Settlement & Annexation Report: February 3, 2023

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.

February 3, 2023

  1. Following Neve Yaakov Attack, Settlers Rampage & Bibi Vows to “Strengthen Settlements”
  2. Bibi Requests 9th Delay in Khan Al-Ahmar Case, New Deadline for War Crime is June 1st
  3. West Bank Settler Population Tops 500k According to Settler Group
  4. Bonus Reads

Following Neve Yaakov Attack, Settlers Rampage & Bibi Vows to “Strengthen Settlements”

On January 28th, the Israeli security Cabinet approved several measures in response to the mass shooting perpetrated by a Palestinian targeting Jewish Israelis in the East Jerusalem settlement of Neve Yaakov. The measures – which inflict severe and collective punishment not only on the family of the Palestinian gunman but on Palestinians more broadly – include a general commitment to “strengthen settlements”.

In announcing the measures, Netanyahu said: 

“we will decide soon on steps to strengthen settlement in Judea and Samaria in order to make it clear to the terrorists who seek to uproot us from our land that we are here to stay.” 

Netanyahu’s vague commitment likely did not satisfy Cabinet Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, both of whom issued specific calls for settlement deliverables. Smotrich reportedly pressed for the construction of the E-1 settlement and for the approval of every settlement plan pending with the Civil Administration’s High Planning Council.

Ben Gvir suggested granting immediate authorization to seven outposts – that number chosen to “honor” the seven Israelis who were killed in the attack. The outposts Ben Gvir identified are:

  • Avigail and Asael in the South Hebron Hills.
  • Shaharit, Tel Zion and Givat Harel in the northern West Bank
  • Avnat and Kedem Arava in the Jordan Valley

Additionally, Israel Hayom reported on January 25th (prior to the Neve Yaakov attack) that the government is close to finalizing a “mini annexation plan.” Leaks about the plan suggest that the government is prepared to:

  • Immediately convene the High Planning Council to approve some 18,000 new units;
  • Moving forward, convene the High Planning Council once a month, rather than every three months, which has been the schedule since the Obama years;
  • Create a new planning body to handle non-residential construction on an expedited and streamlined process. This body would meet even more regularly, perhaps every few weeks;
  • To simplify the approval process for residential settlement construction so that it only requires the approval of two entities instead of the current five;
  • There was also discussion of a significant change in how Israel will handle West Bank infrastructure projects, to begin taking into account Palestinians in its assessments of the population infrastructure projects would benefit – a change that, if adopted, can be viewed as an act of clear de facto annexation.

While the government ponders which settlement plans it will advance in the wake of the Neve Yaacov attack, settlers have taken matters into their own hands, inflicting violence and destruction across the West Bank. Wafa reported 144 settler attacks on Saturday January 27th alone. 

All told, 35 Palestinians were killed by Israelis in January 2023, making it the deadliest month for Palestinians since the conclusion of the Second Intifada. +972 Magazine reports:

“Out of the 35 Palestinians killed in January of this year, 25 were killed during Israeli military raids in areas of the West Bank under Palestinian control, mostly in the Jenin refugee camp. Five Palestinians were killed while they allegedly attacked or tried to attack soldiers or settlers; three were killed during protests that were unrelated to the army’s raids; one Palestinian was killed during a search at a checkpoint; and another Palestinian was killed while he allegedly ran away from such a search…Six of the 35 killed were minors, while the average age of the dead was 26 years old. Twenty were from the Jenin area, most of whom were killed in the refugee camp. In total, 23 of the dead, including all six minors, were from the northern West Bank.”

Bibi Requests 9th Delay in Khan Al-Ahmar Case, New Deadline for War Crime is June 1st

On February 1st, the Israeli government submitted its ninth request to the Supreme Court seeking to delay publishing its plan to forcibly relocate the Khan Al-Ahmar bedouin community from its land just outside of Jerusalem. In requesting a four-month delay, the government reiterated its commitment to expelling Khan Al-Ahmar, saying it just needs more time to formulate its plan.

The government justified its request by citing the lengthy period of time it took for the new government to be established, but Israeli press also speculate that Netanayhu bowed to international opposition to the pending war crime. Indeed, the State’s request cited the potential diplomatic ramifications of the plan as a basis for further delay.

Hebrew media further report that Netanyahu had to overrule two of his Cabinet members – Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich – who have long derided previous governments for failing to destroy Khan Al-Ahmar. Smotrich was once the head of the organization (Regavim) which is behind the 2009 petition to force the government to destroy the village, which lacks Israeli building permits (permits that are nearly impossible to receive from Israel). Smotrich is now in charge of enforcing building regulations in the West Bank.

Eid Abu Hamis, one of the leaders of the battle against the evacuation, explained the personal cost of the 14-year battle his village has fought:

“We are living in one house like sardines. Me, my children and my grandchildren, but 800 meters from me [in Kfar Adumim] everyone lives in a house of their own. We are 14 people in a house of 120 square meters. It’s not okay that in Beit El, [where the offices of the Civil Administration are located] Ben-Gvir will decide. We need to sit people down and help them, they should come look at us in the eyes.”

The Friends of Jahalin organization responded to the state’s request for an extension, saying: 

“The state should not be satisfied with the extension request. It should adopt the preexisting plan that was designed by the experts and submitted by the previous government. The plan called to legalize the community land without disrupting its way of life by relocating it to nearby state land. It is tragic that the state has given in to the demands of a small group of settlers that live nearby for so long, who want to live in a purely Jewish area and are leading us to an insane situation which will end up with all of us on trial in The Hague and damage Israel’s international reputation. The people calling to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar are a prime example of ‘the landlord’s lament’ – the same people who set up illegal settlements near Khan al-Ahmar, are now crying ‘destroy the Khan, it’s illegal.'”

Sarit Michaeli, Spokesperson for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, said in response to the latest delay:

“Obviously it’s better than nothing, and important that Netanyahu/Smotrich understand the limitations of power. However – the demand must be a full moratorium on demolitions & evictions of Pals, in area C & East Jerusalem. Otherwise, we will be in the same place in 4 months.”

West Bank Settler Population Tops 500k According to Settler Group

According to a pro-settlement group which tracks settler populations, there are now more than 500,000 Jewish Israelis living in the West Bank, and the group projects that number will grow to reach the 1 million mark in 2047. 

The report counts 502,991 settlers in the West Bank, a 2.5% rise from January 2022 and a 16% rise over the past five years. These figures do not include East Jerusalem settlements, and it is unclear how the report handles outposts, which do not appear on the lists. 

Celebrating the half a million mark, the report’s author Baruch Gordon says:

“We’ve reached a huge hallmark. We’re here to stay.”

According to the report, the settlements which have seen the most growth over the past 12 months are:

  • Mevo Dotan, Eli Zehav, Bruchin, Nofim, in the northern West Bank 
  • Nokdim, located near Bethlehem
  • Negohot in the South Hebron Hills.
  • Bet Haarava, Mevuot Yericho, and Naama in the Jordan Valley.

Bonus Reads

  1. “Israel probes legality of US giving artifact to Palestinians” (AP)
  2. “Jewish National Fund: A century of land theft, belligerence and erasure” (Middle East Eye)
  3. “Expansion of Abraham Accords should not be tied to illegal settlements, US senator says” (Middle East Eye)
  4. “West Bank Settlements Have Highest Percentage of Gun Owners, New Data Shows” (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.

March 8, 2019

  1. Settlers Take Over Two Palestinian Homes in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City
  2. Jerusalem Planning Authority Nullifies Only Way Palestinians Can Prove Land Ownership in East Jerusalem
  3. Report: Jerusalem City Council to Approve Plan to Build Two New Settlements, Expand Others
  4. Israeli Court Rejects Another Petition to Stop the Eviction of the Sabbagh Family from their Home in Sheikh Jarrah
  5. Ambassador Friedman Takes Over Palestinian Relations & Settlement Reporting
  6. Congressional Funding for Settler Business Council?
  7. UNHCR Delays (Again) Publication of Database Identifying Businesses Operating in Settlements
  8. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Emailkmccarthy@fmep.org

Settlers Take Over Two Palestinian Homes in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City

On March 6th, settlers, in coordination with Israeli security forces, moved into a house in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The settlers have elected to name the house after slain American-Israeli settler Ari Fuld, who was killed in a knife attack perpetrated by a Palestinian in September 2018.

The house in question was acquired by  the radical Ateret Cohanim settler organization last year. The sale of the home, which is just 100 meters from the Dome of the Rock/Al-Haram al-Sharif,  sparked intense controversy in the local Palestinian community and political factions, leading to the arrest and alleged torture of the Palestinian-American who was responsible for the transaction, Issam Aqel, by the Palestinian Authority.

An attorney for Ateret Cohanim told Haaretz:

“Happily another house in the Old City was redeemed. The racist Palestinian Authority, which uses terror against Arabs who dare sell a house to Jews, suffered another defeat today.”

Knesset Member Moti Yogev (Habayit Hayehudi) visited the new settlement house and said:

“the house was purchased by Jews and will house Jewish residents, despite efforts by the Palestinian Authority, which tortured Aqel and manufactured forged documents showing ownership of the house, while imposing terror within sovereign Israeli territory, at the heart of our eternal capital Jerusalem.”

Map by OCHA

In an unrelated report, Maan News reports that settlers have evicted the al-Halabi family from its home and taken over their property in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Settlers reportedly used pepper spray against Palestinians who attempted to prevent them from entering the apartment while the al-Halabi family was out shopping; five Palestinians were detained by the Israeli forces. The home is in a 4-unit building in which, according to Ma’an, Israeli settlers have succeeded in acquiring a majority ownership from its Palestinian owners.

According to OCHA-OPT, there are 20 Palestinian families (74 adults and 30 children) living in Jerusalem’s Old City under threat of eviction. FMEP recently reported on two families under imminent risk of eviction at the behest of settlers.

Jerusalem Planning Authority Nullifies Only Way Palestinians Can Prove Land Ownership in East Jerusalem

In what appears to be a significant change in Israeli policy in governing East Jerusalem – where Palestinians live under Israeli domestic law but are not citizens and do not the same rights as citizens –  the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee annulled the long-standing Israel-accepted procedure which was the only means by which Palestinians could document their land ownership claims in East Jerusalem. Known as the “mukhtar protocol” under this procedures Palestinian East Jerusalemites could document/prove ownership by collecting signatures from local Palestinian leaders acknowledging that the land in question was, indeed, owned by the claimant. The longstanding policy was developed by the Israeli government as an alternative to the formal land-registration process, which has been frozen in East Jerusalem since 1967, after the Six-Day War.

With this shift in policy, the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee reportedly denied 20 applications for building permits submitted by Palestinians at a meeting in early March 2019, where the applications relied on the “mukhtar protocol.”

Mohammed Abu Ghanem, an architect whose plan for 12 homes in the Silwan neighborhood was rejected this week, called the shift in Israeli policy a “catastrophe,” saying:

“we have no other ownership documents to present, and 90 percent of the land is not registered.”

Haaretz reports that settlement impresario Aryeh King is reportedly behind the campaign for the government to stop recognizing Palestinian land ownership based on this procedure.

In May 2018, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announced funding for a new initiative to start the process of registering land in East Jerusalem as a means of consolidating Israeli claims to Palestinian neighborhoods (and undoubtedly find more “unowned” land for the settlers). At the time, Israel’s Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked said:

“the start of land settlement of title and registration in East Jerusalem [is] a step toward promoting Israeli sovereignty and control over the city….[t]he day before the strengthening of Jerusalem through the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem, and after decades of Israeli sovereignty in eastern Jerusalem, we are strengthening the city and actually applying sovereignty through the program of land regulation in East Jerusalem.”

The Palestinian human rights group Al-Mezan responded:

“This policy violates Palestinian rights and breaches international humanitarian law, whereas this situation almost always results in the conversion of lands into ‘state property’ due to lack of availability of ‘proof of ownership’ by Palestinian current landowners. This will also allow the re-implantation of the Absentee Property Law, which allows the state to seize, manage, lease, transform, and sell the properties of Palestinians who are declared ‘absentees’.”

Report: Jerusalem City Council to Approve Plan to Build Two New Settlements, Expand Others

The settler-run news outlet Arutz Sheva reports that the Jerusalem City Council is preparing to approve a huge plan for new construction in both East and West Jerusalem. If implemented, the plan will allow the construction of two brand-new settlements in East Jerusalem. One, called “Ramot 07,” will consist of 2,000 units built north of the existing Ramot settlement; the second, called “Moradot Neve Ya’akov,” will also consist of 2,000 new units built between the settlements of Pisgat Ze’ev settlement and Neve Ya’akov. Both new settlements are specifically for ultra-orthodox (Haredi) Israelis.

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann notes that the Arutz Sheva report – specifically in regards to the large scale settlement construction in East Jerusalem – which has not been confirmed by other outlets, might not be accurate. Seidemann tells FMEP:

“The report sounds highly questionable. Large scale construction can take place only within the boundaries of the expropriated lands, and the potential there has all but been exhausted. I am unaware of other sites where building of this scale or anything like it is possible elsewhere, and I doubt such sites exist.”

Israeli Court Rejects Another Petition to Stop the Eviction of the Sabbagh Family from their Home in Sheikh Jarrah

On March 3rd, the Israel Law Enforcement and Collection Authority, a support unit for the courts under the Ministry of Justice, dismissed a petition objecting to the eviction of the Sabbagh family from its home of 60+ years in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem at the behest of Israeli settlers.

The ruling puts the 45-member Sabbagh family, once again, at imminent risk of eviction.

The Sabbagh family has been struggling against eviction proceedings initiated by the settler organization Nahalat Shimon, which was awarded ownership rights of their house through 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 war and convinced that family to hand over their ownership rights.

The Norwegian Refugee Council writes:

“The risk of imminent forced eviction of the Sabbagh family in Sheikh Jarrah; the eviction of the Abu Asab family in the Old City and its replacement by Israeli settlers in mid-February; and the progress of settler compounds and touristic settlement in Silwan indicate a bolder intent to further entrench and tighten Israeli control over key locations across East Jerusalem, including through altering the demographic composition of the territory.”  

There have been weekly protests in Sheikh Jarrah against the eviction of the Sabbagh family.

Peace Now writes:

“This is part of an organized and systematic campaign of settlers, with the assistance of government agencies, to expel entire communities in East Jerusalem and to establish settlements in their stead. Dozens of other families face the risk of eviction by legal proceedings in which settlers and government officials exploit discriminatory laws that allow Jews to return to pre-1948 assets yet forbid Palestinians from doing the same. In this way, settlers seek to create a buffer inside the Palestinian neighborhood and make it difficult to reach a territorial compromise in Jerusalem so essential to a two-state solution.”

Ambassador Friedman Takes Over Palestinian Relations & Settlement Reporting

On March 4th, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem was formally closed, and a new “Palestinian Affairs Unit” began operating under the supervision of U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, as part of the U.S. Embassy to Israel, recently established in Jerusalem by the Trump Administration.

The U.S. has been represented in Jerusalem by a Consulate General since 1844; from the start of the peace process in the 1990s until this week, the Consulate served as the de facto U.S. diplomatic mission to the Palestinians, and was a central player in advancing U.S. efforts to broker a negotiated end to the conflict.

Explaining the significance of the closure – and batting down headlines that suggest the consulate was merely “merging” with the new Embassy – Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann tweeted:

“No, the Consulate (the de facto US mission to Palestine) will NOT ‘merge’ with the Embassy. It will be subsumed into the Embassy to Israel. This is no mere technicality, and precisely reflects current US policies: all things Palestinian are subservient to Israeli interests.”

Notably, the Consulate General in Jerusalem reported directly to Washington, covering not only Palestinian affairs but also, notably, all issues related to settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (consulates in nearly all other cases are subsidiaries of the U.S. embassy in a given country, and any reporting they do flows through the embassy and the Ambassador). Now, all that reporting will be overseen by U.S. Ambassador David Friedman.

Friedman, it should be recalled, is a long-time and unabashed settlements supporter. In addition to personal donations to the settlements, prior to his appointment as Ambassador, Friedman served as the President of a U.S. organization dedicated to fundraising for the Beit El settlement. Friedman recently declared to the press that he is a proud “right-wing” defender of Israel. According to reports, Friedman has tried to eliminate the words “West Bank” from the State Department’s lexicon in favor “Judea and Samaria” (the term used by settlers), and, n a departure from longstanding U.S. policy, frequently visits the settlements.

All of this suggests that Friedman – who has made clear that he regards the settlements as part of Israel, does not oppose settlement construction, and that he does not believe the U.S. should or will ask Israel to withdraw from settlements in the context of a peace “plan” or negotiations with the Palestinians – will likely stem the flow of information to Washington regarding settlements, and re-focus it in support of a pro-settlement political agenda.

Notably, in his capacity as Ambassador, Friedman has publicly embraced and promoted economic co-existence initiatives -between settlers and Palestinians – as a core U.S. priority on the ground (FMEP has repeatedly explained the perversity of labeling Israel’s economic exploitation of occupied territory, including the local workforce, land, and other natural resources, “coexistence,” or suggesting that it brings to the Palestinians benefits they should welcome.

Regarding the consulate closure, the PLO said in a statement:

“The decision of the American administration to close the American consulate in Palestine, which was opened in Jerusalem in 1844, as of this morning and merge it with the US embassy in Israel after moving it from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and operating a special unit for Palestine in the embassy reflect the level of audacity of the American administration in striking the international decisions, which it has contributed to writing, and a denial of the historic rights of our people and the international conventions and laws that support the right of our people to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories started in 1967, the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return for refugees as per United Nations resolution 194. This decision is the implementation of the policy and decision of the colonial settlements council in the West Bank.”

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO central committee, said that the merger:

“is not an administrative decision. It is an act of political assault on Palestinian rights and identity.”

Congressional Funding for Settler Business Council?

U.S. Senator James Lankford created confusion recently by suggesting that a new U.S. law provides a funding for the “Judea and Samaria Chamber of Congress,” a purported group of Israeli and Palestinian businesspeople cooperating on new ventures in the settlements for the benefit of both peoples (a claim which, as FMEP has repeatedly explained, is ultimately aimed at normalizing and entrenching the exploitative nature of Israel’s occupation and settlement of the West Bank).

The confusion stems from the fact that Sen. Lankford’s suggestion appears to be factually incorrect – Congress has not approved any such funding. One bill which U.S. congresspeople might use for this purpose, the Palestinian Partnership Fund (HR 7060/ S. 3549), was introduced in the last Congress, but has not yet been moved in the new Congress. The bill’s authors intended (and ostensibly continue to intend) to provide funding for people-to-people exchanges that bring Palestinian and Israeli civil society together, with the understanding that such programming is an important complementary track to good-faith peace negotiations.

If and when (and with whatever motive) the U.S. Congress acts on HR 7060/S. 3549, or introduces any legislation relating to financing these economic coexistence endeavors, it will be reported and analyzed by FMEP President Lara Friedman in her weekly legislative roundup (subscribe here).

UNHCR Delays (Again) Publication of Database Identifying Businesses Operating in Settlements

On March 5th, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced that the Human Rights Council has once again delayed the publication of a database listing companies that do business inside of Israeli settlements. In a letter, Bachelet committed to publishing the database “in coming months.”

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution on March 24, 2016 mandating the creation of the database listing the business enterprises that “have, directly and indirectly, enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the settlements.” The database is meant to assist UN member states in complying with their legal obligations under international law. International legal scholar Valentina Azarova explained:

“The UN database is a mechanism to document, report, and engage primary interested parties. It does not have the mandate to adjudicate the responsibility of concerned parties, nor to act as a coercive tool of law enforcement. Thus, commentators who refer to it as a “blacklist” misrepresent it and undermine its legitimacy.”

Human Rights Watch issued a statement regarding the latest delay, saying:

“Israeli authorities’ brazen expansion of illegal settlements underscores why the U.N. database of businesses facilitating these settlements needs to be published,” Bruno Stagno Ugarte, an advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Each delay further entrenches corporate involvement in the systematic rights abuses stemming from illegal settlements.”

Israel and the United States have fought tooth-and-nail against the publication of the database, labeling it an anti-Israel “blacklist.”

Bonus Reads

  1. “Are Palestinian Police Protecting Settlers?” (Al-Monitor)

  2. “One Israeli’s Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Settler to Peace Activist” (NBC News)

  3. “At West Bank High School, Knesset Candidates’ Discuss Future of Pupils’ Home” (Times of Israel)

  4. “What Netanyahu’s Election Strategy Shows About How Settlers Vote” (Times of Israel)

  5. “By Force of Forgery: How Settlers Claim Palestinian Homes” (Middle East Eye)

 

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

September 7, 2018

  1. Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement in East Jerusalem
  2. Even More East Jerusalem Settlement Plans Advanced
  3. Israel Demolishes Homes in al-Walajah, Advancing “Greater Jerusalem” Project
  4. State Admits to High Court it Built Settler Road on Palestinian Private Land
  5. Prominent Human Rights Activists Arrested While Leading Tour of Hebron Region
  6. Government Official Claims Jerusalem Cable Car Project Will Benefit Palestinians in Silwan
  7. BonusReads

Comments, questions, or suggestions? Email Kristin McCarthy at kmccarthy@fmep.org. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement in East Jerusalem

On September 5th, the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee advanced a plan to build a large new settlement enclave (150 units) within yet another Palestinian neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The project – a pet project of Jerusalem settlement financier (and since 2013, Jerusalem city council member) Aryeh King – would be the first-ever authorized settlement project in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem, located north of the Old City.

Map by Haaretz

The plan would build housing for approximately 75 settler families (which, based on a conservative estimate, would mean a population of around 500 settlers in Beit Hanina). If built, it would be one of the largest Israeli settlement enclaves inside any Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

According to the plan, 75 units units would theoretically be earmarked for Palestinians – a point used by the plan’s supporters to suggest that it is actually benevolent. The key word here, however, is: theoretically. As noted by Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann in another context:

“Since 1967, the Government of Israel has directly engaged in the construction of 55,000 units for Israelis in East Jerusalem; in contrast, fewer than 600 units have been built for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the last of which were built 40 years ago.”

In announcing the approval of the plan, Israel’s deputy mayor made clear what part of the plan the Municipality is actually focused on:

“We’re happy to announce today that we’ve approved construction of 150 housing units in Beit Hanina, and especially that 75 Jewish families can now live there.”

Notably, the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee advanced the plan through the first stage of the planning process, despite an objection filed by the private Palestinian company that owns 45% of the land upon which the new units would be built (ownership that the Israeli government tried – and so far failed – to cancel, through efforts to rescind the sale of the land to that company). The Committee explained its decision to ignore the objection by asserting that it was only discussing planning schemes and not ownership issues. The Jerusalem Municipality also weighed in, suggesting that the Palestinian company is too late in asserting its rights, saying that the ownership issue was “examined as part of the examination of the plan’s preconditions.”

Director of the Peace Now Settlement Watch program, Hagit Ofran, rejected that argument, saying:

“this is not a real estate project but a project of defiance and settlement. The fact that Israeli entrepreneurs, who own only half of the land, have prepared a plan without consulting Palestinian owners [of the other half] indicates that they have no intention of coexistence and peace.”

A handful Israeli settlers already live in Beit Hanina, having directly acquired private property in the heart of the neighborhood. This small group of settlers clearly benefit from the plan, both because it lends legitimacy to their presence in and broader claims to the neighborhood, and because the new project would create a territorial linkage between the new settlement in Beit Hanina and the large ultra-Orthodox settlement of Ramat Shlomo to its south.

The historic nature of the Beit Hanina settlement plan is being hailed by pro-settlement media and activists. The Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Yossi Deitch, said, “I hope approval of the units will be the sign and signal that construction in the city will be unfrozen next year throughout the city and for all sectors. I’ll do everything possible to thaw the construction freeze in Jerusalem.”

Israel has increased home demolitions across East Jerusalem, including Beit Hanina, over the past year. In Beit Hanina, many homes are under the threat of demolition because they lack Israeli-issued building permits – permits that Palestinians find all but impossible to secure. Just this week, Israel demolished the Farrah family home in Beit Hanina, built over 16 years ago – despite the fact that the family has spent years attempting to obtain the necessary permits and has paid 250,000 shekel ($69,362) fine to the Israeli government.

 Even More East Jerusalem Settlement Plans Advanced

In addition to the Beit Hanina settlement plan, Ir Amim reports that Jerusalem authorities have advanced several other inflammatory settlement projects in East Jerusalem over the past week:

  1. The Local Planning and Building Committee discussed issuing a permit to retroactively legalize unauthorized settlement construction – several shops and offices – in Silwan, located at the entrance of the settler-run City of David National Park. The buildings were constructed, without permits, under the direction of the radical Elad settler group, which is contracted by the Israel National Parks Authority to run the City of David National Park. As a reminder, Elad’s mission is to establish a permanent Jewish presence in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. The retroactive permit, in addition to legalizing the current buildings, would also allow the group to build an additional story to one of the buildings, to serve a”lookout” point. Demonstrating government collusion with the settlement enterprise in Jerusalem, the permit request was filed by the Israel National Parks Authority, not Elad.
  2. The Local Planning and Building Committee committee discussed public objections filed against a plan to build a 6-story office building for settlers at the entrance of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The office building, if approved, would be located adjacent to the site of a planned Jewish religious school to also be built in Sheikh Jarrah – called the Glassman Yeshiva. That school, once it is built, will house dozens of young religious settlers. Together, the two projects will flank the road leading into Sheikh Jarrah and become part of a settlement bridge/corridor connecting the isolated settlement enclaves in the heart of Sheikh Jarrah to West Jerusalem. Ir Amim notes that both settlement projects have been advanced “despite the area being zoned for public buildings for a Palestinian neighborhood sorely lacking in social services.” This latest advancement was anticipated and noted in last week’s Settlement Report.
  3. The Jerusalem Local Committee advanced two plans to increase the number of new units authorized to be built in the Gilo and Neve Ya’akov settlements. In both instances, the Local Committee discussed plans that increase the number of units permitted to be built under already-approved plans (adding an additional 48 units in both cases, bringing the Neve Ya’akov project to 86 units total and the Gilo project to 148 units total).

Israel Demolishes Homes in al-Walajah, Advancing “Greater Jerusalem” Project

On September 3rd, Israeli officials demolished four buildings in the al-Walajah village, on the pretext that they lack required Israel-issued building permits. Israeli security forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at a crowd of protestors who gathered to try to stop the demolition, injuring several.

The demolitions were in the Ein Juweza neighborhood of the village – an area that is technically located within the municipal borders of Jerusalem (the border runs through the village, leaving the rest of al-Walajah in the West Bank), and therefore subject to Israeli planning and building laws. An additional 189 homes in al-Walajah have demolition orders issued against them.

The lawyer representing al-Walajah residents in this case said,

“The residents’ attempts to submit a master plan [without which it is impossible for residents to even apply for permits to build on their own land] were thwarted by the objection of the state and subsequently, the planning authorities. In this situation of criminal neglect of the village and its residents, the only service the state gives them is ‘home demolition service.’ This is an impossible, illegal situation that contradicts the most minimal fairness.”

Ir Amim reports:

“While refusing to allow building in Walajeh, in the area around the village Israel is promoting construction of thousands of housing units for Israelis on lands – some of which were confiscated from Walajeh – in the settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo. To the north of the village, within the Green Line and on lands that belonged to Walajeh until 1948, a construction plan of over 4,000 housing units is being advanced. These construction plans, together with the national park declared on al-Walajeh land in 2013, are meant to create an Israeli continuum between Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion settlements surrounding Bethlehem. This morning’s demolitions in Walajeh are an inherent part of the policy to transform this area into an Israeli space.”

As FMEP has previously reported, residents of al-Walajah have long been struggling against the growing encroachment 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 problematic section of the separation barrier around al-Walajah that has been planned in order to (a) almost completely encircle the village, (b) turn its valuable agricultural land into an urban park for Jerusalem, and (c) enable construction of a highway that will connect the Etzion settlement bloc to Jerusalem with Israeli-only bypass roads.

State Admits to High Court it Built Settler Road on Palestinian Private Land

The Israeli government admitted to the High Court of Justice that it cut and paved a road on land that is privately owned by Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills. The State claimed it did so by mistake, believing the land in question, which had been included in construction plan for the settlement of Shima – despite the fact that Palestinian owners objected as soon as construction started in 2015. Even after the objections were lodged against the construction, Israeli authorities took months before issuing a stop work order, allowing the road to be completed/paved in the meantime.

In the brief submitted this week, the State asked the High Court to dismiss the case regarding the road, explaining that the Civil Administration had already taken action to correct the borders of the Shima settlement to, in effect, return the land to is owners (now paved with a road for the settlers). The State says that action was prompted in 2015 when the Civil Administration “Blue Line” team released new mapping of the area, which clarified that the land is indeed privately owned by Palestinians.

Commenting on the story, a spokesperson for Rabbis for Human Rights told Haaretz:

“The state acted like the ‘hilltop youth’ [a radical settler group]. You can’t explain this away using the excuse of an innocent mistake, given that even after our warnings it took a long and embarrassing legal procedure to get them to do the obvious: check who actually owns the land.”

Prominent Human Rights Activists Arrested While Leading Tour of the Hebron Region

Israeli security forces arrested three prominent human rights activists while they were leading a sizeable group on a tour of settlements and outposts in the Hebron/South Hebron Hills area. Avner Gvaryahu (Executive Director of Breaking the Silence), Michael Sfard (a prominent Israeli human rights lawyer), and Achiya Schatz (Communications Director for Breaking the Silence) were released after three hours of detention.

The men were arrested near the Mitzpe Yair outpost in Hebron, the same spot where activists from Taayush – “Israelis & Palestinians striving together to end the Israeli occupation and to achieve full civil equality through daily non-violent direct-action” – were violently attacked by settlers the previous week, with at least four wounded seriously enough to be evacuated to for medical treatment. In that attack, IDF soldiers reportedly stood by and did nothing (and in its aftermath, the Israeli government and senior officials, including Netanyahu, said nothing).

Breaking the Silence related the events, saying:

“As we drove up the road leading to the outpost, we were blocked by a Border Police jeep. Within minutes, we were presented with a ‘closed military zone’ order, signed by the brigade commander. We were given one minute to evacuate a group of 120 participants, some of whom weren’t so young. When we asked for more time to get everyone on the buses, the arrests started. As was reported in the media, the arrests were aimed at the leaders of the tour, which reinforced our suspicion that they were initially meant to sabotage the tour….Upon arriving at the police station, Avner, Achiya, and Michael had been told that they were in fact not arrested but rather detained, and that there was no immediate need for investigations or arrests. They were then told to return in a month and a half for further investigation.”

The group’s email to supporters ends:

“we refuse to cave in to settler violence and to surrender to their intimidation, incitement, and violence directed against those who oppose the immoral reality of the occupied territories.”

Government Official Claims Jerusalem Cable Car Project Will Benefit Palestinians in Silwan

On September 5th, the Society for the Protection of Nature held a public forum to discuss the planned cable car project in Jerusalem, which is slated to have its final stop at the settler-run Kedem Center in Silwan. The Kedem Center is a project of the radical Elad settler group, which works to settle Jewish Israelis inside Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

Sami Arsheid, a lawyer representing Palestinian residents of Silwan (who will be deeply impacted by the project), attended the town hall event to raise their concerns. Arsheid said that Palestinians had not been consulted and noted that the invitation to the meeting was written in Hebrew only.

A Israeli government official responsible for planning the cable car project, Aner Ozeri, stressed how the project will ease movement and alleviate transportation pressures, and insisted that the project will, in fact, benefit Palestinian residents of Silwan. Even if that claim turns out to be true, it glosses over the fact that, assuming the most benign intent,  the Israeli government is engaging in planning in Silwan that rejects/ignores the views of the vast majority of the residents (i.e., the only residents of Silwan whose voices are listened to in this process are the settlers). Moreover, in the case of this plan the intent, entirely unhidden by planners, is by no means benign: the purpose of the cable car project has nothing to do with the interests of Palestinian residents – rather, its purpose is to facilitate tourist visits to Jewish sites in East Jerusalem, in a manner that prevents tourists from seeing or encountering Palestinians.

The meeting was also attended by government officials tasked with explaining and defending the project, as well as architects, academics, preservation experts, and tourism professionals who criticized the plan on a myriad of bases – mostly highlighting how the project will damage the historic landscape of Jerusalem.

Bonus Reads

  1. “In West Bank Settlements, It’s a Bull Housing Market” (Haaretz)
  2. “Israeli right wing party aims at one million settlers” (Al-Monitor)

 

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

July 21, 2017

  1. In Jerusalem’s North: The “Adam-Neve Ya’akov” Plan Resurfaces
  2. In Jerusalem’s South: The “Gilo Southeast” Plan Expected to Advance
  3. In the Shadow of Jerusalem’s Old City: Settler-Run Visitor Center is Approved
  4. In the Heart of East Jerusalem: Alarming Plans Advance As Expected
  5. U.S. Department of State: Settlements & Settlers Provoke Violence
  6. Settlement Outpost Near Bethlehem is Angling to Avoid Demolition
  7. Court Wants Settlers/Palestinians to “Negotiate” Land Theft Ex-Post Facto
  8. Bonus Reads

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

In Jerusalem’s North: The “Adam-Neve Ya’akov” Plan Resurfaces

The Israeli Construction & Housing Ministry announced impending plans for a 1,100 unit housing project to Jerusalem’s immediate northeast.

Map by Ir Amim

The plan aims to connect large settlements in East Jerusalem (Neveh Ya’akov and Pisgat Zeev) with an isolated settlement in the West Bank (Adam, aka Geva Binyamin). The land identified for the project is within the municipal boundaries of Adam, but on the Israeli side of the separation barrier (the route of the separation barrier in this area cuts deep into the West Bank). If implemented, the Adam settlement would have built up areas on both sides of the barrier.

Israeli Housing Minister Yoav Galant’s office issued a statement explaining, “We will be everywhere that it is possible to build and to provide solutions to the housing shortage, particularly, as in the case of Adam, in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In Greater Jerusalem, there is also particular security importance in Israeli [territorial] contiguity from the Gush Etzion Bloc in the south to Atarot in the north, and from Ma’aleh Adumim in the east to Givat Ze’ev in the west.”

Ir Amim writes that the plan would, “further fracture a future Palestinian state by… breaking contiguity from north to south… while isolating the southern perimeter of Ramallah from East Jerusalem, the future capital of the Palestinian state. Advancing a project of this size, given its extreme geo-political ramifications, would have a fatal impact on the two-state solution.”

The same plan was developed in the early 2000s and explored in 2007 and again in 2008, but shelved because of its political sensitivity and international concern for the future of Jerusalem and the prospects for a two-state solution. Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann of Terrestrial Jerusalem writes, “What is different now than in the past is talk of the plan comes in the context of an opening of the settlement floodgates in East Jerusalem, including green lights and expediting of plans the implementation of which, for any number of reasons, in the past was far-fetched or even inconceivable. Consequently, it is important to flag this scheme as early as possible, and to monitor in vigilantly.”

 

In Jerusalem’s South: The “Gilo Southeast” Plan Expected to Advance

Map by Ir Amim

The Israeli government is set to advance a plan to expand the borders of the Gilo settlement (between Jerusalem and Bethlehem) in order to build 3,000 new units. This plan, called “Gilo Southeast,” is expected to be considered at a meeting on July 26th.

If implemented, Gilo Southeast would further surround the Palestinian city of Beit Safafa, severing the town from the West Bank. An area of intense Israeli settlement infrastructure growth (a settler-only freeway divides the community, and the area has been the focus of demolitions of Palestinian homes), Beit Safafa’s Palestinian residents describe a life under siege.

Gilo Southeast is just one of several alarming plans threatening to sever Palestinian contiguity between East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank:

  • Gilo Southeast would abut the border of the Givat Hamatos doomsday plan, which is only waiting for the publication of tenders to begin construction. The Givat Hamatos plan has remained blocked under the previous political calculations, but can be tendered at any moment.
  • The plan would also connect Gilo to Har Homa, a fast growing settlement that was built with the Netanyahu’s approval in 1997 – the last official settlement to be built until the recent approval of the Amichai settlement.

Ir Amim writes that Gilo Southeast would create “one more link in a chain of developments designed to seal off the southern perimeter of Jerusalem from the West Bank, nullifying prospects for a two state solution.”

 

In the Shadow of Jerusalem’s Old City: Settler-Run Visitor Center is Approved

Map by Emek Shaveh

Last week the controversial Visitor’s Center in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan (known to Israelis as the “City of David” and located just outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City in the shadow of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif) took another important step forward in the final stages of the planning process. According to the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, the plan “awaits final approval by the Israel Antiquities Authority, which will only be granted once the archaeological excavations at the site are completed. In our assessment this should happen soon.”

Known as the “Kedem Center,” the building is being financed and promoted by the settler-run Elad Foundation, whose goal is to establish Jewish hegemony over all of Jerusalem (i.e. erase all Palestinian presence, history, and any visibility in the city). The Center will be the largest, state-of-the-art tourism center in Jerusalem and will also serve as a station for the new cable car line approved this year, a cable car line that is designed to facilitate tourists visits to Jewish sites in East Jerusalem while preventing tourists from encountering Palestinians.

Emek Shaveh issued a statement saying, “this project will change the landscape in the area between the Old City and the village of Silwan, and will have a considerable impact on the identity of the Historic Basin. The purpose of the Kedem Center is first and foremost political – to Judaize Silwan and prevent a political solution for Jerusalem.”

The Jerusalem Post reports the Kedem Center plan was approved by Prime Minister Netanyahu as a defiant gesture following UNESCO’s decision to designate sites in Hebron as World Heritage Sites, which Netanyahu incorrectly says deny Jewish history.

 

In the Heart of East Jerusalem: Plans Advance as Expected

In addition to the north, south, and center settlements plans detailed above, previously reported settlement plans targeting East Jerusalem were all approved for deposit for public review at a government meeting last week. We reported extensively on these in our last edition, here. The plans approved for deposit for public review include the incendiary plans in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, and more.

Though the plans were all approved for deposit for public review, as of this writing none have been deposited (yet). Like almost every step in the Israeli settlement planning process, actually depositing the plans for public comment is itself a political decision.

 

U.S. Department of State: Settlements & Settlers Provoke Violence

In the recently released 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism, Secretary Tillerson’s State Department writes, “Continued drivers of violence included a lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood, Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the perception that the Israeli government was changing the status quo on the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount, and IDF tactics that the Palestinians considered overly aggressive.” [emphasis added]

Notably, the 2015 Country Reports on Terrorism (an Obama Administration document) did not focus on the role of settlements or identify settlements/settlers as a “driver of violence.” The 2015 document simply noted a handful of terrorist incidents, including the trend of “price-tag attacks,” committed by settlers and committed by Palestinians near settlements.

 

Settlement Outpost Near Bethlehem is Angling to Avoid Demolition

A settlement outpost near Bethlehem – built illegally even under Israeli law – is fighting a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to demolish 17 buildings that were found to have been built on land owned by Palestinians. A 2016 decision ruled that buildings in the center of the outpost sit partially on Palestinian land and must be demolished by March 2018. The NGO Yesh Din has an additional, broader petition before the High Court that seeks to prove that the whole outpost is on Palestinian land.

Map by Peace Now

The Netiv Ha’avot outpost was built in 2001 as an additional “neighborhood” of the Elazar settlement southwest of Bethlehem, but was in fact built on a hilltop near the outskirts of the settlement, on land located beyond the settlement’s borders. Forty Israeli settler families currently live there, 15 of which will be affected by the demolition orders.

The outposts’ residents are aggressively pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene in their favor (Netanyahu has already caved to vociferous settler protests several times this year). At a demonstration in support of the outpost, signs read “This destruction too is on your watch” (referring to the Amona evacuation) and “Bibi wake up and intervene.”

 

Court Wants Settlers/Palestinians to “Negotiate” Land Theft Ex-Post Facto

The Israeli Supreme Court made an unusual move to try to avoid having to return private land to Palestinians. The ruling pertains to a case in the Jordan Valley, where the Israeli military seized Palestinian private land for military uses, and subsequently (and improperly, according to Israeli law) gave the land to settlers. Rather than compel the settlers to return the stolen land to its owners, the court wants the Palestinians to negotiate with the settlers for compensation. The court’s move – which is in response to a 2013 petition – is an attempt to resolve the issue without having to rule on the validity of the land seizure, and without having to compel Israel to forfeit the land and evict the settlers (even if doing so requires suspending even the pretense of the rule of law).

Haaretz explains how we got here, “After the Israeli occupation of the West Bank began in 1967, the army issued an order prohibiting Palestinians from entering the area between the border fence and the Jordan River. At the beginning of the ‘80s, the government decided to encourage farmers to work the fields to create a buffer zone with Jordan. The World Zionist Organization was given the land and leased it to settlers.”

 

Bonus Reads

  1. “In Israel’s ‘eternal capital’ anti-Palestinian discrimination is built-in” (July 16, 2017; +972 Mag)
  2. “Black is the New Orange: 30% of Settlers are Haredim” (July 18, 2017; Times of Israel)
  3. “Why Adelson is Pouring Millions of Dollars Into an Army-run Israeli University in the West Bank” (July 19, 2017; Haaretz+)
  4. “The Biggest Attack in Jerusalem” (July 18, 2017; Haaretz+)
  5. REPORT: “Insurance against political risk: Settlements and the Yanai governmental insurance corporation” (Akevot, July 21, 2017)

Overview: “Archival records, now declassified at Akevot’s request, tell the story of the financial safety net Israeli government provided for commercial companies and settlement agencies beyond the Green Line. Referred to as a “political guarantee” or “political insurance”, it protected settlers and investors in the occupied territories against such “political risks” as Israel’s evacuation from the occupied territories, policy changes or boycotts. As use of the government guarantees gradually expanded, a government insurance corporation was created, to sell insurance policies against these political risks. This is the story of the political guarantee in the occupied territories and the Yanai insurance corporation.”

 

FMEP has long been a trusted resource on settlement-related issues, reflecting both the excellent work of our grantees on the ground and our own in-house expertise. FMEP’s focus on settlements derives from our commitment to achieving lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace, and our recognition of the fact that Israeli settlements – established for the explicit purpose of dispossessing Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem of land and resources, and depriving them of the very possibility of self-determination in their own state with borders based on the 1967 lines – are antithetical to that goal.