Settlement Report: August 9, 2019

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

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August 9, 2019

Summary: Another Week, Another Round of Major Settlement Approvals
Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 1: Three Outposts are “Legalized”
Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 2: Final Approval for 648 New Settlement Units
Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 3: Plans Advanced for 1,466 New Settlement Units (With More to Come)
Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 4: Reactions
Following Murder of Settler Youth, Netanyahu Doubles Down on Commitment to Settlements
Latin Patriarchate Files Suit Claiming New Proof of Fraud Behind Settler Takeover of Old City Hotel Properties
Education Minister Strips Key Committee Membership from Professor Who Objected to Authorization of Settlement Medical School
Bimkom Report: Israel’s “No Construction Zone” Adjacent to the Separation Barrier Has Little To Do With Security
Ir Amim: Israel’s Crackdown in Issawiya Advances Settlement Project in East Jerusalem
Terrestrial Jerusalem In-Depth Report: The Silwan Tunnel Project
Bonus Reads

Questions or comments? Contact Kristin McCarthy at kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Summary: Another Week, Another Round of Major Settlement Approvals

During its quarterly convening on August 5th and 6th, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council advanced plans for a total of 2,304 new settlement units. This includes:

the approval of plans legalizing 190 units that have the effect of retroactively legalizing 3 unauthorized outposts;
final approval for the construction of 648 settlement units; and
interim approval (i.e., a step toward final approval) for the construction of 1,466 new settlement units

These approvals comes on the heels of the Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to issue 6,000 building permits for settlement units last week (details of which are still unpublished). The past week of massive settlement advancements is a clearer-than-ever indication that Israel (with very public backing from top U.S. officials) is not holding back its illegal settlement activities and its ongoing annexation of the West Bank, particularly in Area C.

Details of this week’s approvals are broken down below.

Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 1: Three Outposts are “Legalized”

Plans advanced August 5-6 by the Israeli Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council In its decisions taken August 5th and 6th include at least 190 units in three illegal outposts — which have the effect of retroactively legalizing those three outposts. The outposts that gained retroactive approval this week are:

Haroah Haivri – The council approved a plan for an educational institute and accompanying housing for students and staff. Most extraordinarily, Haroah Haivri, located just east of Jerusalem, is within eyesight of the Khan al-Ahmar community, which Israel is planning to demolish (forcibly relocating the Palestinian bedouin community that has lived there since the 1950s) — ostensibly because the structures in Khan al Ahmar were built without necessary Israeli approvals. The Haroah Haivri outpost was also built without the necessary Israeli approvals, but instead of demolishing the construction, Israel has retroactively legalized it — demonstrating once again that, when it comes to administering the occupation, Israel prefers “rule by law” – where law is turned into a tool to elevate the rights/interests of one party over another, over the democratic rule of law.
Ibei Hanachal – The Council approved 96 units in this outpost, located southeast of Bethlehem, turning it into a “neighborhood” of the Maale Amos settlement. In reality, the outpost is not contiguous with the built-up area of the Maale Amos settlement, meaning that the implementation of this plan will, in effect, create a distinct new settlement (for coverage of this plan, see here) .
Givat Salit – The Council approved 94 units in this outpost, located in the northern Jordan Valley, as part of turning it into a “neighborhood” of the nearby Mechola settlement.

The legalization of these three outposts only adds to the success of Israel’s ongoing and increasingly successful effort to retroactively legalize all illegal settler construction in the West Bank (that is, construction undertaken illegally under Israel law; all settlement construction is illegal under international law). The lengths to which Israel has gone to in order to achieve that goal include inventing new legal grounds — some outlined by the government’s “Zandberg report” and another – the “market regulation principle” identified by the Isareli Attorney General — that in effect allow Israel to suspend the rule of law and erase private property rights of Palestinians. For the past 2.5 years, FMEP has documented this campaign in detail in its Annexation Policies Tables – regularly updated and available online.

Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 2: Final Approval for 648 New Settlement Units

The actions taken this week by the High Planning Council include issuing final approval for 648 settlement units – mostly new construction but also some approval of existing construction that had been undertaken without approval (all of this is in addition to the 190 units in outposts legalized retroactively). Details of these approvals for new settlement construction are as follows:

Map by Peace Now

194 units in the Ganei Modlin settlement, located in the northern “seam line zone” in the West Bank but on the Israeli side of the security barrier (by design of the Israeli government). The plan for 194 new units will bring the settlement’s built-up area directly up to the separation barrier, a particularly notable plan given Israel’s recent demolition of 70 Palestinian homes in the West Bank, based on the argument that the construction within a 200-250 foot Israeli-imposed “no construction zone” on either side of the barrier poses an unacceptable security risk to Israel. Israel rejected an offer by Palestinians to privately finance the construction of new and higher wall near the buildings; developers behind the Ganei Modlin project also offered to finance the construction of high wall near the construction, an offer the courts saw fit to accept – resolving the matter in the eyes of the High Planning Council, which approved the plan.
96 units in the Kiryat Netafim 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.
76 units in the Beit Hagai settlement, located just south of Hebron,
66 units in the Efrat settlement, located south of Bethlehem. Efrat had already received final permission for 1,000 new settlement units at the most recent High Planning Council meeting, in April 2019. As a reminder, Efrat is located inside a settlement enclave that cuts deep into the West Bank. Efrat’s location and the route of the barrier wall around it, have literally severed the route of Highway 60 south of Bethlehem, cutting off Bethlehem and Jerusalem from the southern West Bank. The economic, political, and social impacts of the closure of Highway 60 at the Efrat settlement (there is literally a wall built across the highway) have been severe for the Palestinian population.
61 units attached to an educational institute in the Gva’ot settlement, located south of Bethlehem. The Gva’ot (Gevaot) settlement was established as an outpost of mobile homes, and later benefited from Israel’s unilateral, mass expropriation of Palestinian land in 2014 (which Israeli officials explictly said was done in response to a Palestinian terror attack). At the time, Peace Now reported that the move constituted the largest single expropriation of Palestinian land by the Israeli state in over 30 years.
51 units in Shvut Rachel, which only recently became an authorized settlement area when Israel extended the jurisdiction of the Shiloh settlement to include it as a “neighborhood” (along with three other outposts). The plans approved this week will retroactive legalize existing units and permit the construction of a few news one.
29 units in the Otniel settlement, located in the South Hebron Hills area. The plans serve to retroactively legalize existing units.
27 units in the Maskiyot settlement, located in the northern Jordan Valley. These units are part of a plan allowing the construction of a “bed and breakfast” with 27 additional rooms (and calling to mind Amnesty International’s recent report on the role tourism plays in supporting the occupation).
19 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.
18 units and a park in the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
11 units in the Einav settlement, located northwest of Nablus.

In addition, the Council gave retroactive approval for a controversial archeological site in the Shiloh settlement, located in the center of the northern West Bank. The Israeli government has devoted a significant amount of money and political energy towards building the tourist site, which is now drawing upwards of 60,000 evangelical tourists each year. For background on the site, see this Emek Shaveh report from 2014 and this brief from 2017, when the government approved the commercialization of the site. For analysis on how the site fits into a bigger pattern of Israeli efforts to normalize the settlements through tourism, see this report by Amnesty International.

Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 3: Plans Advanced for 1,466 New Settlement Units (With More to Come)

Actions taken August 5-6 by the Israeli Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council include advancing plans that, when they eventually receive final approval, will allow for the construction of 1,466 settlement units (details of the various steps of the planning/approval process are laid out by Peace Now here). Specifically, the Higher Planning Council this week approved the following plans for deposit for public review:

382 units in the Beit El settlement, located north of Ramallah. The plans include the retroactive legalization of 36 units; the remaining 346 are new units. As a reminder, Beit El is the settlement closely associated with U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who among other things was the President of the “Friends of Beit El” organization, which raised money on its behalf.
354 in the Nili settlement, located in the northern West Bank;
200 units in the Asfar settlement, located northeast of Hebron. If approved, this plan will triple the size of the Asfar settlement.
168 units in the Talmon settlement, located north west of Ramallah. In December 2018, FMEP reported on a deadly encounter between neighboring Palestinians and settlers from Talmon and/or the many unauthorized outposts associated with it. The settlers had been attempting to takeover another hilltop on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah. When Palestinians staged an attempt to stop the settlers from entering the area, a scuffle ensued and Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians.
132 units in the 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.
84 units in the Shima settlement, located in the southern tip of the West Bank.
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.
48 units in the Bracha settlement, located south of Nablus.
A recreational area in the Kochav Yaakov settlement, located just south of Ramallah.

In addition to the plans approved and advanced detailed above, the High Planning Council delayed consideration of two additional plans, which are:

A plan that would effectively legalize another outpost, known as Brosh. Similar to the Haroah Haivri plan, discussed above, the plans relating to Brosh serve to retroactively legalize an existing educational institute. Approval of the plan was delayed because the Council had not resolved objections that were filed against the plan, including an objection filed by Peace Now.

A plan for 207 settlement units in the Bracha settlement, located near Nablus (these plans are in addition to the plans for 48 units approved to be deposited for public review, covered above). Though plan was on the Council’s schedule, it could not be approved because the Council first needs to approve the extension of Har Bracha’s existing settlement jurisdiction to include the area units are to be built. Since the plan calls for the construction of units outside of the existing area of jurisdiction, the plan could not be approved.

Israeli Annexation via Settlement Construction Unleashed, Part 4: Reactions

Following this week’s advancement of plans for 2,304 settlement units, settlement watchers and key members and bodies of the international community issued sharp criticism and sounded the annexation alarm bells. In contrast, there was glaring – and very, very, very predictable – silence came from the U.S. administration. A few notable reactions are included below.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The approval of settlement plans is part of a disastrous government policy designed to prevent the possibility of peace and a two-state solution, and to annex part or all of the West Bank. The linkage of thousands of housing permits for settlers and a negligible number of housing units for Palestinians cannot hide the government’s discrimination policy. As a result, we see for example an approval of the illegal outpost (Haroeh Haivri) built for Israelis adjacent to the Palestinian bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar, for which the government refuses to approve any construction permits and instead seeks to transfer. Or we see, the approval of the construction of a new settlement neighborhood adjacent to the separation barrier after demolishing 72 housing units built adjacent to the separation barrier in Wadi Hummus, despite offering to fund security measures.”

The European Union issued a statement which reads:

“The EU expects the Israeli authorities to fully meet their obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, and to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and of denying Palestinian development.”

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement:

“The expansion of settlements has no legal effect and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law. By advancing the effective annexation of the West Bank, it undermines the chances for establishing a Palestinian state based on relevant UN resolutions, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged Israel to stop what he called:

“the effective annexation of the West Bank.”

Leilani Farha, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the right to housing, and Michael Lynk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, said in a statement:

“These settlement housing units are clearly meant to solidify the Israeli claim of sovereignty over the West Bank. Building civilian settlements in occupied territory is illegal, as is the annexation of territory. The international community has spoken out against the Israeli settlements, but it has not imposed effective consequences for the country’s defiance of international law. Israel’s actions indicate it plans to remain permanently and advance a claim of sovereignty. The Israeli Prime Minister made this clear when he said recently that: ‘No settlement and no settlers will ever be uprooted.’ Should we not take him at his word that Israel has no intention of complying with international law? Criticism without consequences is hollow. The international community has a wide menu of commonly-used countermeasures to push recalcitrant states into compliance with their international duties. If the international community is serious about its support for Palestinian self-determination and its opposition to Israeli settlements then, surely, the time has come for meaningful action.”

Israeli settlers, on the other hand, we filled with glee. Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne’eman said in a statement:

“Thank God today we received approval from the Higher Planning Council for new housing units in Gush Etzion. Congratulations to all of our residents on the 200 units in Metzad, which is historic in that it will triple the size of the community. Congratulations on the final approvals for the Sadna institution, which works towards integration and is located in Gevaot, and will enable permanent construction of tens of units. Another major breakthrough is the final approval for Ibei Hanachal, which essentially fully legalizes the community and includes the construction of 96 permanent homes. These are major accomplishments for southeastern Gush Etzion, for the Jewish communities in the Judean Desert, and of course for all of Judea and Samaria. This is an opportunity for me to thank Prime Minister Netanyahu on this impressive accomplishment. Let’s hope that the trend of development and construction in Judea and Samaria continues full speed ahead.”

Following Murder of Settler Youth, Netanyahu Doubles Down on Commitment to Settlements

Following the murder of a 19-year old Israeli settler, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed once again that he will promote settlement construction in all areas of the West Bank. Speaking at a ceremony marking the establishment of a new neighborhood of 650 units in the settlement of Beit El (which just saw plans for 382 new units advance, see above) Bibi said:

“We promised to build hundreds of housing units. Today we are doing it, both because we promised and because our mission is to establish the nation of Israel in our country. We know that the Land of Israel is bought in agony. Today another one of our sons fell. He was from a family that has already made a heavy sacrifice for the Land of Israel. These vicious terrorists: They come to uproot, we come to plant. They come to destroy, we come to build. Our hands will reach out and we will deepen our roots in our homeland – in all parts of it.”

Bibi’s words — which suggest an intention to continue/expand settlement construction across the entirely of the West Bank — did not satisfy many of his challengers on the Israeli right (against whom he is squaring off against in the upcoming election). Ayelet Shaked – who is leading a union of right wing parties – called directly for annexation. She said:

“We have to apply sovereignty to Judea and Samaria. Gush Etzion is in consensus and there is no reason not to apply sovereignty there.”

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said:

“our response to the murder has to be [to] apply sovereignty on the settlements, starting with Gush Etzion.”

And the Sovereignty Movement – is an offshoot of the Women in Green organization, and has been working to formalize its expanding influence over Israeli politicians and public discourse by pushing for the establishment of a Knesset committee devoted to the cause of Israeli annexation of the West Bank – issued a statement saying:

“It is either us or them! This is a 52-year-old struggle that must be resolved. Sovereignty will bring resolution and will erase the hope of pushing us out of here through terror attacks. The resolution must be clear and unambiguous – we have returned to the heritage of our fathers, we will bring another million Jews here, we will build dozens of communities. The Arabs are invited to live under our sovereignty as individuals and enjoy a prosperous life as residents.”

Latin Patriarchate Files Suit Claiming New Proof of Fraud Behind Settler Takeover of Old City Hotel Properties

On August 5th, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem filed a request to reopen the underlying case in Jerusalem District Court which awarded the radical settler group Ateret Cohanim the ownership rights to three historic church properties in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Patriarchate’s appeal is based on new evidence of fraud committed by the Jerusalem settler organization Ateret Cohanim – with the aid of church officials – during the sale of the properties. The original Jerusalem District Court ruling acknowledged that there were problems in the transaction, but found that the church failed to prove its allegations of bribery and corruption.

The allegations of fraud rely on the testimony of Ted Bloomfield, a man who managed the Petra Hotel in the 1990s. Bloomfield reportedly told the Greek Patriarchate that Ateret Cohanim paid him to help persuade the Palestinian protected tenants to sell their rights. The lawsuit says these actions are “extraordinary in their severity” and include fraud, forgery of legal documents, and bribery – including alleged attempted sexual bribery. The church’s complaint also alleges that the settler group obstructed justice in deliberately concealing documents during legal proceedings.

Haaaretz recently published a moving video testimony of one Palestinian man, Abu-Walid Dajani, whose family has run the New Imperial Hotel, one of the targeted properties, since 1949. Dajani is now facing eviction.

Education Minister Strips Key Committee Membership from Professor Who Objected to Authorization of Settlement Medical School

The Haaretz Editorial Board penned a sharp criticism of newly appointed (and interim) Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz, who recently removed Professor Yossi Shain from the Planning & Budgeting Committee of the Higher Education Council. Shain was one of the members of the key professional committee – which essentially serves as the gatekeeper for schools hoping to join the ranks of accredited Isareli education institutions – who objected to the rushed and politicized process by which, in contravention to the Council’s normal practice, a medical school located in the settlement of Ariel received approval from the Higher Education Council.

The Editorial Board writes:

“The ‘revenge’ taken by Peretz against someone acting according to his professional judgment is a worrisome sign. The message conveyed by the education minister’s bureau is crystal clear: In education and academia, loyalty to the occupation and annexation project has become a decisive criterion.”

Bimkom Report: Israel’s “No Construction Zone” Adjacent to the Separation Barrier Has Little To Do With Security

In a new report, the Israeli NGO Bimkom sheds light on the very problematic regulation that was the legal pretext behind Israel’s recent demolition of 70 Palestinian homes in Wadi Hummos – i.e., the argument that the construction was located too close to Israel’s separation barrier.

Bimkom explains that in 2011, the Israeli military issued a “no construction order” to prevent construction close to the separation barrier, ostensibly on the basis of security considerations. The zone defined by the order ranges from ranges from 30 meters to 700 meters in different areas (on both sides of the barrier). Given that much of the barrier passes through the West Bank (meaning the land on both sides is Palestinian land), the cumulative impact on the Palestinians is significant. According to Bimkon, the total area affected by the no-construction order is approximately 195,000 dunams [48,185 acres/195km2] of land, belonging to 115 Palestinian villages.

While the order also (theoretically) impacts 15,000 dunams of land in areas where there are settlements located close to the barrier, the perimeter of the zone and enforcement against construction within it follows a predictable logic in favor of the settlements.

Bimkom writes:

“Similar to the barrier route, the no-construction order is determined such that its impact on settlement construction is minimal, but its impact on Palestinian villages is enormous. The negative impact of the physical barrier on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians is intensified expanded to hundreds of meters in which Palestinian construction is prevented. The potential for Palestinian development in Area C is already very limited, and the no-construction zone only serves to exacerbate the situation. In summary, it can be seen that the security considerations which are supposedly behind the construction ban are often questionable, and this also applies to Wadi al-Hummus. The obvious conclusion is that the security considerations according to which buildings in Areas A and B were demolished are a smoke-screen for political considerations whose purpose is to reduce the Palestinian population in the seam zone, especially in the Jerusalem region, or even to punish them for unrest in the area, according to army reports. The threat of demolition still hangs over Wadi al-Hummus, as there are a large number of other buildings that have received demolition orders and the court is scheduled to discuss their case in the coming months.”

Also, as detailed above, the inconsistency of Israeli policy when it comes to enforcing the “no-construction zone” was on display this week, as Israel approved the construction of 194 units in the Ganei Modlin settlement, right up to the barrier (discussed above). Whereas Israel rejected an offer by Palestinians in Wadi Hummos to privately finance the construction of new and higher wall near their buildings (and went ahead and demolished them), Israel authorities accepted an offer by developers behind the Ganei Modlin project to finance the construction of high wall near the construction, allowing expansion of a settlement to move ahead.

Ir Amim: Israel’s Crackdown in Issawiya Advances Settlement Project in East Jerusalem

In +972 Mag, Ir Amim researcher Aviv Tartarsky published a superb analysis of the ongoing campaign of daily harassment and intimidation Israeli authorities have unleashed against Palestinians living in the Issawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Tatarsky writes:

“The campaign against Issawiya signals a new stage in Israel’s oppressive policies in East Jerusalem, and is part of the overall change in Israeli policy toward the Palestinians with the backing of the Trump administration. In the past, Israel primarily focused on settlement construction in the eastern part of the city. By building so-called ‘facts on the ground,’ the government intended to make it as difficult as possible to draw a border along the Green Line and create two capitals in Jerusalem. Today that focus has dangerously shifted to breaking apart Palestinian Jerusalem. Israel is pouring hundreds of millions of shekels into projects that will take over large parts of the the Old City and its surrounding neighborhoods, while fragmenting Palestinian territory and jeopardizing the Palestinian population. Neighborhoods such as Silwan, A-Tur and Sheikh Jarrah have seen an intensification of home demolitions and evictions on the one hand, while on the other the municipality has built promenades, heritage centers, and other tourist attractions for the Jewish settlers living inside Palestinian neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Israel is aiming to redraw the city’s municipal borders so as to push 120,000 Palestinians — more than a third of the city’s Palestinian population — out of the city. According to legislation advanced last year by Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin, neighborhoods such as Kufr Aqab, Ras Hamis and the Shuafat refugee camp — already separated from the rest of the city by the separation wall — will be drawn out of the municipal boundaries. Issawiya, then, portends what Israel has in store for the remaining Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem: continual violence that has no aim other than oppressing and making life miserable for all who live there.”

Terrestrial Jerusalem In-Depth Report: The Silwan Tunnel Project

Terrestrial Jerusalem produced an essential in-depth report on Israeli and U.S. policy towards Silwan, offering important context and shedding new light on the significance of Ambassador Friedman and Jason Greenblatt’s political stunt alongside Elad in the tunnels underneath the neighborhood.

Danny Seidemann writes in the report’s introduction:

“The event was not merely dramatic. The choreography illuminated at one critical moment and in one critical space two apparently disparate dimensions of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and their current dynamics: the territorial skirmishing and the battle over narrative in Jerusalem. More than anywhere else, the settlement in Silwan embodies the significant changes taking place in the Old City of Jerusalem and its immediate environs. The opening tunnel was, superficially, a minor routine event that disclosed developments that are anything but routine. As such, it requires an in-depth analysis that takes a hard look at the event, its background and its consequences. In our three sectioned report, we will begin by examining the background and significance of the settlement in Silwan. In Part II, we will examine the tunnel, its archeological, historical and ideological significance and the context in which it was excavated. Part III will deal with the nature of the shift in US policy regarding Silwan, its sources and its ramifications.”

Bonus Reads

“Goodbye withdrawal, hello sovereignty: The triumph of the settlers” (Times of Israel)
“Peace Cast: Housing Rather than Ideology” (Americans for Peace Now)
“How Ayelet Shaked, a secular woman, came to dominate the right-wing religious camp in Israel” (JTA)
“India’s Settler-Colonial Project in Kashmir Takes a Disturbing Turn” (Washington Post)

***NOTE: This week the Israeli government unleashed a massive wave of approvals to advance plans for settlement construction — in excess of 2,000 units — in highly sensitive and strategically significant areas deep inside the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. More approvals/advancements are expected in the coming weeks. See below for detailed coverage of the individual plans, keeping in mind both the significance of each approval on its own, and as part of the overarching Israeli government agenda clearly intending to both prevent any possibility of a Palestinian state and to further the march toward formal annexation of the West Bank. Also keep in mind, importantly, that there has been zero public push back from the Trump Administration against this surge, which comes on the heels of Ambassador Friedman’s statement last week that Israel will never be required to remove any settlements.***

August 24, 2018

Settlement Wave, Part 1: High Planning Council Advances Plans for 1,004 Settlement Units (96% Located Deep in the West Bank)
Settlement Wave, Part 2: Housing Ministry Published Tenders for 420 Settlement Units
Settlement Wave, Part 3: Jerusalem District Committee Advances Plans for 603 Settlement Units in East Jerusalem
Settlement Wave, Part 4: More Settlement Construction Coming Soon
U.S. Stands by Israeli “Intentions” on Settlements
State Tells High Court: We Can Annex the West Bank – International Law Be Damned
This Week in Ariel: Settlers Celebrate 40 Years, A Construction Boom, A Medical School, & An Evangelical “Leadership Camp”
Amana (the Official Settler Movement) Moves Its HQ to Sheikh Jarrah
Settlement Gains in East Jerusalem Result in Palestinians Self-Demolitioning Their Homes
Bonus Reads

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

Settlement Wave, Part 1: High Planning Council Advances Plans for 1,004 Settlement Units (96% Located Deep in the West Bank)

On August 22nd, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council (the body in the Israeli Defense Ministry responsible for regulating all construction in the West Bank) advanced plans for 1,004 new settlement units, 96% of which are located deep inside of the West Bank. Of the total, 620 units were approved for deposit for public review and 382 units were given final approval for construction.

As reported by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, the plans approved for deposit for public review (totalling 620 units) are:

370 units in the Adam settlement (aka Geva Benyamin). This project was urged on by Defense Minister Liberman following a stabbing attack in the settlement, which resulted in one death and injuries to three others. The 370 units are part of a larger plan for 1,000+ units that will, if built, connect the Adam settlement to two large settlements in East Jerusalem (Neve Ya’akov and Pisgat Ze’ev) that are on the Israeli side of the separation barrier (the route of the barrier juts far beyond the 1967 Green Line to include Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’akov on the Israeli side while the Adam settlement is on the West Bank side). If the larger plan is implemented, the Adam settlement will have built up areas on both sides of the separation barrier, which could (in all likelihood) present Israel an opportunity to re-route the barrier around Adam — which would de facto annex even more West Bank land to Israel and further choke off Palestinian East Jerusalem from the West Bank to its north. [Note: FMEP’s Lara Friedman and Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran published an op-ed in Haaretz in 2008 warning of this plan – you can read that background here].
85 units in Karnei Shomron settlement. Israel has repeatedly confiscated as “state land” located between Karnei Shomron and the Palestinian village of Qalqilya (which is literally surrounded on three sides by the separation barrier). In November 2017, Israel began clearing landmines from that “state land” in order to prepare for settlement construction. At the time, Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan said that the new construction in the Karnei Shomron area will bring “a million Jews [to] live in Judea and Samaria in the future.”
84 units in the Kiryat Netafim settlement, located about half way between the Ariel settlement and the cluster of settlements close to the 1967 Green Line that are slated to be united into a “super settlement” area (Oranit, Elkana, Shiva Tikva, and others). The expansion of Kiryat Netafim will go towards creating a contiguous corridor of Israeli settlements stretching from sovereign Israeli territory, though the super settlement, to Ariel. As FMEP has repeatedly said, the Ariel settlement is located in the heart of the northern West Bank, reaching literally to the midpoint between the Green Line and the Jordan border. The future of Ariel has long been one of the greatest challenges to any possible peace agreement, since any plan to attach Ariel to Israel (with a finger of land running through settlements like Kiryat Netafim) will cut the northern West Bank into pieces.
52 units in the Beit El settlement. This is the second major approval for new units in Beit El in 2018, with a third plan for 300 more units coming soon, according to Israel Hayom. The construction boom is being hailed by the settler-aligned Arutz Sheva outlet, which wrote that the plans will increase the size of Beit El by 65%. If any of the units are constructed it will be first new, government-sanctioned construction in Beit El in over 10 years. U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is closely associated with the Beit El settlement, having donated to and fundraised for it prior to his appointment as ambassador (including in his capacity as the President of the American Friends of Beit El, reportedly from 2011 until he became ambassador).
29 units in the Otinel settlement, located south of Hebron. MK Yehuda Glick (Likud) lives in Otinel.

Plans that gained final approval, meaning no additional formal approvals are required to move ahead with construction (totalling 382 units) are:

168 units in the Tzofim settlement, located on the Israeli side of the separation barrier, but jutting towards the Karnei Shomron settlement, which also received advancements this week. See the section on Karnei Shomron, above, for context and news regarding this area of settlements.
108 units in the Nofim settlement, located on the Israeli side of the separation barrier but jutting towards the Karnei Shomron settlement, which also received advancements this week. See the section on Karnei Shomron, above, for context and news regarding this area of settlements.
56 units in the Barkan settlement, located near the Kiryat Netafim settlement. Both Barkan and Netafim are 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). See the section on Kiryat Netafim, above. for context and news regarding this area of settlements.
44 units in Ma’ale Adumim, the mega settlement just east of Jerusalem.
6 units in the Avnei Hefetz settlement, located southeast of the Palestinian city of Tulkarem.

Notably, Netanyahu intervened to remove two items from the High Planning Council’s agenda, both of which would have led to the retroactive legalization of illegal outposts. Those plans are:

A plan to retroactively legalize the Ibei Hanahel outpost, which is a non-contiguous “neighborhood” of the Ma’ale Amos settlement, located deep in the southern West Bank. The plan would have allowed the outpost to be demolished and then rebuilt legally with residential units, transforming the outpost into a new, fully authorized settlement.
A plan to build an education center in the Nofei Prat South outpost, which is a non-contiguous“neighborhood” of the Kfar Adumim settlement, located northeast of Jerusalem. The land on which the project would be built is located just 1.5 km away from the Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouin community – the same one that the Israeli government plans to forcibly evacuate in order to cleanse the area of Palestinians and expand settlements. The outpost was established by the Haroeh Ha’ivri (“the Hebrew Shepherd”) nonprofit association, which is funded by the Israeli Education Ministry.

In response to Netanyahu’s directive to remove these two items from the agenda, the heads of the Knesset’s “Land of Israel Lobby,” Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) and Yoav Kisch (Likud), said that the Prime Minister should “ act with greater rigor to promote settlement, rather than doing the opposite.”

Settler leaders were also unsatisfied with the High Planning Council’s overall numbers. Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council (a municipal body for settlements in the northern West Bank), said:

“We are happy about every new house in Samaria, but we have to tell the truth. Hundreds of housing units are not enough for an area that constitutes 12% of the State of Israel…We expect the government to step in the gas, stop worrying about what they will say overseas, and develop this beautiful region.”

Settlement Wave, Part 2: Housing Ministry Published Tenders for 420 Settlement Units

On August 23rd, one day after the Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council advanced a huge tranche of settlement plans (detailed above), the Israeli Housing Ministry published tenders for a total of 425 settlement units (under plans previously approved by the High Planning Council).

Those tenders include:

211 units in the Ma’ale Efraim settlement, located in the Jordan Valley.
54 units in the Givat Ze’ev settlement, located north of Jerusalem.
52 units in the Beit Aryeh settlement, which comes in addition to the the publication of tenders for 511 units in the settlement last week.
42 units in the Ariel settlement. See reporting below for extensive coverage of the many reasons settlers in Ariel are celebrating this week.

Settlement Wave, Part 3: Jerusalem District Committee Advances Plans for 603 Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

In addition to the tranche of settlement plans advanced by the Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council and the tenders published by the Housing Ministry (detailed above), the Jerusalem District Committee deposited for public review (one of the final steps before approval) plans for a total of 608 new settlement units in East Jerusalem, with 345 units slated for the Gilo settlement and 263 units in the Ramot settlement.

On the plan for the Gilo settlement, Ir Amim explains:

“The Gilo plan is being promoted in tandem with development of the new Green Line branch of the Light Rail (construction of which was launched in May), which will be built adjacent to the settlement expansion. This sequencing of events once again exemplifies a pattern of the state investing billions of shekels in transportation infrastructures to allow for extensive construction beyond the Green Line.”

As Ir Amim notes, this week’s advancements come on the heels of Israel’s August 15th decision to publish tenders for 603 units in Ramat Shlomo, and its June 2018 advancement of plans for 1,064 settlement units in the Pisgat Ze’ev settlement — bringing Israel’s two-month total of settlement advancements in East Jerusalem to 2,275 units.

As a reminder, approvals/advancement of settlement plans is not the only ongoing threat to Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Settlers and settler-run organizations continue their campaign to take over sensitive areas in East Jerusalem neighborhoods neighborhood – like Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah – and to create more settler run tourist sites – like the Jerusalem cable car, the Kedem Center, the Abu-Tor footbridge, the Yemenite “heritage center,” and more – to erase the visibility of Palestinians in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, pending legislation in the Knesset seeks to gerrymander the borders of Jerusalem to create a Jewish majority by annexing settlements and cutting out Palestinian neighborhoods from the borders of the city. Sounding the alarm on all of these trends, Ir Amim writes:

“It is vital that the traditional calculus of settlement building be readjusted to a) treat these coordinated efforts to consolidate control of the Old City and surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods with the same urgency afforded to settlement building throughout the whole of East Jerusalem; b) ensure a holistic response that regards private settlement inside the Old City Basin and touristic settlement not as individual phenomena but as multiple elements of a unified and politically lethal strategy.”

Settlement Wave, Part 4: More Settlement Construction Coming Soon

In addition to the plans for 1,004 units that were advanced this week by the High Planning Council, the 425 tenders published by the Housing Ministry, and the 608 units advanced in East Jerusalem (all detailed above), this week saw reports that additional plans are expected to advance soon. Those are:

Ir Amim reports that on September 2nd, the Jerusalem District Committee is expected to discuss a plan to build a six-story building in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in which at least 75 families face eviction by radical settlers, with the backing of the Israeli government and courts. For detailed reporting on the building, plans for which were deposited for public review in May 2018, see FMEP reporting here.
Peace Now reports that tenders are expected to be issued (having already been marketed) for more units in the Adam (Geva Binyamin) settlement. If true, this will be another step towards uniting Adam to the East Jerusalem settlements – the details of which are covered above.
Peace Now also notes that a plan for 300 units in Beit El is expected to be advanced. This comes in addition to the 52 tenders issued for Beit El this week.
The Times of Israel reports that plans for hundreds of additional settlement units will soon be marketed for construction by the Defense Ministry. These plans received final approval before this week’s High Planning Council meeting. A Civil Administration official hinted that the plans will be marketed for the Alfei Menashe and Ma’ale Efraim settlements. [NOTE: This reporting was before the subsequent publication of tenders for 211 units in Ma’ale Efraim, covered above.]

U.S. Stands By Israeli “Intentions” on Settlements

Image by Peace Now

When asked for comment on the various major settlement announcements, the U.S. State Department said that the Trump Administration believes the Israeli government has clearly demonstrated an intent to “adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes the president’s concerns into consideration” – a statement that suggests unequivocally that the Trump Administration has given a green light for massive settlement expansion across the length and breadth of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Notably, on the same day that the bulk of the settlement announcements were made, President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton, was on the ground in Jerusalem. Not only did he offer no comment or criticism of the settlement announcements, he very publicly joined Israeli politicians and settlers leaders for dinner in East Jerusalem, dining in the “City of David National Park,” the archeological/touristic/residential site in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan that is run by the radical Elad settler organization. As FMEP has repeatedly covered, the Elad settler organization is spearheading a government-aided campaign to evict Palestinians from their homes in Silwan, replace them with Jewish Israeli settlers, and transform the neighborhood into a Biblical tourist site emphasizing exclusively the area’s Jewish history.

The head of the Peace Now Settlement Watch program, Shabtay Bendet, told Al-Monitor:

“The situation on the ground is changing rapidly…Restraints on construction in the settlements have been lifted. The Americans don’t care…”

State Tells High Court: We Can Annex the West Bank, International Law Be Damned

On August 7th, the state’s private attorney Harel Arnon submitted a second brief [Hebrew] to the High Court of Justice in defense of the settlement “Regulation Law.” In it he argues that the Knesset is not bound by international law and has the right to apply its own laws outside of its borders and annex land, if it wishes.

Arnon argues:

“The mere application of a certain Israeli norm [law] to an anonymous place outside the state does not necessarily make that anonymous place part of Israel. The Knesset is not restricted from legislating extra-territorially anywhere in the world, including in the region, the Knesset can legislate in Judea and Samaria.”

The brief also argues:

“The Knesset is permitted to impose the powers of the military commander of the West Bank region as it sees fit. The Knesset is permitted to define the authorities of the military commander as it sees fit. The authority of the government of Israel to annex any territory or to enter into international conventions derives from its authority as determined by the Knesset…[and] the Knesset is allowed to ignore the directives of international law in any field it desires.”

Lawyers representing Adalah responded:

“the Israeli government’s extremist response has no parallel anywhere in the world. It stands in gross violation of international law and of the United Nations Charter which obligates member states to refrain from threatening or using force against the territorial integrity of other states – including occupied territories. The Israeli government’s extremist position is, in fact, a declaration of its intention to proceed with its annexation of the West Bank.”

Harel was ordered to submit a second defense of the bill in response to a petition filed by Adalah and Al-Mezan on behalf of seventeen local Palestinian authorities. The petition argues that the Regulation Law violates international law and that the Knesset cannot enact laws over the West Bank where the majority of the population is Palestinians (who are not Israeli citizens and cannot vote).

The High Court of Justice is widely expected to strike down the “Regulation Law,” but has yet to make a ruling. Just last week, Arnon made the case that the recently passed Nation-State Law, which makes “Jewish settlement,” a “constitutional value,” can help him defend the settlement law before the High Court.

For ongoing tracking of the Regulation Law and other annexation trends in Israel, see FMEP’s Annexation Policy Tables.

This Week in Ariel: Settlers Celebrate 40 Years, A Construction Boom, A Medical School, & An Evangelical “Leadership Camp”

Haaretz published a lengthy report this week on the history of the the Ariel settlement – which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month – and the dramatic spike in construction in the settlement in 2018. Even before tenders were issued for 42 new units this week (see above), plans for 839 units had already been approved during the first eight months of 2018, compared to tenders for fewer than 5 units each of the past three years. One of the original settlers of Ariel said:

“During the Obama years, everything here was frozen. But thanks to Donald Trump, we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Not only has Ariel seen a massive surge in construction advancements this year, but the settlement broke ground on a new medical school heavily financed by U.S. casino magnate, and Trump backer, Sheldon Adelson (who this week gave $25 million to the GOP to help it keep the Senate, and in May gave the GOP $30 million to help it keep the House). Many settler leaders and Israeli officials, as well as Adelson and his wife Miriam, were in Ariel this weekend to attend a dedication ceremony for the medical school, despite ongoing controversy around its accreditation under domestic Israeli law. Prime Minister Netanyahu was notably absent from (and reportedly was not invited to) the ceremony, fueling rumors regarding the growing disaffection between him and Adelson.

According to another recent report in Haaretz, Ariel university is illegally dumping construction debris on land that Israel acknowledges is not “state land.” The dump site is outside of the so-called “Blue Line” which the Israeli government uses to demarcate the land that it considers “state land.” Since the dump site is not within the Blue Line, it is likely on land that even the government of Israel recognizes as being privately owned by Palestinians. Anti-settlement watchdog and founder of Kerem Navot, Dror Etkes, commented:

“It’s not surprising that Ariel University, which is the only university in the world built and existing by military order, has adopted the standards accepted in the West Bank involving the takeover of private Palestinian land.”

According to a third Haaretz report, the Israeli Education Ministry has signed a contract to sponsor 3,000-4,000 Israeli high school students of Ethiopian descent to take part in a leadership training program located in Ariel. The program, called “JH Israel,” was founded by American evangelical mega-church pastors Bruce and Heather Johnston, the latter of whom also runs the U.S. Israel Education Association, a pro-Israel, pro-settlement, non-profit group which works with the Family Research Council to lead Congressional delegations to Israel. The JH Israel website says its mission is to help Jewish Israeli students who are “disconnected from the roots of their faith” to establish “a deeper connection to God by embracing their biblical and cultural heritage.” The website also says that Ariel is “at the forefront of biblical prophecy unfolding in modern Israel.”

As FMEP has repeatedly documented, Ariel is located in the heart of the northern West Bank, reaching literally to the midpoint between the Green Line and the Jordan border. The future of Ariel has long been one of the greatest challenges to any possible peace agreement, since any plan to connect Ariel to Israel will cut the northern West Bank into pieces.

Peace Now Settlement Watch Director Shabtay Bendet spoke to Haaretz about the future of the Ariel settlement and the (other) significant repercussions of opening the new medical school. Bendet said:

“Most places in Israel don’t get recognized as cities unless they have 20,000 to 30,000 residents. Ariel became a city when it had just 11,000 residents. Why was this so significant? Because maybe you can uproot a settlement, but you don’t uproot a city. The same holds true for the university. Why was it so important for him to get it accredited? Because when a place has a university, that means it’s established — no pulling it out of the ground….By creating a buffer between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank it makes any future Palestinian state unviable. But besides that, it is also causing damage in the present because its continued expansion impinges on the ability of the surrounding Palestinian villages to develop and grow.”

Amana (the Official Settler Movement) Moves Its HQ to Sheikh Jarrah

The Ynet news outlet reports that the Amana settler organization – the official body of the settlement movement, operating since the 1970s – has moved into its new headquarters in the heart of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, where settlers are continuing to wage a displacement campaign against Palestinian residents. Though Amana has owned the plot of land since 1992, various legal challenges and incredibly sensitive geopolitical considerations have slowed construction of the building, called the “Amana House” (see a detailed history here).

Regarding the strategic implications of the location, Ynet reports:

“Amana says the new headquarters will help bolster the territorial contiguity of Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem.”

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) who previously served as the CEO of Amana, commented that the organization’s relocation:

“constitutes a significant reinforcement to the (Jewish) settlement in east Jerusalem and the bolstering of the Jewish territorial contiguity in the area.”

Several settlement plans are currently proceeding in Sheikh Jarrah, underscoring the strategic location and goals of settler activity in Sheikh Jarrah. As covered previously in this report, Israel is expected to advance a plan for a 6-story office building for settlers, located at the entrance to the neighborhood. Across the street from that building, a highly consequential plan for a new religious school (the Glassman yeshiva) was approved for deposit for public review in July 2017. The goal is clear: to unite the enclaves of settlers living inside of the Palestinian neighborhood by creating a contiguous area of settlement that connects to West Jerusalem, thereby cementing an immovable Jewish Israeli presence in a key Palestinian neighborhood – closing off the possibility of evacuation under a future peace deal.

Settlement Gains in East Jerusalem Result in Palestinians Self-Demolishing Their Homes

OCHA reports that two Palestinian homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina were self-demolished after the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of settlers’ ownership claims. OCHA writes:

“In recent decades, Israeli settler organizations, with the support of the Israeli authorities, have taken control of properties within Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, and some 180 Palestinian families are currently facing eviction cases, filed mainly by settler organizations.”

Bonus Reads

“How Israeli Right-wing Thinkers Envision the Annexation of the West Bank” (Haaretz)
“Let’s Admit It: The Settlers Have Won and We Have Lost” (Haaretz)