.  As of this writing, Emek Shaveh is considering whether to challenge that approval.

Regarding the significance of the plan, Emek Shaveh said:

“One need not be an archaeologist or architect to review the council’s plan and understand that it is destructive in a manner which is unprecedented. We are convinced that the plan, as approved, would never have been promoted had it not been driven by political motives.”

Emek Shaveh has previously provided critical context as to why this plan is not really, or not fully, being advanced out of humanitarian concerns, explaining:

“Israel’s decision to seize responsibility for the site from the Hebron municipality and the Palestinians sends a clear political message that Israel is reneging on agreements that were signed with the Palestinians in Hebron.  Beyond the precedent that will enable the settlers in the future to demand additional changes at the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque, this is also a precedent that could play out at other sites under the responsibility of the Islamic Waqf. Experience has shown us that what begins in Hebron percolates into other places including Jerusalem.  It begins with a seemingly rational demand to benefit the disabled or the general public and evolves into a new status quo.  The expected change in Hebron has not escaped the attention of members of the Temple movement and they will know how to present their demands to the government.  If Israel can repudiate agreements with the Palestinians in Hebron and expropriate land from the Waqf, it would seem that accepting what appears to be the far more modest demands by the Temple movement to pray or to walk about the Temple Mount complex freely is not so far-fetched. In the reality of Hebron and East Jerusalem, a change involving only several meters at a historic or holy place is not free of political considerations and often it is part of long-term strategy.  While it is necessary to tend to the needs and interests of persons with disabilities, the extremists who presume to speak on their behalf must be prevented from forging Israeli policy, even if it is only a matter of a lift and an access path.”

Read Emek Shaveh’s full analysis here: “Humanitarianism Hebron Style.”

Israel Delivers Confiscation Notices to Palestinians Living in the Heart of Hebron

The Palestinian media outlet WAFA news reports that several Palestinians living in the Tel Rumeida section of downtown Hebron were handed confiscation notices from the Israeli authorities, informing them that the State of Israel had confiscated 17 plots of land, including land privately owned by Palestinians. 

Tel Rumeida is a part of Hebron located directly in the city center, considered H2 by the Hebron Accords giving Israel full control of security in that area. B’Tselem estimates that there are around 700 settlers living in enclaves amongst approximately 34,000 Palestinians in H2. The Israeli army heavily protects those settlers, and has implemented an apartheid system of segregated movement and checkpoints, most notably in the area of Shuhada Street.

Palestinians Report Newly Established Outposts & Land Confiscations

The Palestinian news outlet WAFA reports that settlers have installed three new outposts over the past month – one near Nablus and a second near Hebron, and a third in the Jordan Valley.

Near Nablus, Palestinians report that the settlers installed mobile homes and a small farm in an attempt to establish a permanent presence on a new plot of land. The settlers are reportedly in the process of connecting the new outpost to the Elon Moreh settlement via roads and water supply.  Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlements on behalf of the PLO, told WAFA that the specific area has seen even wider road construction recently, which he sees as an effort to create more seamless contiguity between settlements in the Nablus area and the Jordan Valley. The construction comes at the direct expense of the Palestinian village of Beit Dajani, which has historically owned the land where the outpost and roads are being built.

Near Hebron, WAFA reports that an Israeli settler erected a tent with and Israeli flag on privately owned Palestinian land near the Birin village.

In the Jordan Valley, WAFA reports that settlers set up a caravan on land on which they began planting trees about three months ago. The settlers also reportedly dug a well at the site. 

On October 15th, Israel reportedly announced its intention to confiscate large tracts of land (11,000 dunums) adjacent to the Jordan Valley settlements of Rotem, Maskiyot, and Mesovah. This confiscation, according to Palestinian settlement watcher Qasem Awwad, was presented by the Israeli authorities as a move to add land to natural reserve areas, but seems clearly to be linked to efforts to expand settlements and their control over land in the area.

Targeting Palestinians Construction in Area C: State Devotes $6 million to Mapping Program

Despite COVID and the suspension of Israeli’s unilateral annexation of vast tracts of land in the West Bank, the Israeli government — at the urging of settlers and their allies — is continuing its push to consolidate its control over all aspects of life in Area C (the over 60% of the West Bank that is under full Israeli control). 

OCHA has documented an acceleration in the Civil Administration’s demolition of Palestinian structures in the West Bank over the summer, documenting the demolition of 389 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C of the West Bank.  As a result of those demolitions, 442 Palestinians were made homeless. OCHA further reported that In just the month of August, 205 Palestinians lost their homes, the highest single month total since January 2017. In addition, Israel continues to issue more demolition notices, including against Palestinians living in a cave near Jenin, and against a newly constructed school for bedouin children located east of Ramallah.

To further this effort, on September 10th the Israeli government allocated $6 million USD (20 million NIS) for the newly created Settlement Affairs Ministry to survey and map unauthorized Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank, which Israel and its settlers have been aggressively demolishing in an effort to rid the area of Palestinians. Haaretz reports that this is the first time that the state budget has included funds specifically for a land survey in the West Bank. The state also allocated an additional $2.8 million (9.5 million NIS) to an existing grant program specifically for settlement municipalities to cash in on. As a reminder, virtually all Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank is unauthorized, because Israel almost universally refuses to give Palestinians permission to build in Area C even on land that Israel recognizes as owned by Palestinians. 

The Settlement Affairs Ministry is a new creation of the current coalition government, and is headed by Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud). The funding for the Settlement Affairs Ministry to conduct a survey of unauthorized Palestinian construction in Area C further empowers a domestic Israeli body to exert extraterritorial sovereignty over Area C – in effect, treating the area as land already de facto annexed by Israel. While technically the occupied territories are administered by the Israeli Civil Administration (a body within the Defense Ministry), Israel has spent decades bringing the administration of the territories (specifically the settlements and Area C) ever more directly under direct Israeli sovereignty (de facto annexation). 

In the lead up to the allocation of funds for this new survey of Palestinians life in Area C, the Knesset hosted two committee discussions the political outlook of which was clearly indicated in the stated subject of the meetings: “the Palestinian takeover of Area C.” Consistent with this framing (which is predicated on the idea that Area C belongs to Israel), and pushed by outside groups, many members of the Knesset have criticized the Israeli government’s allegedly lackadaisical approach to preserving State interests in Area C (i.e., clearing out Palestinians, expanding settlements, consolidating state infrastructure). Reportedly, Foreign Affairs Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue & White) sent a letter to the committee specifically addressing the Knesset’s outrage over European humanitarian assistance projects for Palestinians in Area C. In the letter, Ashkenazi not only celebrated the reduction of European projects over the past year, but validated settlers’ insinuations regarding the nefarious nature of European assistance for Palestinians, saying that any European activity in the West Bank lacking Israeli permission is “an attempt to define a border.” Ashkenazi also said that Israel will not compensate European donors for confiscated equipment or the demolition of European-funded projects that lack Israeli permission (like in the case of schools built with European funding, and solar panels donated to bedouin communities lacking power). 

At one Knesset hearing, MK Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina) suggested that a solution could be to empower the settlements with the ability to demolish Palestinian construction they believe to be unauthorized. Smotrich’s partymate Ayelet Shaked (former Justice Minister) suggested that the government should appoint a project manager tasked with preventing a Palestinian takeover of Area C.

As noted above, Israel has long denied Palestinians the ability to build in Area C. To fully understand what is happening, it is worth reviewing B’Tselem’s excellent explainer:

“Israel’s planning and building policy in the West Bank is aimed at preventing Palestinian development and dispossessing Palestinians of their land. This is masked by use of the same professional and legal terms applied to development in settlements and in Israel proper, such as “planning and building laws”, “urban building plans (UBPs)”, “planning proceedings” and “illegal construction”. However, while the planning and building laws benefit Jewish communities by regulating development and balancing different needs, they serve the exact opposite purpose when applied to Palestinian communities in the West Bank. There, Israel exploits the law to prevent development, thwart planning and carry out demolitions. This is part of a broader political agenda to maximize the use of West Bank resources for Israeli needs, while minimizing the land reserves available to Palestinians….

In the West Bank, the potential for urban, agricultural and economic development remains in Area C. Israel uses its control over the area to quash Palestinian planning and building. In about 60% of Area C – 36% of the West Bank – Israel has blocked Palestinian development by designating large swathes of land as state land, survey land, firing zones, nature reserves and national parks; by allocating land to settlements and their regional councils; or by introducing prohibitions to the area now trapped between the Separation Barrier and the Green Line (the boundary between Israel’s sovereign territory and the West Bank).

Even in the remaining 40% of Area C, Israel restricts Palestinian construction by seldom approving requests for building permits, whether for housing, for agricultural or public uses, or for laying infrastructure. The Civil Administration (CA) – the branch of the Israeli military designated to handle civil matters in Area C – refuses to prepare outline plans for the vast majority of Palestinian communities there. As of November 2017, the Civil Administration had drafted and approved plans for only 16 of the 180 communities which lie in their entirety in Area C. The plans cover a total of 17,673 dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 square meters), less than 1% of Area C, most of which are already built-up. The plans were drawn up without consulting the communities and do not meet international planning standards. Their boundaries run close to the built-up areas of the villages, leaving out land for farming, grazing flocks and future development. Since 2011, seeing that the Civil Administration did not draft plans as it is obliged to do, dozens of Palestinian communities – with the help of Palestinian and international organizations and in coordination with the PA – drafted their own plans. Some of the plans covered communities or villages located in full in Area C and others covered places only partly in Area C. As of September 2018, 102 plans had been submitted to the Civil Administration’s planning bodies, but by the end of 2018, a mere five plans – covering an area of about 1,00 dunams (or about 0.03% of Area C) – had received approval.

The odds of a Palestinian receiving a building permit in Area C – even on privately owned land – are slim to none. Given the futility of the effort, many Palestinians forgo requesting a permit altogether. Without any possibility of receiving a permit and building legally, the needs of a growing population leave Palestinians no choice but to develop their communities and build homes without permits. This, in turn, forces them to live under the constant threat of seeing their homes and businesses demolished.

The impact of this Israeli policy extends beyond Area C, to the hundreds of Palestinians communities located entirely or partially in Areas A and B, as the land reserves for many of these communities lie in Area C and are subject to Israeli restrictions there.

The demand for land for development has grown considerably since the 1995 division of the West Bank: The Palestinian population has nearly doubled, and the land reserves in Areas A and B have been nearly exhausted. Due to the housing shortage, much land still available in these areas is used for residential construction, even if it is more suited for other uses, such as agriculture.

Without land for construction, local Palestinian authorities cannot supply public services that require new structures, such as medical clinics and schools, nor can they plan open spaces for recreation within communities. Realizing the economic potential of Area C – in branches such as agriculture, quarrying for minerals and stone for construction, industry, tourism and community development – is essential to the development of the entire West Bank, including creating jobs and reducing poverty. Area C is also vital for regional planning, including laying infrastructure and connecting Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank.

In contrast to the restrictive planning for Palestinian communities, Israeli settlements – all of which are located in Area C – are allocated vast tracts of land, drawn up detailed plans, connected to advanced infrastructure, and the authorities turn a blind eye to illegal construction in them. Detailed, modern plans have been drawn up for the settlements, including public areas, green zones and, often, spacious residential areas. They enjoy a massive amount of land, including farmland that can serve for future development.

Israel’s policy in Area C is based on the assumption that the area is primarily meant to serve Israeli needs, and on the ambition to annex large parts of it to the sovereign territory of Israel. To that end, Israel works to strengthen its hold on Area C, to further exploit the area’s resources and achieve a permanent situation in which Israeli settlements thrive and Palestinian presence is negligible. In doing so, Israel has de facto annexed Area C and created circumstances that will leverage its influence over the final status of the area.”

In First, Palestinian Authority Courts to Hear Lawsuits Against Settlers

For the first time since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994, it will allow Palestinians to bring lawsuits against Isareli settlers in Palestinian courts. The Palestinian Authority’s Justice Minister Mohammed al-Shalaldeh announced that the PA had formed a national team to handle these cases, and the team was already working to collect evidence and file suits against settlers who have committed crimes against Palestinians in Hebron and in the village of Burin, located just south of Nablus.

Until this point, no Israeli citizen has been tried in a Palestinian court. Under the Oslo Accords (which established the Palestinian Authority), the Palestinian Authority holds no jurisdication over Israeli citizens – including Israeli citizens living in the West Bank. In May 2020, PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the PA considers all accords and agreements with Israel to be void following Israel’s announcement that it intends to annex large parts of the West Bank in accordance with the Trump Plan. Shalaldeh said that the announcement this week flows directly from Abbas’s decision to free the PA from the Oslo Accords’ provisions.

Explaining how these cases might work, Shalaldeh said: 

“The Israeli side will be notified as an occupying power to appear before the Palestinian court…If the [Israeli] side refuses the jurisdiction of the Palestinian courts, formal procedures will be followed and in absentia rulings will be issued, in accordance with Palestinian laws.”

JNF, Elad Face International Heat Over Sumreen Family Eviction Case – Will it Matter?

Over the past month, international audiences have directed heightened scrutiny towards the radical settler group Elad and the Jewish National Fund (JNF) for the role both organizations have played in spearheading the effort to evict the Palestinian Sumreen family from their home in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Due to the new attention, the JNF is reportedly reconsidering whether or not to carry out the eviction of the Sumreens – an eviction which the organization has pursued since 1991.

JNF donors – along with activists, religious leaders, members of Congress, and Israel prize winners – reportedly began to express concern and outrage over the JNF’s role in the Sumreen case following the September 2020 ruling by Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court against the Sumreen’s claim to the home. In response to the criticism, the JNF (via actions by the Board of its subsidiary organization, Himnuta, which was created to take the lead for JNF in litigating aggressive settlement takeover cases like this) has acted to freeze the eviction process internally, and was scheduled to consider a proposal for freezing the formal legal proceedings against the Sumreens this past week. Himnuta’s decision and deliberations  caused conflict with Elad, which had the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court intervene to postpone Himnuta’s Board meeting to discuss the proposal. Elad argues that Himnuta transferred all legal authority over the Sumreen case to their organization, and cannot now interfere in the proceedings. The meeting was subsequently postponed at the request of the Court.

Elad is also coming under new international scrutiny following the revelation that Roman Abramovitch – a Russian oligarch and naturalized Israeli citizen who also is one of the owners of the renowned Chelsea football club – is Elad’s single largest donor, having anonymously donated over $100 million to the settler group over the past 13 years. The BBC produced an investigative feature report on Abramovitch’s connection to Elad, pointing out that over the past 15 years more than half of Elad’s funding has come from offshore companies in the Caribbean, which are now known to be owned or controlled by Abramovitch. The BBC feature connects Elad to the settlers’ struggle to evict the Sumreen family, and the larger effort to replace Palestinians in Silwan with Jewish Israelis. 

Peace Now writes:

“The news about Abramovich’s involvement highlights the injustice Palestinians face at the hands of these settlement groups. Impoverished families are up against the financial weight of a Russian oligarch. NGOs trying to protect these families are delegitimized and their work dismissed for receiving funding from democratic European aid agencies while settler groups rake in vast sums of non-transparent money from offshore Caribbean shell companies. And the JNF is profiting off of all of this. We can’t force Abramovich to stop his funding or the JNF to stop abetting Elad in its settling campaign, but we can make them worry about their reputation. Peace Now has been conducting a campaign inside Israel to call Abramovich out for his devious funding.”

Regarding the revelations of Elad’s funding source, Emek Shaveh writes:

“…the Elad Foundation, through a combined strategy of sponsoring excavations, developing tourism and settling in Palestinian homes, succeeded in recreating Silwan as the Jewish neighbourhood of Ir David (City of David) and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The exploitation of archaeological tourism by the Elad Foundation has become a number one strategy for entrenching Israeli sovereignty over historic Jerusalem. “

The Sumreen family home is located in the middle of what today has been designed by Israel “the City of David National Park.” The area is managed by the radical Elad settler organization, which for years has also been pursuing the eviction of Palestinians from the homes in Silwan. For nearly three decades, the Sumreen family has been forced to battle for legal ownership of their home, after the state of Israel, prompted repeatedly by the JNF, declared the Sumreen’s home to be “absentee” property. After that designation – which was not communicated to the Sumreen family – Israeli law permitted the state to take over the rights to the building. The state then sold the rights to the home to the JNF in 1991. The JNF has pursued the eviction of the Sumreen family ever since. Israeli courts ruled in favor of the Sumreen family’s ownership claims to the home for years, until a September 2019 ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court granted ownership of the family’s home to the JNF, a decision the family immediately appealed to the Jerusalem District Court. 

A full history of the saga involving the Sumreen family – which is similar to dozens of other Palestinian homes in Silwan that were declared Absentee Property in the 1990s – can be found on the Peace Now website here.

Report: U.S. Will Not Back De Jure Annexation Until 2024 [But Friedman Says 2021 Is in Play]

A series of reports in mid-September suggested that, as part of its commitment to the U.A.E. in exchange for normalization with Israel, the U.S. promised to withhold its recognition of Israeli annexation until January 2024, at the earliest.

The 2024 timeline harkens back to a concept in Trump’s “Deal of the Century” which gave (oh so generously) the Palestinians a four year window to enter into negotiations with Israel on the basis of the Trump Plan’s conceptual map.

Following these reports regarding a 2024 timeline for the U.S. greenlighting Israeli annexation, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman (who has been a champion of annexation) told Israel’s Army Radio that annexation can happen next year. Friedman, pushing back on U.A.E. press leaks seeking to promote the notion that the Abraham Accords stopped annexation, said:

“We said in our statement that sovereignty will be postponed, and this does not mean that it has been abolished, but rather that it has stopped. It has been suspended for a year, maybe more, but it has not been cancelled.”

Bonus

1. “Tourism in the Service of Occupation” (Al-Shabaka)
2. “The Status Quo on the Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif: Dodging a Bullet (For Now)” (Terrestrial Jerusalem)
3. “How Evangelicals Working in Settlements Bypassed Israel’s COVID-19 Entry Ban” (Haaretz)
4. “ The March of Folly in the Settlements Continues” (Haaretz)
5. “Israeli Students in State-funded Scholarship Program Guard Illegal West Bank Outposts” (Haaretz)

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.

May 29, 2020

1. In a Legal First, Peace Now Submits Petition Against Allocation of Land for Purpose of Building the Givat Eitam/E-2 Settlement
2. Master Plan for Har Homa-E Settlement Gets Final Approved
3. Israel Advancing Plans for a New Settlement Industrial Zone
4. Some Settlers Lobby To Change  Trump Plan as Annexation Map Becomes Clearer
5. Netanyahu Says He Will Not Delay Annexation & Fights Off Criticism of Settlers
6. Settler Leader Blames Yesha Council Head for Delaying Annexation
7. USMEP Briefing Paper on Annexation
8. Bonus Reads

Comments/Questions? Email Kristin McCarthy(kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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In a Legal First, Peace Now Submits Petition Against Allocation of Land for Purpose of Building the Givat Eitam/E-2 Settlement

On May 21st, Peace Now formally submitted a petition to challenge Israel’s plan to build the Givat Eitam/E-2 settlement on a hilltop known to Palestinians as A-Nahle, located just south of Bethlehem. Peace Now has mounted several legal challenges to Israel’s drive to build Givat Eitam/E-2, but this petition is groundbreaking in that it seeks to challenge Israel’s allocation of land for settlement purposes, arguing that Israel is obligated to allocate the land to the Palestinians instead. This is the first time the issue of land allocation is being brought to trial.

There are three main arguments in the petition, Peace Now summarizes:

1. The allocation of land to build a settlement contravenes Israel’s duties to protect the land for the local Palestinian population according to international law;
2. Allocating land to Israelis over Palestinians is tainted by discrimination since 99.8% of West Bank land allocated since 1967 has been gone primarily to Israeli purposes, and
3. The Palestinians’ need for the land in question is far greater than that of the Efrat settlement, as a Peace Now spatial planning analysis confirms. For more on the legal arguments of the appeal, read here.

This petition comes after Peace Now lost a previous effort to overturn Israel’s declaration of the land as “state land” (a move which then made it possible for Israeli to allocate the land for settlement). Attempts to legally stop 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.

Commenting on the decision to file the new petition, Peace Now said in a statement: 

“The decision to allocate a-Nahla land for a new settlement is illegal, immoral and un-Jewish. Implementing this plan will severely damage not only the Palestinian landowners and the development capacity of the Bethlehem area, but also the ability to reach a future peace agreement and territorial compromise for a future Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. The land should be allocated for Palestinian development in the region.”

Master Plan for Har Homa-E Settlement Gets Final Approved

Ir Amim reports that on May 25th the Jerusalem District Committee granted final approval of a master plan that provides for the construction of 2,000 units in the “Har Homa E” settlement (aka Har Homa West). Planners must now submit a detailed outline plan(s) for approval before building can commence;  one such plan, for 500 units, is already being advanced through the planning process.

Ir Amim writes:

“Construction in Har Homa E will serve as another step in connecting the existing Gilo and Har Homa neighborhoods/settlements and create a contiguous Israeli built-up area along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem. This will likewise detach Bethlehem and the southern West Bank from East Jerusalem while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. In line with the new reality created by the Trump Plan and its unilateral recognition of Israeli sovereignty of East Jerusalem, these developments will constitute a major obstacle towards the future establishment of a Palestinian capital in the city and the prospect of a viable two-state framework.”

For further details on the two Har Homa E plans – one of which is a master plan – see Ir Amim’s excellent analysis. 

Israel Advancing Plans for a New Settlement Industrial Zone

Haaretz reports that the Israeli Civil Administration is advancing plans to build a new settlement industrial zone – called “Samaritans Gate” by settlers – on land that straddles the Green Line in the northern West Bank. The zone is slated to take over 3,000 dunams (740 acres) of West Bank land to the east of the Israeli city of Kafr Qasem.

In addition to the Palestinians who the new industrial zone will impact, the plan is drawing significant opposition from Israeli environmental groups who are concerned about the impact of the project on the terrain. The zone is slated to be built on a riverbed in what is considered a rare ecological corridor in Israel.

Mor Gilboa, an activist with “Climate for Peace,” said:

“the military government in the territories has for decades created a list of climate blights on the environment. The plan ignores nature the same as it ignores Palestinian rights to these territories which don’t belong to Israel under international law.”

For more information on why settlement industrial zones exploit and harm Palestinians, their land, and their resources, see this brief by Who Profits.

Some Settlers Lobby Against (or for changes to)  Trump Plan as Annexation Map Becomes Clearer

Settler leaders as well as their political allies are increasingly vocal  in their opposition to the Trump Plan, as details regarding the closely guarded joint mapping process have surfaced in the press. In addition to their resolute opposition to Israel’s acceptance of the even a notion that a Palestinian state can be established under certain conditions in the future, the settlers have focused in on the amount of land that the Trump Plan permits (and doesn’t permit) Israel to annex.

In an interview from early May 2020, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman said that the Plan calls for Israel to annex no more than 30% of the West Bank (50% of Area C), which would leave 15 settlements/outpost as enclaves (i.e., Israeli sovereign territory that is outside the Israeli state’s borders, connected only by roads). Settlers have strongly rejected this concept, but have reportedly been frozen out of the joint mapping committee and are failing to find outside avenues of influence.

David Elhayani – the head of the settler Yesha Council and also head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council – told The Times of Israel that the  members of the joint U.S.-Israeli mapping committee have refused to meet with the settlers or received their proposed maps, and said that the committee “refuses to be flexible with regard to the map.” Ayelet Shaked (Yamina Party) also expressed frustration with being locked out of the mapping process, telling Army Radio that the mapping team is not letting anyone make any changes to the map originally proposed by the Trump Administration. 

Undaunted, the settlers reportedly have drawn up maps outlining three different versions of annexation they say they could accept, since these maps do not leave any Israeli enclaves (as of publication, the settlers’ maps have not been revealed publicly). According to media reports, one version of the map would add 2.5% more land to Israel (amounting to Israeli annexation of a total of 32.5% of the West Bank), a second would add 5% more land to Israel (total of 35%), and a third would add 8.5% more land to Israel (total 38.5%).  David Elhayani – the head of the settler Yesha Council and also head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council – said

“In our optimal map, 38.5 percent of the West Bank would be annexed to Israel. This is most of Area C. In our map there is Israeli territorial contiguity and it’s the Palestinians who remain in enclaves.”

Settler leaders and Yamina Party members are making the rounds in the Knesset, using a map to try to convince MKs to oppose the Trump Plan for the reasons discussed above.

Unsurprisingly, the Trump Administration officials are reportedly irritated by the oppositional role that the settler leadership are playing. U.S. officials have reportedly sent messages relaying their frustration over the settlers’ rejection of and ingratitude for the Trump Plan. Those messages also note, reportedly,  that the map settlers are using to lobby MKs against the plan is not the final map. Suggesting that the settlers should take what their being offered and after that can ask for more, a U.S. official told Israel Hayom:

“If the settlers don’t want what the administration currently has to offer, they shouldn’t come to us in the future. The expectation was that they see the bigger picture, remember where they were standing in December 2016 (when the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2334 that harmed Israel and was spearheaded by the Obama administration), and that they consider where they could be standing four years from now if the Palestinians continue to reject negotiations with Israel.”

The relationship between settlers and the Trump Administration was further inflamed when settler leader Yossi Dagan told the press that U.S. officials were requiring  Israel to abandon its claim to the remaining 70% of the West Bank as part of the Trump Plan. Quashing that report (and thereby making clear that the U.S. is not requiring Israel to give up its quest for even more territory in the future), a U.S. official said:

“This is a complete lie and whoever is spreading it is doing great damage to Israel, the US and the Jewish people.”

All that being said, settlers (and their leaders and allies) remain split on the Trump Plan. While the majority (24) of settlement council leaders voted for a Yesha Council resolution critical of the Trump Plan, Efrat settlement head Oded Revivi continues to support the Trump Plan, though he has made it clear that he is advocating for settlers to pocket the gifts Trump is offering, without forfeiting the rest. Revivi is aligned with Ariel settlement leader Eli Shavrio. Dismissing the position of Revivi and Shavrio, one suggested that they have the luxury of living near the Green Line, meaning:

“They don’t have a problem with Palestinians gaining control of transportation routes or enclaves.”

Netanyahu Says He Will Not Delay Annexation & Fights Off Criticism of Settlers

Following the first day of his trial, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told leaders in his Likud faction that he will definitely promote annexation on July 1st, saying “It is a big opportunity and we will not let it pass by…[July is] a goal date in July, and we won’t change it.” 

Two days after Bibi’s comments made headlines, Prime Minister-in-waiting Benny Gantz gave an address to his own faction (Blue & White) in which he offered veiled criticism of some of Netanyahu’s other policies, but offered only support for the pursuit of annexation. Gantz said:

“We are currently presented with meaningful windows of opportunity that could improve and even transform the reality in the region across all fronts, including, of course, the American government’s peace plan… [I will work] to ensure the best outcome that will fortify Israel’s security and protect our state and international interests.”

In an interview on May 28th, Netanyahu continued to fight off criticism from settlers and Yamina Party leaders, explaining his position on key points and taking on criticism at length:

“For the first time since the establishment of the state, I’ve managed to secure American recognition [of our sovereignty rights], first on the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem, and then through an agreement that will facilitate American recognition in the areas of our homeland inside Judea and Samaria. These are [US President Donald] Trump’s decisions, and the person who broached these matters with him was me. No one else…Within this package [the Trump Plan] is a historic opportunity for changing the tide of history, which was pointing one way. The whole time. All the diplomatic plans proposed to us in the past asked us to concede swathes of the Land of Israel, return to the 1967 borders and divide Jerusalem. To take in [Palestinian] refugees. This is a reversal. We aren’t the ones being forced to make concessions, rather the Palestinians are.” 

Notably, with respect to the criticisms that the Trump Plan permits the possibility of a future Palestinian state, Netanyahu clarified that this should not be mis-understood to mean the Palestinians would ever have an actual state, according to any standard meaning of the term, starting with the fact that such a state would be predicated on Palestinians accepting Israeli security control over the entire West Bank:

“Regardless of negotiations. If they [the Palestinians] see fit to meet and accept about 10 stringent conditions – including Israeli sovereignty west of the Jordan River, preserving a united Jerusalem, refusing to accept refugees, not uprooting Jewish communities, and Israeli sovereignty in large swathes of Judea and Samaria, etc. – the [diplomatic] process will move ahead. They need to acknowledge that we control security in all areas. If they consent to all this, then they will have an entity of their own that President Trump defines as a state. There are those who claim and – an American statesman told me: ‘But Bibi, it won’t be a state.’ I told him, call it what you want. At the heart of the Trump plan are foundations we have only dreamed about. All the things we are being criticized about from the right – and what am I? These are things for which we fought for many long years and we’ve finally achieved them. Then they come with the criticism.”

When asked to address concerns that if/when Israel annexes the Jordan Valley, thousands of Palestinians living there will be granted Israeli citizenship, Netanyahu dispelled the notion altogether, saying:

“They will remain a Palestinian enclave. You’re not annexing Jericho. There’s a cluster or two. You don’t need to apply sovereignty over them, they will remain Palestinian subjects if you will. But security control also applies to these places.”

Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard corrected Netanyahu’s comments, Tweeting: 

“The gap between the number of Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley that the Prime Minister has named (2) and the number of communities that actually exist (47) – represents the number of villages and villagers that with annexation would be displaced from this area forcibly. This is a very small purge.”]

On May 29th, Netanyahu gave yet another interview, in which he was asked if the annexation plan he intends to bring up for a vote as early as July 1  will include the topic of Palestinian statehood, as provided for under the Trump Plan (though, as we’ve repeatedly documented, the Trump Plan does not provite for a real Palestinian state under any standard definition of the term, but rather for semi-autonomous Palestinian islands within an Israel sovereign sea ). Netanyahu responded: 

 “That subject is separate. A government decision on the matter is not expected.”

Settler Leader Blames Yesha Council Head for Delaying Annexation

In Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi’s telling of what went down in the days leading up to the moment when Netanyahu and Trump stood side by side to unveil the Trump Plan, a late night statement issued by David Elhayani (Yesha Council head) changed history. According to Revivi, the White House had planned to announce that annexation could take place immediately. Instead, as a result of Elhayani’s opposition to the Trump Plan and the controversy his statement triggered, the timeline for annexation was delayed, and the “joint mapping committee” was invented.

The other settler leaders who travelled to Washington with Elhayani and Revivi disagree with the latter’s telling of what happened. Nonetheless, Revivi offers one dramatic, insider’s perspective about the involvement of settler leaders leading up to the unveiling of the Trump Plan.

USMEP Briefing Paper on Annexation

Daniel Levy of the U.S.-Middle East Project has produced a detailed analysis of all the goings-on surrounding annexation, including his own predictions on how a number of key questions will be answered. After assessing the internal politics and options confronting  Israeli, American, Palestinian, European, and Arab decision makers, Levy concludes with an important point:

“Israeli impunity is the key driver of the current journey away from peace and equality. Israel’s cost/benefit calculation will need to change to prevent that journey continuing down the same path and to usher us onto the path less travelled. A better way forward would have to challenge that impunity. It would necessitate desisting from the delegitimization and criminalization of sanctioning Israel for its policies or of conditioning various preferential arrangements that Israel enjoys, while guaranteeing the space for legitimate Palestinian political expression and alternative visions for the future (especially as two states becomes ever-less attainable). Open debate and policy options certainly cannot be foreclosed in the service of cheapened and scurrilous accusations of antisemitism.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Annexation Is the Israeli Settlers’ Real Estate Dream Come True” (Haaretz)
2. “This Will Be the Heavy Price of Annexation for the Israelis” (Haaretz) 
3. Ex-chief West Bank land inspector planted groves on Palestinian ground” (The Times of Israel)
4. “Mixed messages on West Bank sovereignty leaves diplomats flailing” (Jerusalem Post)
5. “Can Annexation be Reversed?” (Jerusalem Post)
6. “IDF not yet tasked with annexation” (Jerusalem Post)
7. “PLO fears Israel could use violence to annex parts of West Bank” (MEMO)
8. “Israel Must be Smart about Annexation” (Ynet)