Settlement & Annexation Report: October 17, 2024

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.

October 17, 2024

ILA Approves Tenders for Significant Expansion of Ramat Shlomo Settlement in E Jerusalem
As Palestinian Olive Harvest Starts, Rampant Settler Violence Already Documented as International Activists Are Deported
U.K. Sanctions Seven Settler Entities, Including Amana
Israeli AG Asks for More Paperwork Before Govt Provides Bomb Shelters to Illegal Outposts
Likud Party Shares Invite “Preparing to Settle” Gaza
Peace Now Reports On Post-October 7th West Bank Expansion
Bonus Reads

ILA Approves Tenders for Significant Expansion of Ramat Shlomo Settlement in E Jerusalem

Ir Amim reports that on October 14th the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) published a tender for the expansion of the Ramat Shlomo settlement located on the northern border of East Jerusalem. The tender covers the construction of 286 new settlement units in an open patch of land north of the currently built-up settlement area, expanding the settlement north towards the edge of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina. This tender is part of a larger plan for a total of 650 new settlement units units. After approving the tender, the ILA decided to delay its publication date (on which the tender will open for bids) to some time after November 20th.

Ir Amim writes:

“If built, these units would further fragment Palestinian space, achieving two goals of Israeli policy in East Jerusalem: (1) Further complicating the possibility of drawing the future border of a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem and, (2) blocking the ability of Palestinian neighborhoods (Beit Hanina, in this case) to expand and develop in order to meet the needs of their population.”

As Palestinian Olive Harvest Starts, Rampant Settler Violence Already Documented as International Activists Are Deported

The Palestinian olive harvest kicked off October 10th and farmers are already facing harassment and violence by settlers, who are unrestrained by IDF (absence of) enforcement. In addition to the violence, settlers have also been filmed harvesting olives from privately owned orchards. National Security Minister Ben Gvir called on Netanyahu to cancel the olive harvest entirely.

A statement by 12 UN experts called on the Israeli government to protect Palestinians, saying:

“Restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements.”

In addition, the Israeli government has deported at least two American citizens volunteering through an organization called Fazaa to accompany Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest. According to Fazaa, the two volunteers were arrested and interrogated by Israeli soldiers who accused them of violating a closed military zone order. The Israeli government accused the two volunteers of being anarchists and supporting Hamas

According to Haaretz, 17 foreign activists have deported in recent months – – tracking the creation of a team with the IDF dedicated tracking activists in the West Bank.

U.K. Sanctions Seven Settler Entities, Including Amana

On October 15th, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on three Israeli outposts and four settler groups – including the very powerful Amana organization. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also told the BBC that his government is also considering imposing sanctions on Israeli Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement:

“When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as Foreign Secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers. The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked. Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children. Today’s measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. The Israeli government must crack down on settler violence and stop settler expansion on Palestinian land. As long as violent extremists remain unaccountable, the UK and the international community will continue to act.”

The Amana organization is deeply intertwined with the entire settlement enterprise in both legal and illegal (under Israeli law) ways. It plays a central and influential role in the realm of settler political leadership, is very well financed, and owns and develops a large portfolio of land in the West Bank for settlements and outposts. The Times of Israel describes Amana as “ the settlement movement’s development arm and the most prominent Israeli development organization in the West Bank.” The U.K. follows Canada as the second country to impose sanctions on Amana, a growing movement that a group of U.S. Senators urged the Biden Administration to join.

The U.K-sanctioned outposts are:

Tirzah Valley Farm outpost (the U.K. previously sanctioned Moshe Sharvit, who founded the Meitarim outpost);
Meitarim outpost (the U.K. previously sanctioned Yinon Levy, who founded the Meitarim outpost); and,
Shuvi Eretz outpost.

The U.K. also sanctioned the following organizations in addition to Amana:

Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva – a notoriously violent religious school located in the Yitzhar settlement;
Torat Lechima – an Israeli charitable organization; and,
“Hashomer Yosh” – and Israeli organization which brings volunteers to illegal outposts.

Israeli AG Asks for More Paperwork Before Govt Provides Bomb Shelters to Illegal Outposts

Israel’s Attorney General has slowed a plan approved by the Israeli Cabinet to place mobile bomb shelters in illegal outposts. Chastising the Cabinet in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, AG Baharv-Miara insists that such a decision must be reviewed by professionals, a budget impact must be prepared, and a legal position paper must be issued.

In response, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry where he acts as the de facto governor of the West Bank – said:

“We will continue to fix, regulate, and create de facto sovereignty, and the attorney general will continue to interfere… [thanks to] the cabinet ministers for voting unanimously in favor of the decision…we are continuing together and with all our strength for the sake of settlement and security.”

Likud Party Shares Invite “Preparing to Settle” Gaza

Haaretz reports that the Likud Party has issued an invitation to an event promoting Israel’s resettlement of Gaza. Hosted by Daniel Weiss’s Nachala settlement group, the event is scheduled to be held next week near the Gaza buffer zone, and at least eight Member of Knesset are expected to attend including Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, Eliyahu, and Wasserlauf.

In a statement, the Nachala group said:

“the event is not just a theoretical conference, but a practical exercise and preparation for renewed settlement in Gaza…the return to settlement in Gaza is no longer just an idea but a process that is already in advanced stages, with government and public support.”

Peace Now Reports On Post-October 7th West Bank Expansion

In a new report, Peace Now detailing Israel’s rapid annexation of land in Area C – including 5 new settlements, 43 new outposts, new roads, and plans for 8,681 new settlement units – since October 2023.

Peace Now writes:

“After a year of war in Gaza and nearly two years under an extreme right-wing, pro-settler government, the Israeli government’s policy in the occupied West Bank has become fully apparent: annexing the West Bank and shrinking Palestinian space in Area C.

This policy is being carried out through the establishment of a record number of illegal outposts, a sharp increase in the quantity and intensity of settler violence—described by the head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) as Jewish terrorism—closures of roads and highways, and unprecedented measures to legalize and fund illegal outposts. At the same time, the government is completing an administrative infrastructure for the annexation of the West Bank, by transferring powers from the Civil Administration, a military body, to the newly created Settlement Administration, a civil and political administration under the direct authority and control of Minister Smotrich.”

Bonus Reads

“Shin Bet Accuses Israel Police of Ignoring Dangers of Jewish Terror as Rift Between Authorities Deepens” (Haaretz)
“Israel’s new tactic to seizing West Bank lands: Settlement ‘buffer zones’” (Middle East Eye)
“Israel Land Authority tells UNRWA to evacuate Jerusalem premises for breaching lease” (The Times of Israel)
“UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem to be seized” (Israel Hayom)
“Beita’s resurgent civil resistance after a year of settler attacks” (Mondoweiss)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 8, 2018

Jerusalem Municipality Gives Final Approval to Two East Jerusalem Settlement Schemes Pushing Towards Beit Hanina
Claiming Ignorance, State Tells the Court it Will Demolish New Jordan Valley Outpost
Government Officials Lay Cornerstone of “New Migron” Settlement
Israel Seizes Palestinian Land to Build New Road to Settlement
Bennett Violated Govt Rules to Get a Legal Opinion Supporting the De Facto Annexation of Ariel University
In Reversal, Israeli Ministers Embrace Bill to Allow Knesset to Overrule High Court on Any Issue (Not Just on Deporting Asylum Seekers)
Settlers Group Alleges Palestinians are Undertaking a European-Backed Scheme to “Take Over” Area C of West Bank
UN Report Details Israel’s De Facto Annexation of West Bank Land
Four Alleged Security Incidents Near Settlements
Bonus Reads

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

Jerusalem Municipality Gives Final Approval to Two East Jerusalem Settlement Schemes Pushing Towards Beit Hanina

On November 6th, Jerusalem planning authorities granted approval to two settlement projects totalling 652 units in strategic areas that will increase the encroachment of settlements on the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina – where the Israeli government is also advancing the first-ever government-backed settlement enclave inside of the neighborhood. This week the Committee approved:

A plan for 152 new units in the Ramot settlement in northern Jerusalem, extending the settlement’s footprint towards the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.
A plan for 640-units in the Ramat Shlomo settlement, to be built partially on Palestinian land, also extending the settlement north towards an existing settlement enclave inside of the Palestinian Beit Hanina neighborhood.

In granting final approval for the Ramat Shlomo plan, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee decided to increase the number of approved units, from the proposed 500 to 640. And significantly, the Committee rejected serious complaints about expropriating privately owned Palestinian land for settlement purposes.

The Israel anti-settlement watchdog NGO Ir Amim filed one such complaint against the plan, explaining:

“Promoted by Israeli developers claiming ownership of the land in question, the Ramat Shlomo plan exemplifies the endemic discrimination in the planning process that serves to foil Palestinian planning and development. The plan includes Palestinian-owned land, in an area developers have now designated for a park and access road. In order to overcome the legal prohibition against submitting a plan on land not owned by the applicant, the developers successfully engaged the Jerusalem Municipality to sign on as an additional applicant, thereby enabling the expropriation of private Palestinian land.”

Ir Amim researcher Aviv Tartarsky told Haaretz this week:

“It’s very disappointing that the district committee relied on formalistic reasons to approve a step that violates the property rights of Palestinian landowners through and through. These aren’t extremist settlers in outposts somewhere out on hilltops in Samaria [the northern West Bank] but state institutions that are working in Israel’s capital city. This decision is additional proof that Israeli control in East Jerusalem means a regime based on serious discrimination.”

The new approvals add to an ever-growing tidal wave of settlement activity in East Jerusalem affecting the viability of the two-state solution, while tightening the screws on the local Palestinian population.

Claiming Ignorance, State Tells the Court it Will Demolish New Jordan Valley Outpost

Israeli government lawyers told the High Court of Justice that the State of Israel does not know who built an illegal outpost on a disused military base in the Jordan Valley, which settlers have named “Camp Gadi”, and announced that the Civil Administration will demolish it. If the Civil Administration moves to demolishes the outpost, it will require evicting several settler families who are squatting there, and shutting down a pre-military school that the families have been promoting.

The head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, David Lahiani, seemed to contradict the government’s claim to innocence when he said that he has been in touch with the Civil Administration about legalizing the outpost. If Lahiani has been in touch with the Civil Administration, then questions arise about at what point the Israeli government learned about the outpost and who is behind it. Lahiani’s statement also contradicts (or at least raises questions about) a prior statement from the Jordan Valley Regional Council which denied involvement in establishing the outpost. Further calling into question the role of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, Lahiani was in a picture taken at the outpost which was uploaded to Facebook on October 24th.

Government Officials Lay Cornerstone of “New Migron” Settlement

A cornerstone laying ceremony marked the start of construction on the “New Migron” settlement, to be for the settlers who were removed from the illegal Migron outpost. Several government officials were on hand to lay the cornerstone of the new settlement, plans for which were approved in 2017, near the Kochav Yaakov settlement north of Jerusalem.

In 2011, the Israeli High Court ruled that the Migron outpost must be evacuated because it was built on privately owned Palestinian land. Most of the illegal outpost’s residents were evacuated and most buildings were demolished in Migron in 2012. Determined to demonstrate its support for settlers in the face of this court-compelled evacuation, the government promised to establish two new settlements: “New Migron” (located close to Kochav Yaakov settlement) as well as the approval of a plan for 184 housing units east of the Adam settlement (aka Geva Binyamin). All said, the two new settlements and temporary housing for the evicted settlers cost Israeli taxpayers millions of dollars – sending settlers a clear message that for them, law-breaking pays off.

At the ceremony this week, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin said:

“During such events, it is customary to rejoice, but as someone who accompanied Migron from the moment of the evacuation to the present day, this is not a happy event. We would be happy if we had another legal system that made a logical decision, and I long for the days when the justice system will do justice. The settlement will grow and expand this way from time immemorial. The evacuation attempts will only lead to the strengthening and expansion of settlement.”

Housing Minister Yoav Galant, also at the ceremony, said:

“laying the cornerstone means that the territories of Yehudah and Shomron are not negotiable. It is not a subject for sale. We are laying a cornerstone for Migron and we will build it. I will see to it that the Israeli government does so by the end of the year.”

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, also in attendance, said:

“I did not come here to convince anyone about our rights in the land of Israel, I came here with mixed feelings of happiness from laying the cornerstone, alongside the great sadness of the difficult evacuation five years ago. We are here, first and foremost, thanks to the families of Migron that did not give up.”

Israel Seizes Palestinian Land to Build New Road to Settlement

According to Maan News, Israeli forces seized 38 acres (155 dunams) of Palestinian land in order to pave a road to the Beit Aryeh settlement, located northwest of Ramallah. Members of the al-Lubban al-Gharbi village council claim that the land is privately owned by Palestinians from the village and called on village residents to find documents proving land ownership in anticipation of an appeal against the construction.

So far this year, the Beit Aryeh settlement has been the beneficiary of two significant settlement advancements totalling 563 new units:

On August 23, 2018 the Israeli Housing Ministry published a tender for 52 new settlement units in Beit Aryeh.
On August 11, 2018 the government published a tender for 511 new settlement units in Beit Aryeh.

Bennett Violated Govt Rules to Get a Legal Opinion Supporting the De Facto Annexation of Ariel University

According to a new Haaretz report, Education Minister Naftali Bennett violated Israeli guidelines by using a private law firm to support his Knesset bill bringing settlement colleges and universities under the authority of the Israeli Higher Education Council. Prior to the Knesset’s passage of Bennet’s bill in February 2018, the Higher Education Council only included schools located inside of sovereign Israeli territory. The new law is tantamount to de facto annexation of settlement schools, and members of the Israeli Higher Education Council remain vocally opposed to the move.

The use of a private law firm is seen as an attempt to bypass the Education Ministry’s own apolitical (for now) legal advisors, and is a breach of the guidelines set years ago for every ministry by the Israeli Attorney General. The guidelines stipulate that in cases where private opinions are sought, the legal advisors for the ministry must supervise the process.

Bennet reportedly used an opinion paper issued by the Herzog Fox & Neeman firm stating the inclusion of Ariel University in the domestic Higher Education Council would not violate existing grant terms between universities in sovereign Israel and the European Union (which does not do business in the occupied territories). The opinion was then presented to members of the Higher Education Council to assuage fears that implementing the new law would result in losing international funding. The opinion said that the potential for funding cuts is “nearly non-existent.”

An anonymous senior official with the Higher Education Council told Haaretz:

“You cannot base official policy on an opinion paid for by an interested party. That’s not serious.”

Ariel University has not yet been admitted to the Council, despite the passage of the law in February 2018 and despite Minister Bennett’s repeated threats to end state relations with the Council if it did not immediately grant membership to the school. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin issued a rebuke to Bennett’s threats, saying:

“It’s possible to love Ariel without mocking academia.”

In Reversal, Israeli Ministers Embrace Bill to Allow Knesset to Overrule High Court on Any Issue (Not Just on Deporting Asylum Seekers)

At a meeting on November 4th, ministers in the governing Israeli coalition reportedly decided to abandon a bill that would empower the Knesset to reinstate its plan to deport African asylum seekers after it was struck down by the High Court, in favor of a much more far-reaching bill granting the Knesset the ability to reinstate any law the High Court strikes down. The passage of that bill would likely impact the fate of not only African asylum seekers but settlement-related legislation that has already been passed – most notably,the settlement Regulation Law – and other undemocratic measures that might follow. This news follows an exact opposite announcement two weeks ago, when Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked embraced the single-issue version of the bill, while promising to make the unlimited version a sticking point in any future coalition agreement.

Notably, the leaders of the current governing coalition decided to make this move at a meeting that was not attended by Kulanu Party leader Moshe Kahlon, who has until now blocked the coalition from advancing the unlimited version bill.

Israeli Attorney General Mandelblit vehemently opposes the bill. Mandelblit said:

“One must vigorously oppose this bill, which harms the constitutional regime of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Removing all restrictions on undermining the human rights of a specific group, as is proposed now, has far-reaching implications for constitutional law and the democratic regime in Israel, and I strongly oppose it.”

Settlers Group Alleges Palestinians are Undertaking a European-Backed Scheme to “Take Over” Area C of West Bank

The radical settler organization Regavim – which devotes its efforts to systematically mapping out and expelling Palestinians from strategic areas in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Negev – presented a new report to the Knesset this week claiming that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is using European funding to take over land in Area C of the West Bank. The report alleges that the PA uses European money to pave roads, build on strategic military and diplomatic locations, and “steal” water resources, at the expense of Israel.

Regavim warns:

“If the government does not come to its senses and ‎does something now, the Palestinian plan will create ‎irrevocable changes and facts on the ground.”‎

Adding irony to Regavim’s current efforts to stop “illegal” Palestinian activity in the West Bank, in August 2018 the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published a comprehensive investigation into Regavim’s leaders. The group’s stated mission is “to ensure responsible, legal, accountable & environmentally friendly use of Israel’s national lands and the return of the rule of law to all areas and aspects of the land and its preservation.” The investigation revealed, however, that the organization’s efforts to identify and stop illegal construction are merely a tool to dispossess Palestinians of their land.

The Investigation found, in fact, that Regavim and its leaders have a demonstrable disregard for the Israeli planning and building laws that they purport to be dedicated to enforcing, evidenced most plainly by the fact that 15 Regavim officers are living in structures built on privately owned Palestinian land, some with demolition orders issued against them. These include the building where Yehuda Eliyahu, the current executive director of Regavim, lives.

UN Report Details Israel’s De Facto Annexation of West Bank Land

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Situation of Human Rights in Palestinian Territories, Michael Lynk, issued a new report to the UN General Assembly – half of which is devoted to documenting the Israeli government’s annexation of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem and de facto annexation of land in the occupied West Bank.

The report concludes in part:

“These statements of political intent, together with Israel’s colonizing acts on the ground, its legislative activity, and its refusal to adhere to its solemn obligations under international law or to follow the direction of the international community with respect to its 51-year-old occupation, have established the probative evidence that Israel has effectively annexed a significant part of the West Bank and is treating this territory as its own. While Israel has not yet declared formal sovereignty over any parts of the West Bank, the Special Rapporteur submits that the strict prohibition against annexation in international law applies not only to a formal declaration, but also to those acts of territorial appropriation by Israel that have been a cumulative part of its efforts to stake a future claim of formal sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Four Alleged Security incidents Near Settlements

In the past three days, Israeli authorities have reported four security incidents near settlements:

On November 7th, the IDF reported that unknown assailants shot at a bus and lightly injured two Israelis near the settlement of Beit El, located deep inside the West Bank near Ramallah.

On November 6th, three Palestinian men were arrested near the Mevo Dotan settlement, south of Jenin, one of whom was allegedly carrying a gun.

Earlier on November 6th, a Palestinian woman was shot and arrested near the Kfar Adumim settlement, between Jerusalem and Jericho,after allegedly attacking Israeli border policemen with a pair of scissors.

On November 5th, a Palestinian man was shot and arrested after allegedly attempting to stab Israeli settlers and an Israeli IDF officer near the Kiryat Arba settlement, in Hebron.

Bonus Reads

Khan al-Ahmar and Israel’s Creeping Annexation of the West Bank” (Newsweek)
“Everyone Knows Settlers Cut Down Palestinian Olive Trees. But Israel Doesn’t Care” (Haaretz)
“Settler leaders warned Rabin not to ‘cross redlines’ before assassination” (Times of Israel)
“Hard Questions, Tough Answers: Why the Israeli mainstream turned right” (Americans for Peace Now)
“An Interview with MK Sharen Haskel” (Fathom Journal)
“Israeli justice minister opposes letting government jurists act as ‘gatekeepers’” (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.

October 4, 2018

More Settlement Expansion in East Jerusalem: Ramot & Ramat Shlomo
Settlers Take Over Palestinian Building in Silwan, Evict Current Tenants
The Kohelet Policy Forum: The Right-Wing Group Driving Pro-Settlement Policies

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

More Settlement Expansion in East Jerusalem: Ramot & Ramat Shlomo

Ir Amim reports that on October 4th, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee will discuss – and is expected to advance – two plans to expand settlements along the northern perimeter of East Jerusalem: a plan for 500 new units in the Ramat Shlomo settlement and a plan for 152 new units in the Ramot settlement. If implemented, both plans will compound the encroachment of settlements on the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina; the Jerusalem Municipality only recently approved the first-ever settlement construction inside Beit Hanina.

Map by WINEP

These two plans are just the latest advancements for Ramot and Ramat Shlomo: in August 2018 a plan for 263 units in Ramot was deposited for public review, and construction tenders were published for a plan for 603 units in Ramat Shlomo (under what is colloquially known as “The Biden Plan”).

The plan for 152 new units in the Ramot settlement is especially alarming because, as Ir Amim details, it is part of a larger scheme to claim undeveloped land in East Jerusalem for settlements:

“[The Ramot plan] represents a bold push toward Israel consolidating control of the undeveloped area between Ramot and Bir Nabala. Ir Amim has acquired documents showing plans to expand the entire northern section of the Ramot settlement toward the Palestinian area. As can be seen on the map, the large open area between the Israeli settlement and the Bir Nabala enclave is already cut by the Separation Barrier, which completely encircles the enclave, isolating its residents from the surrounding Palestinian space and imposing severe economic hardship.” [Editor’s note: for more on how the separation barrier has completely isolated the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Bir Nabala, see this short video by The Guardian].

For its part, the advancement of the Ramat Shlomo is also alarming, since Israeli authorities essentially rewrote the laws governing construction in Jerusalem in order to advance the project:

“The [Ramat Shlomo] plan includes Palestinian-owned land, in an area developers have now designated for a park and access road. In order to overcome the legal prohibition against submitting a plan on land not owned by the applicant, the developers successfully engaged the Jerusalem Municipality to sign on as an additional applicant, thereby enabling the expropriation of private Palestinian land. Despite this process contravening the Planning and Building Law, the District Committee approved the plan for deposit, circumventing the normal process of land reparcelization conducted to ensure an equitable distribution of land rights.”

The expected advancement of these plans for the expansion of the Ramot and Ramat Shlomo settlements is a continuations of an alarming acceleration in East Jerusalem settlement advancements since President Trump assumed office in January 2017, reflecting the sea change in U.S. policy towards settlements. Over the past two months alone, Israel has advanced plans for:

75 units in Beit Hanina (advanced through first stage of planning process)
13 units in Sheikh Jarrah (deposited for public review)
345 units in Gilo (deposited for public review)
1,064 units in Pisgat Ze’ev (deposited for public review)
263 units in Ramot (deposited for public review)
603 units (“The Biden Plan”) in Ramat Shlomo (tenders published)
Reported above, 500 additional new units in the Ramat Shlomo in August 2018
Reported above, 152 new units in Ramot settlement in August 2018.

Settlers Take Over Palestinian Building in Silwan, Evict Current Tenants

Ma’an News reports that the radical Elad settler organization has evicted a Palestinian family from a building that settlers purchased in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The previous owners of the building, who currently live in the U.S. – reportedly notified tenants at the property of the sale several months ago.

The settlers, under the protection of Israeli security forces, did not allow the evictees – 7 members of the Maswadeh family – to move their belongings out of the building before moving in. The Maswadeh family had rented two apartments in the building for the past 30 years. According to reports, the settlers have already started to build what appears to be a gate to control access to the property.

The Kohelet Policy Forum: The Right-Wing Group Driving Pro-Settlement Policies

Haaretz published a lengthy profile of the Kohelet Policy Forum, a right-wing advocacy organization that wields enormous influence over senior Israeli government figures, including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Likud). The Kohelet Policy Forum is revealed to have played a major role in shaping several of the most significant pro-settlement, pro-annexationist legislative actions in the past year, including the high court override bill, the Nation-State Law, and a bill that would allow Israeli cabinet ministers to select their own personal legal advisors.

According to Haaretz, the Kohelet Policy Forum’s fingerprints “are visible in every explosive and divisive issue that has weakened the legal system and regulations.” FMEP tracks all these pieces of legislation, and many more, in its Annexation Policy Tables.

The funding sources for the Kohelet Policy Forum, which was established in 2013, are worth noting: the largest funder is an anonymous donor in the United States, who funds were transferred to Kohelet via an American nonprofit called American Friends of Kohelet Policy Forum. In 2016 the American group donated about 7.8 million shekels ($2.1 million) to Kohelet; in 2017 about 28.5 million shekels ($7.7 million). In light of Kohelet’s agenda, the anonymity of Kohelet’s major U.S. funder escapes the ire of the Israeli government, which has sought to stigmatize and shutdown groups which draw the majority of their funding from foreign sources.

Another main funder is the Tikvah Fund, a wealthy U.S.-based organization with a mission to promulgate American Republican Party views in Israel. Since its founding, the Kohelet Policy Forum has received over $1 million from the Tikvah Fund, and the two entities share board members. The Tikvah Fund also supports pro-settlement organizations.

Notably, Eugene Kontorovich is the head of the international law department at the Kohelet Policy Forum. Kontorovich self-identifies as a key figure in the drafting of “anti-BDS” (but actually, anti-free speech/pro-settlement) laws in the United States. At the core of these laws is the conflation of Israeli settlements with Israeli proper, based on Kontorovich’s argument that Israel is not occupying Palestinian territory. Kontorovich has also testified multiple times to U.S. Congress, including in support of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem; in support of Congress legislating U.S. foreign policy, including with regard to Jerusalem; on the impact of the BDS movement, and in support of U.S. recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

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.

August 17, 2018

U.S. Ambassador: There is “No Reason” to Evacuate Settlements from West Bank
Israel Publishes Tenders for 603 new units in East Jerusalem Settlement of Ramat Shlomo
Massive Jerusalem Development Deal for 20,000 New Apartments – Including Settlement Expansion Projects
Israel Triples Size of New Settlement Industrial Zone In Hebron
Knesset Sends Funds to New Settler Council in Hebron, Despite High Court Injunction
Knesset Approves Past Due Payment for the Construction of Amichai Settlement & “Temporary” Outpost
Delay in Opening of new Jerusalem “Park” That Confiscates Palestinian Spring
Israel Evicts Palestinians from Bethlehem Home Despite Court Order
Bonus Reads

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

U.S. Ambassador: There is “No Reason” to Evacuate Settlements from West Bank

According to MK Yehuda Glick (Likud), U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman – who is one of three lead authors of the supposedly forthcoming U.S. peace plan – told a group of settler leaders that he does not see any reason why settlements would need to be evacuated from the West Bank in a peace deal with the Palestinians. MK Glick said Friedman was “very explicit” about that point during the meeting, which was held at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Notably, the position attributed to Friedman is consistent with positions he has taken in the past, both in speaking and writing.

The Embassy declined to comment on the headline-making statement or the meeting itself. Without an American statement, settler leaders are the only source for what transpired in the meeting. According to MK Glick, the small group of settler leaders pushed Ambassador Friedman to endorse an “economic peace plan” as a substitute for a political solution to the conflict. Glick said that an economic proposal would “make redundant the discourse of concessions” (under previous U.S. proposals, Israeli concessions would have included the evacuation of far flung settlements in the West Bank).

Along those lines, the group presented Ambassador Friedman with a plan for a new industrial zone and medical center in the southern West Bank that, according to Glick and Har Hevron Regional Council Chairman Yochai Damari, would employ and serve thousands of Palestinians. The plan was presented by Glick, Damari, and Palestinian businessman Muhammad Nasser, who also attended the meeting. According to Glick, the U.S. Ambassador was supportive of the plan and offered U.S. assistance once the initiative was up and running.

[UPDATED 9/28/18: More details on the joint Israeli-Palestinian industrial zone in the Har Hebron region was later fleshed out by Ynet in a report here. The plan calls for an industrial zone and commercial center to be built near the Tene-Omarim settlement. Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon briefed the details of the plan to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Jason Greenblatt, U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations. The U.S. is expected to present the plan to the World Economy Forum during its annual meeting in January 2019]

Israel Publishes Tenders for 603 new units in East Jerusalem Settlement of Ramat Shlomo

Map by Ir Amim

On August 15th, the Israel Land Authority published construction tenders for 603 new settlement units in the Ramat Shlomo settlement in East Jerusalem. The 603 units are part of a larger plan for 1,500 units in Ramat Shlomo (tenders for almost all of which have been published now) that was announced by Israel in 2010, during the visit of then-Vice President Joe Biden. The timing of that announcement, and the inflammatory nature of settlement approvals in East Jerusalem (which the Obama Administration pressured Israel to halt), sparked outrage and prompted Biden to issue harsh criticism of Israel while on the ground. The incident earned the 2010 Ramat Shlomo plan the nickname the “Biden Plan.”

Anti-settlement watchdog Ir Amim comments that the Ramat Shlomo tenders are a part of the Israeli endeavor to:

“expand the Israeli neighborhoods/settlements in such a way as to consume the remaining space between them and nearby Palestinian neighborhoods ( a critical geo-political link between Jerusalem and Ramallah) so as to inhibit their development and further complicate any future division of the city.”

There has been a significant uptick in East Jerusalem settlement advancements since President Trump assumed office in January 2017, reflecting the sea change in U.S. policy towards settlements (evidenced again this week by Ambassador Friedman’s remarks, detailed above). As Ir Amim details, Israel’s unrestrained advancement of settlement construction in East Jerusalem has been coupled with legislative schemes to change the borders of Jerusalem (annexing far flung settlements into Jerusalem and cutting Palestinian neighborhoods out of Jerusalem) in order to engineer a Jewish Israeli majority in Jerusalem.

Massive Jerusalem Development Deal for 20,000 New Apartments – Including Settlement Expansion Projects

On August 15th, the Jerusalem Municipality signed a $380 million deal with the Israel Land Authority to finance a plethora of projects across the city, including 20,000 new apartment units. While much of this development will be in West Jerusalem, some will reportedly be in the East Jerusalem settlements of Pisgat Ze’ev, French Hill, and Atarot. The Jerusalem City Council is expected to give final approval to the plan next week.

Israel Triples Size of New Settlement Industrial Zone In Hebron

Map by Peace Now

According to The Jerusalem Post, on August 12th the Israeli government approved a plan that will triple the size of an industrial zone in the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron, approving 10 million shekels for the project. FMEP reported on the initial plans to build the Kiryat Arba industrial zone in March 2018, noting that the industrial zone is technically within the borders of the settlement but well outside of the developed lines of the settlement and beyond the fence that surrounds it – making it, in effect, a new Israeli settlement in Hebron. Now, the new settlement is set to significantly expand in one of the most volatile areas in the West Bank.

Knesset Sends Funds to New Settler Council in Hebron, Despite High Court Injunction

On August 12th, the Knesset Finance Committee approved 2 million shekels (about $550,000 USD) to fund the new local settler committee in Hebron. The Finance Committee requested that the money be disbursed to the Hebron settler committee “in accordance with an agreement in the past with MK Bezalel Smotrich,” (Habayit Hayehudi)…after the necessary professional and legal checks.”

The creation (via military order) of a new autonomous committee to represent and service a cluster of settlers living in enclaves in Hebron’s city center is being challenged by the Hebron Municipality. In response to the Palestinian petition, the High Court of Justice put a freeze on the plan, effective July 4, 2018, and gave the Israeli government 120 days to explain the legality of the plan. The petition argued that the military order creating the new body was intentionally vague in defining its legal and geographical jurisdiction, and pointed out that the new committee would be able to override decisions by the Hebron Municipality thereby stripping Palestinians of autonomy and representation in matters that directly affect them.

It is unclear from reporting if the Knesset Finance Committee’s decision to fund the new committee is related to the High Court’s ongoing consideration of the case. However, what is clear is that the Knesset is not concerned about undermining the High Court of Justice’s power over West Bank issues — indeed, the Knesset is actively pursuing that end with the recent passage of a new law stripping the Court of jurisdiction over land disputes and transferring it to a domestic Israeli Court, and with ongoing consideration of a bill that would allow the Knesset to reinstate laws that the High Court strikes down.

Knesset Approves Past Due Payment for the Construction of Amichai Settlement & “Temporary” Outpost

On August 12th, the Knesset Finance Committee approved the transfer of $9.5 million to pay contractors for their ongoing work on the first new settlement built with government approval in 25 years, Amichai, and a new “temporary” outpost for settlers whose homes were built on privately owned Palestinian land in the Netiv Ha’avot outpost and were recently demolished. Amichai is the new settlement approved as a pay-off to the settlers who were evacuated from the illegal Amona outpost. Construction on Amichai has begun, but has been interrupted several times due to lack of government cash, a problem ostensibly solved by this week’s cash transfer.

With respect to the new outpost for the Netiv Ha’avot outpost settlers, in February 2017 the Israeli government approved an unusual plan to place 15 mobile homes — connected to Israeli water, power, sewage, roads, and other infrastructure — at a site located near, but not within, the borders of the Alon Shvut settlement, in effect creating a new outpost for settlers evacuated from another outpost. When the High Planning Council initially approved the advancement of this plan in October 2017, it noted that “the plan is improper, but we will have to approve it as a temporary solution.” At the time, the Council ordered the government to go about expanding the borders of the Alon Shvut settlement to include the land. Under the approved plan, the new homes will be allowed to stay in that location for three years. However, based on past practice, it can be expected that within that time, or at the end of those three years, the site will “regulated” by Israel to become a permanent area of Israeli settlement.

In both cases – the Amichai plan and the Netiv Ha’avot plan – the Israeli government massively “compensating” citizens for the inconvenience of having been caught brazenly breaking Israeli law (i.e., for building without permits on privately owned Palestinian land). The two cases highlight the way in which the Israeli government not only encourages illegal settlement building, but generously incentivizes and rewards its. At this point, in addition to two new settlements, approximately 20 million shekels ($5.4 million) has been paid to the Amona evacuees and 15 million shekels ($4 million) to the Netiv Ha’avot evacuees.

Delay in Opening of new Jerusalem “Park” That Confiscates Palestinian Spring

A dispute between Israeli government agencies has led to a delay in the opening of a new Jerusalem tourist site – a park established for the express purpose of taking control over the Ein Al-Hanya spring, which was historically part of the al-Walajah Palestinian village. Originally slated to open April 1st, the delay centers around a battle over who will fund the operations of the site. For now, the site is closed and the grounds are not being maintained.

Regardless of the dispute, Israel has implemented policies that prevent Palestinians from accessing the spring and surrounding lands, including illegally moving a police checkpoint to further choke off al-Walajah from Jerusalem. As detailed in Haaretz, the plan for the park includes three pools filled by the spring – two for Israelis and tourists, and one for al-Walajah residents to water their crops and flocks. However, that third pool for Palestinians has not been built, and the water “merely spills into the nearby wadi.” The other pools, like the park, are currently empty and fenced off.

Israel Evicts Palestinians from Bethlehem Home Despite Court Order

Haaretz reports that settlers have forcibly evicted a Palestinian family from their home near Bethlehem, in defiance of an Israeli court order. The Palestinian Samara family reports that settlers tricked them into leaving the property, after which settlers locked them out, forcibly evicted them and their belongings, and then used a bulldozer to demolish their home. The family has filed an appeal to the High Court of Justice.

The Samara family – which since the early 1980s lived in 3 small units within a larger apartment building – has been targeted for eviction by settlers since 2012, when ownership of the building was transferred to an American organization controlled by Irving Moskowitz, a major funder of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. In 2016, the Gush Etzion Regional Council was given jurisdiction over the compound to move in Jewish Israeli settlers. Since that time, the building has been taken over by settlers, except for 2 units in which the Samara family lived as protected tenants (the third was welded shut), based on an Israeli court ruling under which the building’s owner promised not to restrict access to the building for four members of the Samara family (no other family members or visitors were allowed access). Regarding the arrangement, the judge wrote:

“This arrangement will remain in force unless a different judicial order is issued after a legal proceeding instituted by one of the parties.”

As Haaretz notes, there does not appear to be a different or new judicial order that would change the 2016 agreement.

In 2017, the Samaras reported that a new settler family had moved into the compound and began harassing the family members who remained – prompting them to file a complaint on July 26, 2018 with the Israeli police in the Beitar Illit settlement. Two weeks later on August 6th, the family was forcibly evicted and their units were demolished.

Despite the Samara’s harassment complaint and a real-time call to the police while the eviction was taking place, Israeli police took no action to prevent settlers from evicting the Samaras, reportedly stealing their cellphones, and bulldozing the properties. The Beitar Illit police station even refuse to allow the Samara family to enter the station and file a complaint until a lawyer for the family got involved many hours later.

Following intervention by UNRWA, the family was allowed to return to search the site for their ID cards and other important belongings. Now homeless, the Samara are taking their case to Israel’s the High Court of Justice.

Bonus Reads

“A Palestinian Bedouin Village Braces for Forcible Transfer as Israel Seeks to Split the West Bank in Half” (The Intercept)
“Between Garbage and Sewage: Israel’s Future Plans for Khan al-Ahmar” (+972 Mag)
“Their Parents Settled the West Bank for Ideology, They’re Staying for the Vibes” (The Times of Israel)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 17, 2017

Building Permits Issued for 240 More Settlement Units in East Jerusalem
Israel to Displace Palestinians in the Jordan Valley & the Northern West Bank for Settlement Expansion
Supreme Court & Attorney General Permit State to Seize Private Palestinian Land for Settlers
New Ir Amim Policy Paper: “Bills and Government Plans for Destructive Unilateral Measures to Redraw the Borders of Jerusalem”
New Peace Now Report: “Escalation in Israel’s Settlement Policy: The Creation of De-Facto Annexation”
Bonus Reads

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

Building Permits Issued for 240 More Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

On November 8th, the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee issued building permits for 240 new settlement units in East Jerusalem – 90 units in Gilo and 150 units in Ramat Shlomo. The new building permits add to an ever-growing tidal wave of settlement activity in East Jerusalem affecting the viability of the two-state solution, while tightening the screws on the local Palestinian population.

In addition, the committee also approved permits for 44 new units for Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. These permits are an anomaly: for the past 50 years Israel has systematically discriminated against Palestinian building rights, with only about 7% of building permits issued in Jerusalem going to Palestinians (who represent 37% of the population). Bimkom, an Israeli organization that monitors planning and building in Jerusalem, estimates that 20,000 units in East Jerusalem lack permits while an additional 10,000 more units are needed by Palestinians.

Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann recently explained

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. So much for (Jerusalem Mayor Nir) Barkat’s claim ‘we build for everyone.’

In Beit Hanina, as in Palestinian neighborhoods across East Jerusalem, Israeli demolitions of buildings – based on the argument that they lack permits – only add to the misery. The most recent demolition in Beit Hanina happened last month.

Israel to Displace Palestinians in the Jordan Valley & the Northern West Bank for Settlement Expansion

For the first time, the Israeli army appears to be preparing to evict Palestinians from their land through the use of a 2003 military order meant to handle the evacuation of unauthorized Israeli outposts. Palestinians living in the northern Jordan Valley discovered the eviction order affecting around 136 acres of their land – which sits near several Israeli settlements.

A lawyer representing the Palestinians in this case submitted a petition to the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to stop the implementation of the order. The lawyer, Tawfiq Jabareen, argues, “This is a mass expulsion order against the Palestinian population that violates international law.”

The Haaretz Editorial Board powerfully rebutted the Israeli army’s argument that the order does not, in fact, actually call for the evacuation of the Palestinians, but will only demolish structures built without Israeli permission. The Editorial Board writes,

Whatever legal proceeding ensues, the fact is that this declaration is an escalation of the pressure on the local Palestinians and part of the declared Israeli intent to evict as many Palestinians as possible from Area C, which is under total Israeli control, including from the Jordan Valley.

It’s no coincidence that near Ein al-Hilweh [one of the targeted areas] are two expanding unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts whose residents periodically threaten the shepherds and try to scare them away from grazing lands in the area. This trend can and must be stopped, because it’s illegal, unjustified and dangerous.

Map by B’Tselem

Israel is also moving to seize land near the city of Shufah in the West Bank, southeast of the Palestinian city of Tulkarem. Palestinian news sources report that the IDF notified residents that Israeli intends to take the land in order to build roads and recreational facilities for a nearby settlement, Avnei Hefetz. Earlier this year, Israel seized land from the Shufah village in order to build a power plant and industrial area for the settlement. In October 2017, the Israeli government advanced plans for 135 new units in the Avnei Hefetz settlement.

Supreme Court & Attorney General Permit State to Seize Private Palestinian Land for Settlers

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit released a legal opinion this week asserting Israel’s right to confiscate privately owned Palestinian land for the exclusive benefit of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

This new opinion concurs with a Supreme Court ruling issued last month that held Israeli settlers are a part of the “local population” of the West Bank, and can be the beneficiaries of state land seizures for “public use.” It also builds on a precedent set earlier this year in the case of the Amona outpost, when the Court ruled that Israel has a duty to care for Israeli settlers forced out of their homes (because those homes were built illegally on privately-owned Palestinian land). The Court ruled that the state has the authority confiscate “abandoned” Palestinian land to do so (Palestinians are systematically denied the right to access lands that are near settlements, Israeli roads, military bases, firing zones, etc., rendering them “abandoned”).

Map by Peace Now

According to the original Amona ruling, the state’s obligation was to provide temporary housing for the affected settlers; according to the subsequent ruling, the state is obligated to care for the settlers by paving roads, without regard to privately owned Palestinian land that would need to be taken. That ruling upheld the state’s confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land in order to legalize an access road to the illegal outpost of Haresha.

Located near Ramallah, the Haresha outpost was established in 1995 without government approval. In January 2010, the State responded to a petition filed by Peace Now and Yesh Din by announcing its intention to retroactively legalize Haresha; less than a year later, in August 2011, Israel seized the land the outpost was built on by declaring it as “state land.” Haresha was approved to become an official settlement in 2015 (Netanyahu legalized 24 other outposts at the same time), but the outpost still needed to submit plans in order to legalize the individual structures. That a planning process has not yet happened – in part because, as Haaretz notes, there is no legal road leading to the outpost. With the access road moving towards legalization, the outpost is set to follow suit.

Speaking to the significance of the decision on the Haresha outpost access road, Israel Justice Minister Shaked said “The attorney general has issued a legal opinion permitting the expropriation of privately owned Palestinian land to permit an access road to [Haresha] that permits the regulation [legalization] of the entire [settlement].” The anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now is expected to appeal the decision upholding the theft of privately owned land for the legalization of the access road. Peace Now issued a statement saying,

Confiscating the land would constitute a severe violation of international humanitarian law and of the Palestinians’ right to own property. The Attorney General’s legal opinion regarding the access road might lead to additional confiscations of private Palestinian lands, strengthening Israel’s stronghold over Palestinian territory. The Attorney General seeks to allow the confiscation of lands owned by Palestinians, who have no voting rights in Israel for the benefit of Israeli settlers with full rights. If the Netanyahu government will continue down this path it will lead us towards a one state reality, based on discrimination and theft.

New Ir Amim Policy Paper: “Bills and Government Plans for Destructive Unilateral Measures to Redraw the Borders of Jerusalem”

The Israeli NGO Ir Amim this week released a new policy paper analyzing the devastating ramifications of Israeli efforts to gerrymander a Jewish-majority in Jerusalem. In addition to essential background on Jerusalem’s environs and analysis of the two pieces of pending Jerusalem-related legislation, Ir Amim provides new analysis of the humanitarian, political, and urban consequences that will follow if these measures are implemented.

Looking at the impacts of the Knesset bill intended to excise two Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods from the Jerusalem municipality, creating new Israeli municipalities to govern them, Ir Amim writes:

The bills and plans currently in circulation seek to displace Palestinian residents living in Jerusalem from the city, and to artificially add to Jerusalem Israeli residents from outside of it. Beyond obvious political implications, these moves can be expected to have serious humanitarian ramifications….

Should practical steps be taken to cut off the neighborhoods beyond the Barrier or a sweeping revocation of their residents’ permanent residency status implemented, we can expect another wave of migration to the East Jerusalem neighborhoods within the Barrier, already strained by a serious lack of infrastructure, services, educational institutions and affordable housing. Living conditions and infrastructure in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods inside the Barrier will decline even further. In this scenario of increasing housing shortages and infrastructure collapse, an upsurge in the number of Palestinian residents who rent or buy apartments in Israeli neighborhoods/ settlements such as Pisgat Ze’ev, Armon Hanatziv and French Hill can be expected. These phenomena, which will occur under conditions of acute uncertainty and anxiety, can be expected to significantly elevate friction and the potential for eruptions of violence in the city. Many other thousands of Palestinians – currently residents of Jerusalem – will remain beyond the Separation Barrier, now administratively displaced from their city and transferred to contrived regional authorities, only exacerbating their distress. Even should they be completely separated from Jerusalem, Israel will not be able to escape accountability for the dire political, urban and humanitarian crisis – and the fertile ground for escalating hostility – it has created.

New Peace Now Report: “Escalation in Israel’s Settlement Policy: The Creation of De-Facto Annexation”

In a new report, Peace Now details the dangerous flood of settlement activity and the de-facto annexation of Area C in the West Bank that the Netanyahu government has pursued without restraint in 2017. The report covers:

A significant increase in the promotion of plans (6,742 units advanced) and issuance of tenders (3,154 tenders issued) for settlements across the West Bank. This includes the approval of the first new government-backed settlement in 25 years – Amichai.
The increase in road construction in the West Bank aiming to integrate the settlements into Israel proper, attract more construction and residents in the settlements, and create settler-only highways across the West Bank – all done by expropriating more Palestinian land.
A dangerous escalation of anti-Palestinian, pro-settlement activities in East Jerusalem including: the simultaneous settlement approvals and eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the imminent approval of tenders for the Atarot and Givat Hamatos settlements, the expansion of settlement enclaves inside of Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber, and the several legislative efforts to gerrymander the borders of the Jerusalem municipality to secure a Jewish majority in the city.

In conclusion, Peace Now writes

All of the abovementioned developments attest to a quantum leap in the promotion of annexation and the blocking of the possibility of a two-state solution. With the speed of developments all across the West Bank and East Jerusalem—and as red lines are being crossed—we are approaching the final stretch before a two-state solution will be almost impossible, and the anticipated situation will be the long years of bloody conflict of Israeli rule over the Palestinians without hope for change. Thus even with the lack of a final status agreement in sight, it is our duty today to prevent silent annexation efforts and to assure the possibility of a two state solution on the ground.

Bonus Reads

“World Zionist Organization Gave Private Palestinian Land to West Bank Settlers” (Haaretz+)
“In first, Israel Prize to be Given for Promoting Settlements” (Times of Israel)
“Palestinian Lawyer Attempted to Report Being Attacked by Settlers. Then He Was Detained Over Back Taxes” (Haaretz)
“Settler leader revels in Left’s embrace as proof of movement’s power” (Times of Israel)

___

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.

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 2, 2017

Netanyahu Delays Cabinet Vote on the “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill”
More Settlement Approvals in East Jerusalem: Ramat Shlomo & Ramot Plans to Advance
Settlers Continue Protests for Immediate “Security Package” Funding
Israel Appoints Settler Leader to Craft Legal Cases to Retroactively Authorize Outposts
Bonus Reads

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

Netanyahu Delays Cabinet Vote on the “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill”

At the last minute, Prime Minister Netanyahu postponed the Israeli Cabinet’s consideration of the highly controversial “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill,” scheduled to take place on Oct. 29th. In the words of the bill’s author, the purpose of the legislation is to guarantee a Jewish majority in Jerusalem by annexing over a dozen settlements into the Jerusalem Municipality. You can find a detailed explanation of the bill, including key resources from anti-settlement watchdogs, in last week’s Settlement Report.

Map by Peace Now

Despite sustained, strong international condemnation of the annexation bill, the Trump administration’s eleventh hour intervention is what convinced Netanyahu to delay the bill from advancing. Ynet News reports that Saudi Arabia’s prodding is what ultimately convinced the U.S. to intervene against the bill, rather than concerns of the U.S. itself (pro-settler media reports that the U.S. knew about the bill for months and never expressed criticism).

An unnamed U.S. official commented, “It’s fair to say that the U.S. is discouraging actions that it believes will unduly distract the principals from focusing on the advancement of peace negotiations. The Jerusalem expansion bill was considered by the administration to be one of those actions.”

Though tabled for the time being, the “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill” could resurface anytime. One of the bill’s authors, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, has already announced that he is redrafting the bill and expects the Knesset to pass during it during the current winter session. The new draft will not extend Israeli sovereignty to the prescribed settlements, but will still count the settlers as Jerusalem voters.

Map by Haaretz

The “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill” is not the only active Israeli effort to redraw the borders of Jerusalem in ways that seek to secure Jewish majority in the city. As we reported last week, a second bill that similarly aims to gerrymander a Jewish majority in Jerusalem is still in play. This bill will cut out some 100,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem from the Jerusalem Municipality, creating a new Israeli regional council for them – and only them – instead. And a third bill, the so-called “Jerusalem Supermajority,” is also in play. This bill will required 80 out of 120 votes in the Knesset to approve any deal transferring parts of Jerusalem to a foreign entity.

Ir Amim writes,

These dangerous unilateral initiatives disregard the wishes and interests of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, treating them as a pawn to be moved around at will. Such plans will bring neither peace nor stability to Jerusalem.

More Settlement Approvals in East Jerusalem: Ramat Shlomo & Ramot Plans to Advance

Another 700 highly controversial East Jerusalem settlement units are set to be promoted by the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee this week. The plans are for 500 units in the Ramat Shlomo settlement and 200 units in the Ramot settlement. The Ramat Shlomo and Ramot announcements follow a month of alarming settlement advancements made by the High Planning Council and last week by the Jerusalem Planning Council, both of which include highly sensitive plans in East Jerusalem.

Map by Ir Amim

The plans for Ramat Shlomo and Ramat are particularly noteworthy, not just for their location in Palestinian East Jerusalem but also in light of very recent history. A vote on the plans was scheduled in December 2016 on the same day that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel to give a major speech on U.S. peace principles. Israel cancelled the vote in light of U.S. anger. In 2010, tenders were issued for units in Ramat Shlomo while Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel, leading the Vice President to issue sharp words against Israel while on the ground. Henceforth the plans for Ramat Shlomo that were advanced in 2010 have been dubbed “The Biden Plan.”

The promotion of these plans comes in the context of an opening of the settlement floodgates in Jerusalem, starting at the beginning of July. For details, see this comprehensive timeline of East Jerusalem settlement-related developments (July 1 – Oct 30), published by Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann. Seidemann notes:

The intensity of the government initiatives in Jerusalem in the last four months is unprecedented, whether in regard to the scope and implications of the settlements announcements, to the nature of the legislative initiatives, or to the political assault against all those daring to challenge the occupation and the government narrative in Jerusalem.

Settlers Continue Protest for Immediate “Security Package” Funding

Settlers staged another protest in front of Netanyahu’s home to demand immediate funding for infrastructure projects across the West Bank. In early October, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman promised a $939 million “settler security package” as part of the 2019 budget. A week later, Netanyahu promised that $228 million will be made available in January 2018 for settler infrastructure projects. Not trusting Netanyahu at his word, settlers insist that the money be allocated immediately.

Peace Now has detailed information and maps showing the 5 bypass roads that will be funded in 2018 as specified by Prime Minister Netanyahu in a letter to settler authorities. Peace Now points out the 4 out of 5 bypass roads serve settlements deep inside the West Bank, one near the Nablus and another near Hebron.

Peace Now writes,

The projects…have far-reaching implications in terms of reaching a two state solution as on the one hand expansion of settlements connected to the roads is expected to accelerate and on the other hand the possibility for Palestinian development will be limited or eliminated in those areas.

In addition to the bypass roads, the funds will also cover projects to install cell phone service towers, street lights, and to increase the number of armored buses services settlers across the West Bank.

Israel Appoints Settler Leader to Craft Legal Cases to Retroactively Authorize Outposts

A top settler advocate has been appointed to lead a new government committee that was formed in the wake of the Amona outpost evacuation in order to protect unauthorized Israeli outposts from similar actions. The appointee, Pinchas Wallerstein, has an extensive history representing settlements, and last year he admitted to lying to the Israeli government about the construction of the Amona outpost, which was later proven to have been knowingly built on privately owned Palestinian land.

In response to Wallerstein’s appointment, Dror Etkes – who heads the settlement watchdog Kerem Navot – commented:

In a normal, healthy society Mr Wallerstein, who is involved in countless number of criminal actions of land grab and dispossession, would likely be writing his memoir from jail right now; but in 2017…he is treated as a culture hero.

The work of the outpost defense committee is set to begin in the coming weeks, but the work should ostensibly be on hold under an injunction against the so-called “Regulation Law.” The law was passed by the Knesset earlier this year to provide a legal basis for the retroactive legalization of outposts constructed without Israeli authorization. The injunction was issued by Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit in August, to allow the High Court to hear arguments on two petitions that civil society groups launched to challenge the law’s constitutionality. In September, the Knesset asked the Court to reject the petitions; the Court has not rejected the petitions. Arguments were expected to be heard in October, but have not yet been scheduled.

Peace Now found that 55 outposts (out of approximately 100 across the West Bank) and 4,000 outpost units stand to be retroactively legalized if the Regulation Law survives the pending challenges (in addition to legalizing the unauthorized seizure of large areas of West Bank land being used for settler agriculture).

Bonus Reads

“Jewish Federations Donated Millions to Israeli Settlements Over Four Years” (Haaretz)
“Creeping Annexation” (J Street)
“FIFA will not take action on Israeli settlement teams” (Al Jazeera)
“Israel Denies Entry to Amnesty USA Staff Member” (Amnesty International)

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 subscribe here.

June 16, 2017

1. Netanyahu’s Trump-Era Settlement Policy

2. Abbas & Netanyahu Harden Positions on the Future of Settlers

3. Must-Read: “How Many Settlers Really Live in the West Bank?”

4. Shin Bet Moves Against Radical Settler Activists

For questions and comments please contact FMEP’s Director of Policy & Operations, Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

Netanyahu’s Trump-Era Settlement Policy

There is war of words about what Netanyahu’s Trump-era settlement policy actually is. According to settler leaders, Netanyahu is implementing a freeze; according to Netanyahu’s cabinet, he has given settlement construction a green light; and according to the U.S., he is expected to follow a policy of “restraint.” Notably, there has been no official statement by the Trump administration following the last week’s major settlement announcement.

Who is right? Here are the important facts and developments so far with respect to 2017 settlement growth:

Large #s of Settlement Units Advanced: So far in 2017, plans for 4,909 new settlement housing units have been advanced through the planning process, according to Israel’s Peace Now. Of these, 3,178 were advanced at the June 6-7 meeting of the High Planning Council. And also according to Peace Now, tenders for 2,942 new settlement housing units been issued for imminent construction (meaning there are 2,942 new units actually being built, or about to be). Peace Now, which has tracked settlement growth for decades, based on the Government of Israel’s own officials numbers, notes that these 2017 numbers are “85% more than the housing units promoted during all of 2016 and in half the time.”
A brand new settlement approved: Earlier this month, Netanyahu’s government has advanced the construction of the first entirely new settlement in 25 years, “Amichai” (a gift to “compensate” settlers who had built/taken up residence illegally in the outpost of Amona, and who were forced to move after the Netanyahu government exhausted all possible means to legalize their illegal acts).
Illegal outpost legalized: Also earlier this month, the Netanyahu government moved to retroactively “legalize” the illegally-built outpost of “Kerem Reim,” west of Ramallah.
Jerusalem plans looming but not moving (yet): Despite high profile reports that the government is close to issuing tenders for construction of Givat Hamatos in addition to advancing plans for Ramat Shlomo and Atarot, none of these actions have happened yet. These plans are particularly alarming for the future of Jerusalem and would preclude the contiguity of a future state of Palestine. Likewise, despite similarly high profile reports that the government is going to expedite the advancement of a visitor’s center abutting the Jewish Cemetery on the Mt. of Olives, the government has not yet advanced plans for its approval.

Abbas & Netanyahu Harden Positions on the Future of Settlers

Haaretz is reporting that Netanyahu is now demanding any peace agreement must allow all Israeli settlers to stay where they are, under Israeli rule. This represents a sharp departure from the past Netanyahu demands, as revealed by negotiation documents from the 2014 Kerry effort.

Abbas, on the other hand, is now signaling that he cannot accept a peace deal that leaves even a single settler in the future state of Palestine – also a new position since 2014.

Previously, both Netanyahu and Abbas posited that – at least in principle – some Israeli settlers could be allowed to remain in Palestine under Palestinian jurisdiction – meaning they would become citizens of Palestine (and that their settlements would not remain exclusively Jewish communities). The 2014 policy iterations were (and still are) untenable for both sides, but so too are their new positions.

3. Must-Read: “How Many Settlers Really Live in the West Bank?”

Haaretz has an investigative report out this week delving deep into the demographics of Israelis living east of the 1967 Green Line, in violation of international law (and in some cases, in violation of Israeli law as well). Highlights from the report:

There are 380,000 settlers in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem settlements.
178,000 settlers in the West Bank live outside of the major settlement blocs (44% of total); notably, the Haaretz report does not make clear how it defined settlement “blocs” (the term has no formal or legal definition).
These figures do not include outposts. According to Peace Now, there are 97 outposts with thousands of settlers populating them.

Shin Bet Moves Against Radical Settler Activists

The Israeli Shin Bet appears to be more actively moving to stop the pattern of violence emanating from the Yitzhar settlement, located deep inside the northern West Bank, in connection to the “Hilltop Youth” movement. This week the extremist rabbi and Yitzhar settler Yosef Elitzur was indicted on incitement charges. Elitzur is a prolific writer and teacher known for his religious justification for Jews killing non-Jews. Elitzur is the third Yitzhar settler to be prosecuted in recent weeks for incitement to violence; two others were also convicted because of violent content in articles they published online.

Additionally, nine Israeli teenagers were arrested in Jerusalem this week. There is a gag order in place over the case, but we do know the teenage settlers were arrested while at the house of Yitzhar settler and “Hilltop Youth” movement leader Elkana Pikar. Pikar himself was recently, issued a restraining order requiring him to stay away from the West Bank for four months and banning him from meeting with a list of identified activists for six months. He must also report weekly to Israeli police in the Maale Adumim settlement. Pikar is believed to have been directly involved in a string of recent violent acts perpetrated by Yitzhar extremists in the Nablus area. Notably, the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset rushed to Pikar’s defense following a previous ruling against him, saying that Elitzur is “the only one [who] has managed to get through to the Hilltop Youth and keep them in check a little.”