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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

April 20, 2018

1. Israeli Police Assist Settlers in Taking Over Three Palestinian Apartments in East Jerusalem
2. Palestinians Petition Civil Administration to Evacuate Squatting Settlers from Hebron Compound
3. Bibi Govt Proceeds with Effort to Strip High Court of its Powers
4. IDF Aids Settlers in Closing Off Key Road to Palestinians
5. $120 Million Investment into Jordan Valley Communities, Including Settlements
6. Settlers Assault IDF & Terrorize Palestinians in Nablus Area
7. Americans for Peace Now: “From Creeping to Leaping: Annexation in the Trump-Netanyahu Era”
8. Bonus Reads

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

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Israeli Police Assist Settlers in Taking Over Three Palestinian Apartments in East Jerusalem

On April 9, 2018, Israeli police officers assisted settlers in evicting three Palestinian families from apartments in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, making way for the settlers to move in. The take-over seemed to have happened prematurely, since the family that owns the apartment units – the Ruweidi family – filed an appeal with the Court that had not yet been heard. The High Court ordered a temporary delay on the eviction order, but the delay was issued too late and the settlers had already emptied out the apartments. According to Haaretz, the apartments will remain empty until further notice from the Court.

In February 2018, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the property rightfully belongs to the radical settler group Elad, which claims to have bought it from one member of the Ruweidi family, Raziq Ruweidi. The Ruweidi family disputes the court’s decision, saying that the properties were jointly owned by six other family members and therefore could not have been lawfully sold. The matter wound up in court after Raziq Ruweidi was murdered three years ago, leaving debts that the Israeli courts had to settle.

As documented in previous editions of the FMEP settlement report – here, here, here, and here – the Elad settler group frequently works with the Israeli government and the courts to accomplish its goal of erasing the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem in favor of Israeli Jews, including cooperation on major projects like the touristic Kedem Center in Silwan and the cable car line that will service it.

Palestinians Petition Civil Administration to Evacuate Squatting Settlers from Hebron Compound

Three weeks after settlers broke into and took up residence in the “Zaatari Compound” in Hebron, the Palestinian al-Zaatari family filed an appeal this week with the Israeli Civil Administration to have the law-breaking squatters evacuated. The settlers – who were reportedly given permission to enter the property by the IDF and Defense Minister Lieberman – claim to have legally purchased the properties. A lawyer representing the al-Zaatari family wrote in the petition that claim “has no basis in reality, since my clients and/or their representatives never sold their ownership rights in their homes.” The court has

Like hundreds of Hebronites, the al-Zaatari family was forced to leave the home during the Second Intifada due to the IDF’s suffocating restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in and around the Old City of Hebron, conditions which persist today.

Peace Now released a statement saying:

“The ink has not yet dried in the High Court of Justice’s decision to evacuate the Abu Rajab House, where settlers also broke into and squatted, yet the settlers dare to break into another house without the same approval they lacked in that case. The government must evict the trespassers immediately; the settlers have not proven any ownership. The behavior of the government and recent statements by the defense minister raise the suspicion that this home invasion was carried out in coordination with the defense ministry, and that the government lent a hand to breaking the law and stealing. Instead of protecting the landowner’s rights, the government is helping robbers seeking to take possession of the property without allowing the current owners their rightful legal avenue to prove ownership. The establishment of a new settlement house in the heart of Hebron is a severe blow to the fragile situation in Hebron and is liable to cause new restrictions on the movement of Palestinians.”

Bibi Govt Proceeds with Effort to Strip High Court of its Powers

It was decided by the the Israeli government’s ruling coalition this week that the next Knesset – which opens on April 29 – will vote on legislation aimed at stripping the High Court of its power to strike down laws passed by the Knesset. At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon agreed to form a “small ministerial committee” to try to bridge various proposals to restrict the High Court’s power to overturn laws – a move that could impact the fate of (among other things) the Regulation Law. 

Notably, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was permitted to attend the cabinet meeting to present his opposition to most serious of the proposed versions — the Netanyahu-backed model, according to which laws could be overturned only by a unanimous vote in the High Court;  Kahlon’s issue-specific formulation, seeking to allow the Knesset to overturn the High Court decision vis-a-vus a single piece of legislation, related to African asylum seekers; and a version, backed by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennet, allowing the High Court to be overruled by a simple majority vote in the Knesset. Mandelblit recommended his own version — one that would require a super-majority vote by the High Court (7 of 9) to strike down a law, and would allow the Knesset to overturn such a decision by the High Court by a super-majority of 70 votes. 

Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Levin (Likud) rejected Mandelblit’s proposal, and said that the High Court should only be able to strike down laws by a unanimous vote (meaning that it would be highly unlikely that the Court would ever succeed in striking down any law). Following the cabinet meeting, Levin also specifically took issue with Khalon’s version of the bill (which seeks to create a unique exception for the Knesset to overturn the High Court’s ruling against a law related to the detention and deportation of African asylum seekers). Making clear his real objectives and concerns (and making explicit the connection to settlements), Levin told reporters that this version is:

“significantly erroneous and will lead to striking down laws, including the Regulation Law (legalizing Israeli outposts in the West Bank).”

You can follow the key events regarding the progression of this legislation via FMEP’s recently published resource, “Israel’s Creeping Annexation Policies.”

See this Haaretz overview for more even more detail.

IDF Aids Settlers in Closing Off Key Road to Palestinians

Haaretz reports that the IDF is contributing to the efforts of settlers from Halamish, a settlement located north of Ramallah, to restrict Palestinian access to a critical highway along which the settlers recently established a new unauthorized outpost.

According to testimonies collected by Haaretz, IDF soldiers at two military roadblocks near the settlement and the new outpost have been conducting prolonged searches of Palestinian vehicles and buses headed for Ramallah via road 450. The vehicles and their passengers are regularly delayed and harrassed. One Palestinian recounts a soldier reportedly admitting that the actions are meant to incentivize Palestinians to take a detour around the area of the settlement and outpost (which is a longer route). In addition, settlers have repeatedly posted – and the IDF has repeatedly removed – a sign on the road that reads:

“The area where you are now is under the control of the Jews. Entry by Arabs to this area is completely prohibited, danger of death!”

Months ago, Halamish settlers started a Saturday morning prayer event in the middle of the road (between the settlement and the outpost on the other side). In cooperation with the settlers, IDF soldiers have been shutting down all Palestinian traffic and guarding the settlers during the prayer event.

The settlers intent has long been clear. By sealing off Palestinian access to the road, it will become an interior road between the settlement and the new outpost, effectively expanding the boundaries of Halamish at the cost of Palestinians.

The Halamish settlers established the outpost – which they call “Yad Ahi” or “My Brother’s Hand” – in July 2017, following the brutal murder of four of the settlement’s residents by a Palestinian attacker. Since then, the settlers have worked determinedly to fortify and expand the settlement to include the outpost and more, as extensively documented by the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot.

$120 Million Investment into Jordan Valley Communities, Including Settlements

The office of the Prime Minister announced a $120 million grant program for infrastructure projects in Israeli communities in the Jordan Valley. According to The Times of Israel, the budget earmarks $7 million to “help local farmers acquire more agricultural land and locate additional water sources and to build affordable homes for first-time buyers through the Housing Ministry Program.” One Israeli business news outlet reports that this is an “aid program for settlements in the Dead Sea area coping with the problem of sinkholes.”

Some 11,000 settlers and 65,000 Palestinians live in the Jordan Valley – the latter facing severe restrictions on land use and freedom of movement, and lack of access to municipal services like water and electricity.The current Israeli government has publicly and repeatedly demanded complete Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley in the context of any peace agreement (meaning that any future Palestinian state would be entirely encircled by Israel, having no international border with any other nation). One Likud MK, Sharren Haskel, recently unveiled a bill to annex the Jordan Valley. Haskel is seeking government backing for the bill before formally introducing it in the Knesset.

A recent report by B’Tselem documents how Israeli settlers were allowed to establish two new outposts in the Jordan Valley last year. In recent months, Israel has delivered eviction notices to entire Palestinian communities near Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley. Simultaneously, settlers have been allowed to continue construction on a tourist project  – a car race track built in a closed military zone (land expropriated from Palestinians ostensibly for security purposes), despite a court ordered stop-work order.

Settlers Assault IDF & Terrorize Palestinians in Nablus Area

Three settlers were arrested for throwing stones at IDF soldiers engaged in the evacuation of an unauthorized outpost near the Itamar settlement, south of Nablus. The outpost – called “Rosh Yosef” by the settlers – has been evacuated several times before, but settlers have repeatedly re-occupied the hilltop site. The settlers, one of whom is a minor, were released a day later and put under house arrest.

The evacuation comes against the backdrop of frequent attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the Nablus area recently. Last week, settlers allegedly set the entrance to a mosque on fire and spray painted the building with anti-Arab, anti-Muslim threats. On April 18th, settlers destroyed at least two dozen olive trees and spray painted hateful words on houses in the village of Urif. The Ynet news outlet reports that the radical and violent “Hilltop Youth” settler group is responsible for most of these crimes, noting that its members are increasingly outraged by outpost demolitions, fixated on calls for “revenge” against Palestinians following terrorist attacks, and resentful of recent criminal punishments levied against their members as a result of the Shin Bet’s crackdown on the group’s criminal activities.

Americans for Peace Now: “From Creeping to Leaping: Annexation in the Trump-Netanyahu Era”

Americans for Peace Now published a new policy paper analyzing how “the Israeli right has launched an unprecedented drive to annex the West Bank, piecemeal or in its entirety” since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The paper “lays out the recent developments that present a quantum leap in Israeli annexation efforts, analyzes these moves against the historical backdrop of Israel’s 50-year occupation of the West Bank, examines the ramifications of the transition from ‘creeping’ to ‘leaping’ annexation, and considers why this transformation is happening now.”

FMEP’s recently published resource, “Israel’s Creeping Annexation Policies” is being updated to include several items from APN’s excellent work.

Bonus Reads

1. “Israel and Annexation by Lawfare” (Michael Sfard, The New York Review of Books)
2. “How Israel’s Government is Aiming to Outweigh the Supreme Court” (Haaretz)
3. “Attempts to ‘bypass’ Israel’s High Court will create a ‘tyranny of the majority’ ” (+972 Mag)
4. “As Israeli pushes for West Bank railway, Palestinians brace for more land grabs” (Middle East Eye)

 

 

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

March 30, 2018

1. 2017 – A Record Year in Settlement Expansion
2. Hebron Settlers Leave One Disputed Property, Only to Enter Two More
3. Settlers Celebrate Moving to Amichai, the First New Government-Backed Settlement in 25 Years
4. Housing Minister on Annexation: Settlements are a Non-Negotiable Security Asset, Israel Must Keep Building
5. Ambassador Friedman: U.S. Will Not Intervene To Stop Israeli Annexation
6. After Annexing Settlement Universities, Israeli Education Ministry Moves to Censor Campus Criticism of Settlements/Occupation
7. Terrestrial Jerusalem Report: “The Creation of a Settler Realm in and Around Jerusalem’s Old City”
8. Al-Shabaka Policy Brief: Israel’s Annexation Crusade in Jerusalem
9. Yesh Din/Emek Shaveh Report: “Appropriating the Past: Israel’s Archaeological Practices in the West Bank”
10. Emek Shaveh Report: The Jerusalem Cable Car Undermines the History & Multiculturalism of the Historic Basin
11. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Settler Lands Helicopter at Qalandiya Checkpoint (in Attempt to Seize It)
12. Bonus Reads

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

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2017 – A Record Year in Settlement Expansion

In its annual report on settlement activity, the settlement watchdog group Peace Now documents two significant facts about settlement growth in 2017 – the first year in the era of the Trump Administration era. Peace Now figures show that there was a large spike in new settlement starts compared to previous years; and second, most of these new construction starts are located in areas that are beyond the area that Israel can realistically expect to retain under any negotiated two-state agreement.  

Specifically, Peace Now reports that in 2017, construction began on 2,783 new settler housing units, an increase of around 17% over the yearly average rate since 2009. In terms of location of these new starts, Peace Now found that:

• More than three-quarters of the new housing starts are in settlements located deep inside the West Bank, beyond what would be a realistic border for a negotiated two-state agreement.
• Fewer than one-fifth of the new construction starts are located in areas west of the security barrier, as currently constructed (i.e., in settlements already de facto annexed to Israel by the barrier).
• At least one out of every ten of the new settlement starts is illegal according to Israeli laws (all settlements are illegal under international law), with most located in illegal outposts. 

Director of the Peace Now Settlement Watch project, Shabtay Benet told i24News,

“If in the past, the government had focused on construction and housing within the blocs, it appears that the government is [today] openly working toward a reality of annexation.”

In addition, Peace Now documents in detail other major 2017 settlement-related developments, including:

• the establishment of  three new illegal outposts in 2017: “Neve Achi” (near Ramallah ), “Kedem Arava” (near Jericho), and “Shabtai’s Farm” (south of Hebron).
• the establishment of the new “legal” settlement of “Amichai,” which is the first new settlement built with government approval in 25 years.
• Construction of a major new bypass road to link settlers more seamlessly to Jerusalem,
• The seizure by Israel of nearly 1,000 dunams of Palestinian land near Nablus in order to begin legalizing outposts in the area.
• The approval by the Israeli government of 31 new units for settlers in the heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron.

The report also provides a timeline of data showing the fluctuation of Israeli government policy regarding outposts from 1996-2017. The data indicate that a 2006 pledge by Netanyahu to cease funding the construction of new outposts (a pledge that followed the publication of the government-mandated report on outposts known as the Sasson Report) expired in 2012, at which time the government began allowing (if not supporting) the construction of new outposts. Since 2012, 16 new outposts have been built and allowed to remain, some of which are now in the process of being retroactively legalized by the government. 

The full report is available online here.

Hebron Settlers Leave One Disputed Property, Only to Enter Two More

After nearly eight months of illegally occupying a disputed property in Hebron, more than 100 settlers left the Beit Machpelah/Abu Rajab building. The High Court has ruled that the settlers must leave the residence while the Justices’ consider a case regarding rightful ownership of the property – a case that is not expected to wrap up in the near term.

In tandem with the departure of the settlers, the new head of the Israeli Army’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Nadav Padan, signed an order declaring the area around the property – which is across the street from the the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Al-Ibrahimi Mosque – as a “closed military zone,” where civilian access is forbidden. Ostensibly intended to prevent the settlers from re-entering the property, the order will inevitably further restrict freedom of movement for Palestinians, who already face acute limitations resulting from segregated and closed-off streets, a maze of checkpoints, harassment by settlers living in the middle of the city, and the heavy IDF presence guarding a few hundred Israeli settlers living amidst ~150,000 Palestinians in Hebron.

Undeterred (or emboldened) by their experience with the Beit Machpelah/Abu Rajab building,  Hebron settlers subsequently broke into and occupied two additional properties in downtown Hebron (which settlers are calling “Beit Leah” and “Beit Rachel,” and which Palestinians call the “Zaatari Compound,” after the Palestinian family who owns the buildings). Like in the case of the Beit Machpelah/Abu Rajab building, ownership of these two properties is disputed, with settlers claiming to have purchased the properties lawfully from Palestinian owners, and the Palestinians denying having sold them. And like the past nearly eight months in the case of the Beit Machpelah/Abu Rajab building, the settlers are for now being allowed to stay in the two disputed properties, under the protection of the IDF, in violation of Israeli law. 

Breaking the Silence – an Israeli NGO recently barred from giving tours in Hebron – told The Times of Israel that the removal of the settlers from the Beit Machpelah/Abu Rajab building was “appropriate” but:

“Still, this is just only a drop of water in the sea of illegal invasions that we guarded as soldiers… For 50 years, settlers have been establishing facts on the ground and we are being sent to guard them at the expense of the Palestinians.”

With respect to the two new properties occupied by the settlers, Peace Now said:

“The settlers’ recent break-in into the Zaatari compound constitutes just the latest in a slew of such unauthorized incidents in Hebron. Their strategy is clear. Since they have failed thus far to obtain the ownership rights legally, instead they must resort to illegal means to establish facts on the ground by squatting, knowing that the right-wing government will be reluctant to attract negative publicity from its base by evicting settlers, and will in turn attempt to delay the eviction or perhaps find a way to legalize the take-over. Fellow Israeli citizens must not give in to this emotional blackmail, and the authorities must evict these squatters without delay.”

Settlers Celebrate Moving to Amichai, the First New Government-Backed Settlement in 25 Years

Settlers who were removed from the unauthorized Amona outpost last year held a ceremony March 26, 2018, marking the day that they moved into Amichai, the new settlement that was promised to them as compensation. Amichai is the first new settlement built with government approval in 25 years. The leader of the law-breaking Amona settlers, Avichai Boaran, said at the ceremony:

“After a long wait and a stubborn struggle – tomorrow it happens. Amichai residents enter their new community! We are looking forward to entering our new homes, which we were able to establish with the blood of our hearts, with determination and faith, love for the land and for Zionism.”

The settlers will be housed in temporary mobile homes while construction continues in the settlement. The Master Plan approved for Amichai permits 102 units on a hilltop in the Shiloh Valley, a third of which face additional legal proceedings as a result of petitions filed by Palestinian landowners.

As  FMEP has covered many times in the past, Amichai is the first of two new settlements approved by the Israeli government in early 2017 as pay-off to settlers who were forced to leave the Amona outpost by the High Court of Justice. That Amona outpost was established without authorization from the Israeli government and was located on private Palestinian land; the government of Israel fought for years to retroactively legalize it, but eventually was forced by the High Court to evacuate its residents (evacuation that some residents resisted violently). The establishment of Amichai clearly demonstrates that settler law-breaking not only goes unpunished, but is handsomely rewarded by the Israeli government, and that establishing illegal outposts is an effective route to establishing new settlements.

Housing Minister on Annexation: Settlements are a Non-Negotiable Security Asset, Israel Must Keep Building

Minister of Housing and Construction, Yoav Galant (Kulanu), told settler leaders that he believes Israel must bolster the settlements, calling them “non-negotiable [security] assets” that Israel must always maintain “full control” over. Galant’s remarks were made during a meeting with leaders of the Yesha Council (a settlement umbrella group) during which he also bragged about doubling the budget for settlement construction. He said:

“The Ministry of Construction and Housing, headed by me, has invested twice the budgets of the previous government in planning and development in Yehuda and Shomron.” [Note: “Yehuda and Shomron” means Judea and Samaria, the biblical names for the area in the West Bank]

Yesha Council Chairman Chananel Dorani thanked Minister Galant for his support, saying:

“Minister Galant leads the Housing Ministry to important goals and objectives for the development of the State of Israel, the area of Yehuda, Shomron and the Jordan Valley is a suitable space for massive construction and dispersal of the population of the country. I am thankful for your consistent support for the settlement, for the ideal, but also for the actions.”

Ambassador Friedman: U.S. Will Not Intervene To Stop Israeli Annexation

In an interview with an Israeli Orthodox newspaper this week, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman was quoted as suggesting that the U.S. was ready to replace President Abbas if he refused to play ball with U.S. efforts. Friedman subsequently claimed he was misquoted. He did not, however, suggest that he was misquoted on another subject that came up in that interview: possible annexation of part of the West Bank. Friedman was asked in the interview if the U.S. would support partial annexation of the West Bank. Friedman reportedly answered:

“On these issues, Israel ought to decide for itself, we will not intervene with the government in Jerusalem regarding its way of handling the conflict. We will definitely express our opinion when asked, but we’ll avoid unnecessary involvement in decision making.”

Friedman’s remark come amidst a growing wave of legislation and legal opinions pushing Israeli annexation schemes forward, none of which the U.S. has publically intervened to stop, or even criticize. To date, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has held at bay the most forthright  annexation legislation – like a bill to annex Ma’ale Adumim/E-1, the “Greater Jerusalem Bill,” a Jordan Valley annexation bill, and the Likud-inspired the “Annexation/Sovereignty Bill” – always citing concerns about coordinating with the United States. Friedman’s comments, which were neither clarified nor contradicted by anyone in Washington, suggest that the Trump Administration would not object to legislation of this kind moving forward.

Simultaneously, Netanyahu has allowed annexation to proceed on several more subtle fronts, including: giving government support to the “Ariel Bill” (now law) which effectively annexed settlement universities and colleges; giving government support to a bill that would transfer jurisdiction over West Bank land disputes from the High Court to the Jerusalem District Court (where a pro-settlement judge was recently installed by Justice Minister Shaked); defending the “Regulation Law” and, at least seemingly, beginning to implement it against the dictates of a court-ordered injunction; finding additional legal bases (1 and 2) to retroactively legalize outposts; installing radical settlers in government posts tasked with handling land disputes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and much more. These annexation policies are, of course, in addition to the day-to-day settlement construction on the ground that is gobbling up more and more West Bank land (documented in detail in Peace Now’s comprehensive report on settlement activity in 2017, discussed above).

Americans for Peace Now responded to Friedman’s latest pro-settlement, pro-annexation remarks, saying:

“Friedman is a loose cannon, whose statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict routinely upend longstanding US foreign policy. Given Friedman’s advocacy on their behalf, it is not difficult to see why settler leaders see President Trump and his Middle East team as sent by God.”

After Annexing Settlement Universities, Israeli Education Ministry Moves to Censor Campus Criticism of Settlements/Occupation

A month after bringing settlement universities under Israeli sovereign control (affectively annexing them), the Israeli Council of Higher Education advanced a new code of ethics that seeks to ban professors in all Israeli universities from criticising settlements or the occupation.

The new code has five principles, most having to do with preventing discrimination based on political views and affiliation. The principles include clauses prohibiting lecturers from calling for or engaging in activity that promotes an academic boycott of Israel or its academic institutions (some of which are now in the settlements), and another clause that prohibits faculty from promoting the idea of boycotting Israel.

Israel’s Association of University Heads (VERA) slammed the move as an attempt to politically censor academia, saying they will not “serve as political thought police for the government.” The statement from VERA, representing the heads of Israeli universities, goes on to say:

“We are already seeing a dangerous deterioration on the edge of the abyss with regards to freedom of expression and academic freedom, as is customary in dark countries and not in a country that claims to be a democracy. [We] do not accept the dictation from ‘the top’ and do not intend to serve as a tool for narrow political interests. We will continue to fight for academic freedom, free speech and freedom of expression in the democratic State of Israel.”

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who requested the new code, called the statement from VERA “puzzling” and turned logic on its head to defend the new code from criticism, saying:

“We must keep the world of academic free of politics and foreign interests. Complete academic freedom – yes. Promoting political agendas and calling for a boycott – no. We are in fact limiting the freedom of condemnation and increasing the freedom of expression, so the academic discourse in Israel remains free of politics and discrimination. At the gates of academia, leave politics outside.”

Now that the new code has been adopted, the Council for Higher Education is seeking input from universities. After the input is collected, the Council will review and amend the code before bringing it up for a final vote. The Council said it aims to have the code adopted by universities by 2019, with required reporting on efforts to implement its provision due to the Council in 2020.

Terrestrial Jerusalem Report: “The Creation of a Settler Realm in and Around Jerusalem’s Old City”

Terrestrial Jerusalem published a comprehensive look at how Israel is creating a “settler realm” in Jerusalem. The report opens,

“taken as a whole, the array of ongoing projects and plans centered on the Old City and its immediate hinterlands represents an unprecedented move to fundamentally change the character and fabric of life in these areas, turning them into – as we’ve termed it in the past – a Disneyland-style area in which one historical and religious narrative, the Jewish one, predominates and marginalizes/erases all others.”

The report focuses on 12 recent and ongoing projects that are taking place largely in the context of a 2005 decision of the Sharon government – following its withdrawal from Gaza – to pursue, “a thinly veiled scheme to consolidate the settlers’ control over the public domain in the Old City and its environs.” At that point, an ad hoc, what had been an incremental settler campaign to establish Jewish hegemony over East Jerusalem became a multi-million-shekel per year government-backed endeavor to fortify a Jewish Israeli settler control over all areas of East Jerusalem and the Old City.

Commenting on the settler regime, Terrestrial Jerusalem founder Daniel Seidemann writes:

“While these are all recent developments, they reflect the culmination of a process that has been going on for many years. The data … further illustrate the predominant role played by Elad and the JDA [the Jerusalem Development Authority] in advancing settlers’ control over East Jerusalem, and the complicity of the State in doing so, as detailed in the Comptroller Report published on November 2016 (see our analysis here). Indeed, the settler “DNA” has been injected into virtually all of the governmental organs with any relevant authority in and around the Old City: the Israel Lands Authority, the Custodian General, the Absentee Property Custodian, the Israel Police, the Planning Committees, the Jerusalem Municipality, the Ministry of Finance and many more. Similarly, many of the authorities of these governmental agencies have been outsourced to the settlers. The governmental adoption of the settler ideology and the outsourcing of governmental authority create a situation in which the public interest and the settler interest have become virtually indistinguishable. No new master plan has been created, and none is necessary – the brakes that slowed these schemes have merely been removed. Israel remains a feisty, albeit increasingly challenged democracy: when it comes to the Old City and its visual basin, it morphs into something highly reminiscent of a regime.”

Al-Shabaka Policy Brief: Israel’s Annexation Crusade in Jerusalem

A new report from Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, titled “Israel’s Annexation Crusade in Jerusalem: The Role of Ma’ale Adumim and the E1 Corridor,” paints a picture of Israeli policies building towards the eventual annexation of the settlements bordering Jerusalem, paying particular attention to the history and centrality of the Ma’ale Adumim and E1 settlement areas. Though Netanyahu has delayed the outright annexation of these settlements by blocking the passage of the “Greater Jerusalem Bill,” Al-Shabaka’s brief examines several other bills, projects, resolutions, and regulations that effectively advance the annexation more subtly.

The report’s author, Zena Agha, concludes with key recommendations emphasizing the need to more stridently highlight and oppose the Israeli settlement enterprise and the creeping annexation inherent in recent policies. Agha writes,

“Since it is evident that the Trump administration will not be the restraining force on the right-wing coalition in the Knesset, nations other than the US as well as international bodies must apply pressure on the Israeli government to ensure any annexation bill is costly. Palestinian civil society and the Palestine solidarity movement must go further in raising awareness of how close the Israeli settlement project is to the point of no return in their current and planned campaigns with policymakers.”

Yesh Din/Emek Shaveh Report: “Appropriating the Past: Israel’s Archaeological Practices in the West Bank”

In a new joint report documenting a 4-year project, Emek Shaveh and Yesh Din reveal how Israeli organizations used a guise of archaeological preservation to dispossess Palestinians of privately owned land across the West Bank since 1967. The report, titled “Appropriating the Past: Israel’s Archaeological Practices in the West Bank,” introduces the topic by explaining:

“Israel continues to use its position as the administrator of archaeological sites in the West Bank as a means to deepen its control over West Bank land, to expand the settlement enterprise, and extend the policy of dispossession of Palestinians from their lands and cultural assets. Although the takeover of land through archaeology is not the main method of achieving Israeli control over land, it is significant because of its symbolic aspects and impact on public awareness.”

The report goes on to document several examples of how archaeology is used to advance settlements. Those include:

• Gerrymandering the jurisdiction of settlements to include antiquity sites, as in the case of the Anatot-Almon settlement and the Tel-Alamit antiquity site;
• Illegally invading of antiquity sites, as in the case of the Ain al Qaws spring near Nabi Saleh; and,
• Using archaeological excavations to retroactively justify the establishment of new settlements, as in the case of the Shiloh settlement and the now evacuated Amona outpost.

The report concludes:

“By controlling all aspects of archaeology – the excavations, management of the sites, the interpretation of the nds, and which knowledge is disclosed to (or concealed from) the public – Israel appropriates the archaeological treasures uncovered in the West Bank and exploits them in order to sustain a narrative of continued Israeli control over the OPT.”

The report is available online here.

Emek Shaveh Report: The Jerusalem Cable Car Undermines the History & Multiculturalism of the Historic Basin

In a recent paper, the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh analyzes the detrimental impacts of the new Israeli cable car project, including the dispossession and tangible economic consequences facing Palestinian Jerusalemites.

The paper concludes:

“The cable car is an experimental project driven by political interests in the most important and sensitive site in our region – the Old City of Jerusalem. Although this project is presented to the public as a response to transportation and tourism needs, its goal is political – strengthening Israel’s hold on East Jerusalem with a national-religious narrative and by “establishing facts on the ground” that will erase the chances of a historic compromise in the Holy Basin and the rich cultural diversity of the city. The cable car will also seriously damage the historical nature of the Old City and corrupt its famous beauty, which attracts visitors from all over the world.”

FMEP has tracked the planning process for the cable car, a project promoted by the settler group Elad. Elad aggressively pursues the eviction of Palestinians and the growing presence of Jewish Israelis across East Jerusalem, but particularly in the Silwan neighborhood where the Kedem Center is being built to serve as the final stop of the cable car line. The project has been harshly critiqued by the international community.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Settler Lands Helicopter at Qalandiya Checkpoint (in Attempt to Seize It)

This week, Yedidya Meshulami – a settler living in an illegal outpost near Nablus – attempted to usurp the Israeli Army and take control of the Qalandiya checkpoint by landing his personal helicopter nearby, declaring “I don’t care what they do to me, I’ll take it [the checkpoint] over.” Israeli security forces arrested Meshulami and seized his helicopter (shortly thereafter he was released to house arrest;  it goes without saying that had he been a Palestinian seeking to take over the checkpoint by any means whatsoever, he would still be in custody). The Qalandiya checkpoint is the most heavily trafficked checkpoint in the West Bank, through which 26,000 Palestinians (who are lucky enough to have permits to enter Israel) pass en route to Jerusalem on a daily basis.

Meshulami landed his helicopter at the site of the defunct Atarot airport, situated on a strategic strip of land between Jerusalem and Ramallah near the Qalandiya checkpoint he hoped to take control over. Rumors concerning plans to build a settlement at the Atarot site have been rumbling for over a year, fed by the Knesset’s decision to allocate millions of shekels to the project last October. Developing the airport into an Israeli settlement would deprive a future Palestinian state of the only airport in the West Bank, would cut through many Palestinian neighborhoods, and would further sever East Jerusalem from a Palestinian state (acting like E-1 on Jerusalem’s northeast flank, and like Givat Hamatos on Jerusalem’s southern flank).

Meshulami, lives in an unauthorized outpost called “Alumot” near the settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus. Meshulami helped establish the outpost in 1996 after serving in the Israeli Air Force and, despite lacking permits, he personally built an airstrip in the outpost in 2013. According to reports this week, Israeli security forces had previously revoked Meshulami’s pilot license for flying over the West Bank without a permit. Two days after his arrest, the IDF raided the illegal airstip and seized a second helicopter. They also found an ultralight plane that will reportedly be seized in the coming days.

Bonus Reads

1. VIDEO: Times of Israel Settlements Correspondent Jacob Magid discusses internal settler dynamis w/ Ron Kampeas (FMEP)
2. “Settler Violence Against Palestinians Is on the Rise, but Goes Regularly Unpunished” (Haaretz)
3. “Israel’s government and the settlers want terror.” (Haaretz+)
4. “Israel’s Separation Barrier: Legitimate in theory, malicious in practice” (Times of Israel)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

February 22, 2018

1. Caravans Move Into New Shiloh Valley Settlement
2. State Requests Delay of Demolitions in Netiv Ha’avot Outpost
3. Process Begins for Major Expansion of Gilo Settlement in East Jerusalem
4. Construction of New Checkpoint Near al-Walajah Proceeds, Despite Lacking Permit
5. High Court Issues Injunction Against Construction & Sale of Homes in Shvut Rachel “Neighborhood”
6. Israel Evacuates Outpost, Again
7. Jordan Valley Annexation?
8. U.S. Ambassador: “Settlers are Here to Stay”; Settler Leader Credits Trump for Settlement Growth
9. Bonus Must-Reads

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

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Caravans Move Into New Shiloh Valley Settlement

This week, the delayed construction of the Amichai settlement in the Shiloh Valley got a temporary fix: the Israeli Civil Administration (a branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry that is the sovereign power ruling over the West Bank) began installing 36 trailers for settlers to move into while the permanent settlement is being built. The construction of Amichau has hit many snags since the government green-lighted the project. Budgetary fights led to repeated delays, and several NGOs have filed legal petitions on behalf of nearby villages whose land the settlement will steal.

As we have written about many times in the past, Amichai is the first of two new settlements approved by the Israeli government in early 2017 as pay-off to settlers forced to evacuate the Amona outpost by the High Court of Justice. That Amona outpost was established without authorization from the Israeli government and on private Palestinian land; the government of Israel fought for years to legalize it post-facto, but eventually was forced by the High Court to evacuate its residents (evacuation that some residents resisted violently). The establishment of Amichai clearly demonstrates that settler law-breaking not only goes unpunished, but is handsomely rewarded by the Israeli government, and that establishing illegal outposts is an effective route to establishing new settlements.

The Amona settlers have been some of the most vocal and demanding advocates for ever more concessions from the Israeli government, including the installation of these temporary mobile homes on their preferred site. With the approval of that demand, a spokesman for the Amona evacuees said triumphantly:

“Beyond the Regulation Law, the legalizing of thousands of homes in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), the establishment of a new settlement after decades of drought, the great thing that the people of Amona have achieved in their uncompromising struggle is a change in discourse and consciousness.”

Peace Now – which has filed one of the petitions against the construction of Amichai – said:

“42 families, which the court ruled had stolen private land, are extorting the government…”

State Requests Delay of Demolitions in Netiv Ha’avot Outpost

Two weeks ahead of the slated demolition of 15 structures in the Netiv Ha’avot outpost – structures built on privately owned Palestinian land – the state of Israel is urging the High Court of Justice to delay the demolition for three additional months. The reason? To allow more time for another outpost to be constructed for the settlers to move in to (plans for which were approved last week).

The delay will also allow more time for settlers to advance plans to save seven of the 15 structures ordered to be demolished; settlers have proposed saving the seven buildings by demolitioning only the parts of the buildings that sit on Palestinian land, leaving the rest intact. 

While the Netiv Ha’avot settlers are trying to stay put, Israeli press reports this week suggest that Netanyahu has asked his Cabinet to approve a payout of millions of shekels to the settlers, in advance of their evacuation, ostensibly to to facilitate a public-relations friendly demolition of the targeted 15 structures. Cabinet ministers are now seeking funds from their ministry budgets to help fund Netanyahu’s Netiv Ha’avot bribe. The bribe money will come in addition to the estimated $14 million to $17 million it will cost Israeli taxpayers to dismantle the 15 structures slated to be demolished in Netiv Ha’avot.

Once again, the establishment of a new outpost for setters who built illegally on land recognized by Israel as privately owned by Palestinians, plus a huge financial pay-off to them, demonstrates clearly that settler law-breaking not only goes unpunished but is actively rewarded and incentivized by the Israeli government.

Process Begins for Major Expansion of Gilo Settlement in East Jerusalem

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann’s NGO, Terrestrial Jerusalem, reports that the Jerusalem planning authorities met on February 21st to initiate the planning process for a new neighborhood of the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem. The plan seeks to significantly expand the footprint of Gilo in the direction of Bethlehem (the Gilo settlement literally looms over Bethlehem; the new plan will develop the southern slope leading down into the Palestinian city). The plan calls for building 2,992 new units. 

Terrestrial Jerusalem writes:

“In 1995, Israel made a commitment to the U.S. government that no additional land in East Jerusalem would be expropriated for the purposes of building or expanding settlement neighborhoods. That commitment has guided the boundaries of Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem in the ensuing years. While the scope of the expropriations under this scheme will be limited, this significantly contravenes the spirit of that undertaking, significantly expanding the built-up footprint of the Gilo settlement.”

Ir Amim writes: 

“The Gilo Southeast plan is yet one more link in a chain of developments designed to seal off the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem from the West Bank, nullifying prospects for a two state solution. Advancing a new plan for 3,000 units on land near Givat Hamatos indicates that the Israeli government will continue to do everything just short of taking action on Givat Hamatos to fill in any remaining gaps along the southern flank of the city.”

Construction of New Checkpoint Near al-Walajah Proceeds, Despite Lacking Permit

The Jerusalem Municipality recently began (and has nearly completed) the construction of a new checkpoint that will further isolate and imprison the Palestinian city of al-Walajah, which is surrounded on three sides by the Israeli separation barrier. The construction of the checkpoint is going ahead despite the fact that it lacks the legally required permit and in contravention of an Israeli court order.

The new checkpoint is meant to replace the current one, located further down the road. The current arrangement allows al-Walajah residents to access an important and historic natural spring without passing through a military checkpoint. The new checkpoint will block the village’s access to the spring and it will advance the consolidation of Israeli control of the village’s only remaining access point to Jerusalem.

Terrestrial Jerusalem provides background on the spring, which is now inside of an area Israel has declared an Israeli national park, and Israeli actions to consolidate control over it:

“The move comes as part of the Municipality’s decision, supported by the government, to designate the area as an Israeli national park. The decision to move the Ein Yael checkpoint is designed, deliberately, to prevent el-Walajeh’s resident from accessing the park (for further background on the national park project, see our previous report here). Following the inauguration of the area as a national park by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Tourism Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud), construction works for the relocation of the checkpoint started on February 12, 2018, without a permit being issued and in contravention of a court order requiring the Municipality to suspend all work in order to enable el-Walajeh’s residents to appeal the Municipality’s decision.”

Ir Amim further explains the drama that ensued when the Jerusalem Municipality began the construction illegally, against the orders of the court:

“On February 12, the District Committee approved a permit for construction, rejecting separate objections from residents of Al-Walaja and the Har Gilo settlement. Despite the committee granting a week for the attorney for the residents of Al-Walaja to submit an appeal, the Municipality – which initiated and is funding the multi-million shekel project – launched construction two days later. The director general of the Municipality, Amnon Merhav, personally supervised the illegal construction, refusing to halt the equipment when confronted by the residents’ attorney and Ir Amim field researcher, Aviv Tatarsky. Tatarsky was arrested and jailed on his way to work the following morning for disrupting the peace.”

Peace Now adds even more color to the late-night legal proceedings and wacky defenses that the Jerusalem Municipality deployed in order to continue the construction. In the end, the presiding judge decided to nullify the 1-week injunction to allow the construction to proceed, a ruling that accepted the Municipality’s argument that stopping the construction would endanger motorists. The judge will hear complaints filed by al-Walajah residents on March 6th.

High Court Issues Injunction Against Construction & Sale of Homes in Shvut Rachel “Neighborhood”

On February 18th, the High Court of Justice issued an injunction freezing the construction and sale of new homes in the Shvut Rachel “neighborhood” of the Shiloh settlement. Importantly, Shvut Rachel is not actually a neighborhood of Shiloh: it is located outside of Shiloh’s boundaries and is correctly termed an illegal outpost. The injunction follows a petition launched by Peace Now against the illegal construction, filed at the end of January 2018. This is not the first time Peace Now has challenged illegal/unauthorized construction in this area. The first such petition was filed in 2010, but the illegal construction was nonetheless allowed to advance in fits and starts, with the government of Israel fully aware of the crime. Now, the project is nearly complete and ready for sale. And once again, the actions of the Israeli government in allowing the illegal construction to reach this point demonstrate that settler law-breaking not only goes unpunished but pays off.

Israel Evacuates Outpost, Again

The Israeli army removed settlers from an encampment set up near the Tapuah settlement in the northern West Bank, just south of Nablus, as they have done several times over the past 5 years. Settlers reacted violently – throwing stones, burning tires, and pouring oil on roads – in order to deter the Israeli army’s dismantlement of the mobile home camp. Two Israeli youths were arrested in the incident.

After the army left, the settlers marched towards the nearby Tapuah settlement, encountering and attacking two Palestinian vehicles and a Rabbi for Human Rights activist along the way.

Jordan Valley Annexation?

The settler-aligned Arutz Sheva media outlet is reporting that the Ministerial Committee for Legislation (a committee of Cabinet members who decide if the government will support legislative proposals) will consider endorsing a bill to annex the Jordan Valley at its weekly meeting.

The bill was introduced by Likud MK Sharren Haskel, who recently said:

“The support we are receiving in the international arena from our friend the United States proves that there has not been and will not be a better time…With the support of the Likud members who demand the necessary change, with the support of the government where we have the majority needed to pass the bill, together with my friends Motti Yogev and Miki Zohar, I am proud to lead the bill to apply Israeli law in the Jordan Valley”

The Arutz Sheva report suggests the Netanyahu might block the bill from coming up for a vote (a suggestion that is likely part of the effort to pressure Netanyahu not to block it). The same report notes that the Likud-inspired annexation bill will be postponed for cabinet consideration for another week.

U.S. Ambassador: “Settlers Are Here to Stay”; Settler leader: “thank God” for Trump

Veteran Haaretz columnist Barak Ravid reported remarks made by U.S. Ambassador David Friedman during a meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations earlier this week. Friedman reportedly said that Israeli settlements will not need to evacuated under a U.S. peace plan, noting specifically, “the settlers aren’t going anywhere.” Given the public record of Friedman’s policy positions, this is not a surprising statement or U.S. policy manifestation.

Notably, the Trump Administration (White House and State Department) offered no substantive correction.

At the same time, the Associated Press ran a story this week (which got picked up by several major outlets including the Washington Post, TIME, ABC News, and Voice of America) quoting the braggadocious remarks of settler leader, Yaakov Katz. Katz has ties to a prominent settler organization, “Bet El Institutions,” which, as noted by Haaretz, has ties to U.S. negotiators (as in, David Friedman was the longtime leader of the U.S. fundraising arm of Bet El, and both he and the Kushner family have donated to Bet El). Hailing the “success” of the settlement enterprise in 2017, Katz quipped:

“This is the first time, after years, that we are surrounded by people who really like us, love us, and they are not trying to be objective…We have to thank God he sent Trump to be president of the United States.”

Katz also said (among other things):

“We are changing the map. The idea of the two-state solution is over. It is irreversible.”

Katz’s excitement is a marked contrast from the January reaction of the Yesha Council (the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements) to 2017 population growth data. The Yesha Council lamented declining growth in settlements and blamed it on what a purported “quiet freeze” on settlement construction in 2017, despite the fact that Peace Now chronicled an alarming acceleration of settlement activity in 2017.

As FMEP explained in January, 2017 Israeli government data (covering 150 West Bank settlements and outposts, but not East Jerusalem) shows that the settler growth rate has decreased for the sixth consecutive year, from 3.9% in 2016 to 3.4% in 2017 (the growth rate hit a high in 2008, at 5.8%). Even with this decline, the 3.4% settler population growth rate still outpaces Israel’s national average, which comes in at 2%. Moreover, the data show that settler population is far younger than the population inside the Green Line, with 47% of settlers being below the age of 18, compared to 27% of Israelis inside the Green Line.

Bonus Must-Reads

1. “Israel’s Latest Attempts to Alter Geopolitical Realities in Jerusalem” (Al-Shabaka) *This is a short policy memo drawing from a brief which will be published in March 2018.
2. “The End of Israel’s ‘Enlightened Occupation’ “ (+972 Mag)
3. “Netanyahu’s Real Crime: Plundering Land from Palestinians” (Al-Monitor)
4. “Netanyahu’s West Bank Annexation Talk Was No Gaffe” (American Conservative)

 

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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.

***Preeminent Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard recently joined FMEP non-resident fellow Peter Beinart for a podcast, available here, to discuss how Israel’s occupation violates international laws governing belligerent occupation, and why he believes the occupation will end. Sfard’s highly recommended new book, “The Wall and the Gate: Israel, Palestine and the Legal Battle for Human Rights” is available for purchase here. Haaretz interviewed Sfard about the book, and the resulting, must-read article “For an Israeli Lawyer Fighting for Palestinian Rights, Winning Is a Double-edged Sword” is available here.***

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

February 8, 2018

1. Another New Settlement: Havat Gilad Outpost Set to Be Relocated & Legalized
2. Knesset Caucus Pushes to Extend Israeli Sovereignty Over Entire West Bank
3. Update on the Unauthorized Expansion of the Halamish Settlement
4. Palestinians Still Cannot Access Land Where the Amona Outpost Once Stood
5. Trump’s “Ultimate Deal” to Give 10% of West Bank Land to Israel
6. Israeli Settler Leader Does Not Know Specifics of U.S. Settlement Policy, Despite Close Relations with Trump Negotiators
7. Bonus Reads

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

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Another New Settlement: Havat Gilad Outpost Set to Be Relocated & Legalized

On February 5th, the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously build a new settlement for future evacuees of the unauthorized outpost, Havat Gilad, where 50 families are living illegally. After much hand wringing about how to proceed on the retroactive legalization of Havat Gilad, the government decided to evacuate the the outpost because some of it was knowingly built on land that is privately owned by Palestinians, and therefore there is (at present) no basis on which Israel can pursue its retroactive legalization.

Details of the outpost’s planned relocation are not clear, but it might not entail any movement, save the relocation of any structures that stand on Palestinian land. Most of the outpost is built on land classified by Israel as “state land,” so the majority of the outpost might stay in place and only the structures built on land privately owned by Palestinians will be moved, likely to the areas of the outpost that is on “state land.”

After spending five weeks demonstrating their fervent support for the retroactive legalization of Havat Gilad (in the wake of the murder of one of the outpost’s residents), the Israeli Cabinet now appears to be downplaying the significance of the Havat Gilad decision, likely in anticipation of international criticism of their decision to establish another new settlement (the Amichai settlement, which was approved in February 2017, was the first new settlement established with government backing in the last 20 years). Israeli Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman said:

the decision regarding Havat Gilad is only a technical decision that [is meant to] legalize an existing settlement and does not call for the establishment of a new settlement…There is no intention to expand and to annex privately-owned Palestinian lands but only to legalize the existing settlement after the murder [of Rabbi Shevach] and to connect it to water and electricity as well as make it accessible for humanitarian reasons.

Nonetheless, the Cabinet’s decision to establish a new settlement received considerable international media attention, including critical coverage by the Associated Press that appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The AP report touched on Israel’s settlement activity as well as the recent demolition of Bedouin classrooms funded by the European Union in the E-1 settlement area, outside of Jerusalem.

The Israeli NGO Peace Now, which has tracked settlements for decades, released a statement saying:

Legalizing Havat Gilad is a new height of groveling before settlers. By legalizing Havat Gilad, an isolated outpost deep within the West Bank, the government is harming the chance for two states and rewarding land-stealing felons.

Knesset Caucus Pushes to Extend Israeli Sovereignty Over Entire West Bank

The “Land of Israel” caucus in the Israeli Knesset held a conference this week to draw support for legislation that seeks to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, i.e., to annex the entire area to Israel.

The conference hyped a future vote by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation (a committee of the governing coalition that meets to decide if the government will give its support to legislative proposals). The vote will consider a bill – which was adapted by MK Kisch (Likud) from a recent resolution passed by the Likud party, which notably received Prime Minister Netanyahu’s backing – to annex the settlements by applying Israeli domestic law there. Left-wing MKs say (correctly) that the bill is tantamount to annexation. At the same time, some far-right MKs object to it on the grounds that it falls short of full annexation and therefore relinquishes Israeli claims over the rest of the land. On his bill, MK Kisch told the Arutz Sheva settler-aligned outlet:

This bill will allow cabinet ministers to set up a timetable [for the application of sovereignty]. It is the legislative mechanism will enable the application of [Israeli] sovereignty onto land in Judea and Samaria considered vitally important to the State of Israel…The Prime Minister also backs this process [for applying sovereignty]. It’s only a question of the timing. I think that Pence’s visit has strengthened the feeling that this is the right time, that this is the time to apply sovereignty. We’re at a historic juncture.

Notably, the pro-settlement posture of the Trump Administration was a recurring talking point at the Land of Israel caucus conference, where members took turns underscoring the fact that the time is ripe to assert Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories.

There are currently several pieces of legislation in the Knesset that propose different iterations of annexation. Those proposals include: a bill to annex Ma’ale Adumim; the “Greater Jerusalem Bill” that seeks to annex 19 settlements into the municipality of Jerusalem in order to gerrymander a Jewish majority (covered in detail in past editions of the Settlement Report here, here, and here); and another proposal, covered in last week’s Settlement Report, that seeks to extend Israeli sovereignty over settlement universities. And, earlier this year the Israeli Justice Ministry implemented a new rule requiring all Knesset legislation seeking government backing to include clauses regarding the law’s application to the settlements.

Update on the Unauthorized Expansion of the Halamish Settlement

Last covered in the September 20, 2017 Settlement Report, the Halamish settlement’s residents (where a Palestinian brutally murdered four people in July 2017) have been successfully capitalizing on the attack in order to expand, massively, and entrench the settlement’s boundaries.

The settlement watchdog organization Kerem Navot reports that the settlers have fortified a new outpost close to Halamish meant to extend the settlement borders. The Israeli army now guards the road that leads to the settlement, passing by the new outpost, and the army is operating a checkpoint to conduct full vehicle searches of any Palestinian driver. The outpost and the army further restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement by discouraging them from using roads in the area.

The settlers have also reportedly undertaken several unauthorized construction projects inside the settlement including, over the past six months, building dozens of new homes. Over the last week, bulldozers have been leveling a large area of land (500 dunams) in preparation for massive new infrastructure. Kerem Navot explains:

For about a week now, bulldozers have broken ground on a system of peripheral roads (completely illegally, of course) east of the settlement, in order to take control of the areas into which the settlement aspires to expand. As is usual in such cases, the takeover of territories begins by means of a peripheral road system that marks the area designated for takeover. The land at hand belongs to the Palestinian villages of Umm Safa and Jibya, which were declared “state land” by Israel during the 1980s and were transferred to the settlers of Halamish.

The case of Halamish is a classic case of how settlements expand with the permission – expressed or implicit – of the Israeli government, which does nothing to rein in settlers even as they break Israeli law.

Palestinians Still Cannot Access Land Where the Amona Outpost Once Stood

The Israeli NGO Yesh Din reports that the Israeli army is still preventing Palestinian owners from regularly accessing their land, land on which the Amona outpost once stood, one year after the Israeli government ordered the land to be returned them. In 2014, the High Court of Justice ordered the Israeli government to evacuate the Amona outpost and return the land to its rightful Palestinian owners. After a long legal and political battle, Amona was finally evacuated in January 2017, but the Israeli army continues to obstruct the owners access to the area – ironically, based on a ruling written to prevent Israelis from accessing the land. At the same time, the IDF allows Israeli settlers to regularly visit the site.

Trump’s “Ultimate Deal” to Give 10% of West Bank Land to Israel

New reporting has illuminated the contours of the “ultimate deal” that the Trump administration has spent the past year crafting in the hopes of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The deal reportedly proposes that 10% of the West Bank land will become sovereign Israeli territory, though Netanyahu has been pushing for 15%. The US figure does not include the Jordan Valley or East Jerusalem, over which the Trump Administration backs Israel’s demand to retain “overriding security control.” All together, the American plan would leave just 40% of the West Bank (Areas A & B) and the Gaza Strip to compose the future, semi-autonomous Palestinian “state.”

Geoffrey Aronson, who for many years authored FMEP’s “Settlement Report,”  wrote:

When Israel’s permanent control of  East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley is included, Israel is effectively awarded upwards of 60 percent of the West Bank. These terms will enable Israel to annex every one of its existing settlements throughout the West Bank and enable every settler to remain in place under Israeli sovereignty. The leavings will comprise a rump Palestinian territory unable to exercise true sovereignty anywhere.

According to reports, on two of the most volatile permanent status issues, Jerusalem and refugees, Palestinians are denied any concessions. The US deal reprises the old gambit according to which Abu Dis (a neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem) will be the capital of the Palestinian state, a notion the Palestinians were quick to reject (as they have done consistently in the past). And there will be no right of return for Palestinian refugees. Speaking to Al-Monitor off-the-record, one Palestinian source said

There is not and will not be a Palestinian who would accept such plans as basis for negotiations. These US positions result from pressure by American evangelist and Jewish communities in order to enhance Trump’s chances to be re-elected in the 2020 elections.

The Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry made several statements on the rumored Trump plan and recent statements by US Envoy Jason Greenblatt. The PA Ministry slammed the plan saying it “bypasses” Palestinians and that

this is a plan that was drafted by Israel and endorsed by the US administration. If Greenblatt wants to open channels between Israel and some Arab countries, while excluding the Palestinians, we emphasize that no one in the region would dare to accept such an American plan that drops the Palestinian dimension or gives up Jerusalem. For this reason, we believe that the plan of Greenblatt and his Zionist group is doomed to failure.

Top Fatah official Jibril Rajoub said:

They [Trump administration officials] will not find a [Palestinian] puppet to fulfill their goals. Our will is free and independent and no one can control it. We will work with the Arab countries to thwart the deal. Our effort should focus on foiling any attempt to create a Palestinian partner for the deal of the century.

In past rounds of negotiations, the most West Bank land that Palestinians had ever considered ceding to Israel – in the context of equitable land swaps – was reportedly around 2%, and Israel has reportedly never formally asked from more than 10%. In its own 2011 study, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy proposed three options for land swaps based on previous offers from the negotiating parties. The most generous of WINEP’s three proposals awarded Israel with 4.73% of the West Bank (the lowest proposed 3.72% to Israel), while Israel would give the Palestinians the exact same amount of land (4.73%) in return. Every WINEP proposal had 1:1 land swaps.

Israeli Settler Leader Does Not Know Specifics of U.S. Settlement Policy, Despite Close Relations with Trump Negotiators

The Jewish Journal reports that Oded Revi has close ties to the US peace envoys (US Ambassador David Friedman and US Special Representative for International Negotiations, Jason Greenblatt) formulating US policy and plans for Israel and peace negotiations. Revi, who is a high ranking member of the Yesha Council (the umbrella organization representing Israeli settlements) and Mayor of the Efrat settlement, was invited to attend the Trump inauguration in January 2017.

Revi recently told Jewish Journal:

In my understanding — and I’ve had quite a few meetings with the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu], and I try to understand what are American guidelines for building in Judea and Samaria — it seems to me President Trump said to the prime minister something along the lines of parents wanting a child to play nicely, when the parent says: ‘I know you know how to behave.’ The reaction of the child is to freeze in his place because he doesn’t know what his boundaries are.

While Revi is not clear on specifics, US envoy Jason Greenblatt continued to affirm the reported generalities of a US policy, telling a crowd of European Union Ambassadors that the U.S. believes Israel has been careful with settlement construction over the past year and that the U.S. does not believe that settlements are an obstacle to peace.

Bonus Reads

1. “A Dangerous Course Israel Should Avoid” (New York Times)
2. “Newly formed German coalition deal opposes Israeli settlements for the first time” (i24 News)

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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 receive this report via email, please click here.

February 1, 2018

1. Minister to Vote on Havat Gilad Legalization this Weekend
2. De Facto Annexation Proceeds: Bill Will Extend Israeli Sovereignty to Settlement Universities
3. Israeli Army to Take Control Over East Jerusalem Neighborhoods Cut Off by the Barrier
4. New West Bank Bypass Road Opens “New Era in Settlement”
5. European Union Says Israel is Using Tourism to Legitimize Settlements
6. Israeli Expansion Plan Threatens Flood Out (Literally) Palestinian Town
7. Yesh Din Report Slams the Israeli Civil Administration
8. Bonus Reads

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

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Ministers to Vote on Havat Gilad Legalization this Weekend

Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the Israeli Cabinet will vote on a resolution declaring the government’s intention to retroactively legalize the Havat Gilad outpost at their next weekly Cabinet meeting, scheduled for February 3rd.

At the last such meeting on January 28th, Netanyahu declined to put Havat Gilad on the agenda. He blasted a number of his own ministers who have criticized him in the press for the delay, which Netanyahu called “tactical.” Netanyahu’s Likud Party even issued a harsh statement in response to Defense Minister Liberman’s public statements, saying:

This is Bayit Yehudi’s [Jewish Home’s] well-known method once again at play – demanding the prime minister to do something they know he is going to do anyway, so they could later present it as their achievement. The bill will be raised next week, just as it was agreed with the bill’s sponsor, Defense Minister Lieberman.

The Jerusalem Post notes that this will be the fourth time since 2009 that Netanyahu’s government has retroactively legalized an outpost, the first three outposts being Bruchin, Rehalim, and Sansana. FMEP has previously reported on efforts by the Defense Ministry to retroactively legalize an additional 70 outposts, and FMEP has also covered the battle over the Netanyahu government’s “Regulation Law,” which was passed in early 2017 to pave the way for legalization of 55 unauthorized outposts and 4,000+ illegal settlement structures, by appropriating thousands of dunams of Palestinian private land.

Peace Now published a comprehensive case for why it would be a grave mistake for the government to legalize the Havat Gilad outpost. They write:

The legalization of the outpost would signal that the government does not intend to advance a final peace agreement, but rather only to extend Israel’s hold on the West Bank and to prevent the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside an Israel with secure, internationally recognized borders. By working to authorize the outpost, the government is encouraging violations of the law, as well as sending a clear message to the settlers that such criminal acts pay off.

De Facto Annexation Proceeds: Bill Will Extend Israeli Sovereignty to Settlement Universities

On January 29, a bill to bring settlement universities under Israeli domestic law passed its first reading in the Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee. The bill aims to extend the authority of Israel’s Council of Higher Education to include schools located in settlement, which currently fall under a separate authority, as required by the norms of occupation. While Israeli policies are often extended to the settlements on an ad hoc basis through military orders issued by the Civil Administration, which is the arm of the IDF that is for all intents and purposes the sovereign ruler over the occupied territories, this bill capitalizes on the momentum created by a new Knesset policy that formalizes the process by which Israeli domestic law is extended over the settlements, in affect extending Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and therefore annexing it.

The authors of the policy have unabashedly stated that their goal is to annex the settlements, and even all of Area C, to Israel. One of the authors, MK Shuli Mualem Rafaeli (Jewish Home) said, “Alongside the academic importance of the law there is also a clear element of imposing sovereignty, and I am proud of both.”

The new bill is specifically connected to the opening of a state-of-the-art medical school in the Ariel settlement, funded in part by billionaire American financier Sheldon Adelson. As FMEP reported last June, Ariel University became an accredited Israeli university in 2012, following significant controversy and opposition, including from Israeli academics. It has since been the focus of additional controversy, linked to what is a clear Israeli-government-backed agenda of exploiting academia to normalize settlements.  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 attach Ariel to Israel will cut the northern West Bank into pieces. 

Israeli Army to Take Control Over East Jerusalem Neighborhoods Cut Off by the Barrier

The Israeli army announced that it plans to take full security control over two East Jerusalem neighborhoods that have been walled out of the city of Jerusalem by the Israeli separation barrier. The move was justified by saying that there has been in increase in terror attacks carried out by Palestinians with Israeli identification cards (Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem carry Israeli ID cards).

Peace Now slammed the army’s move, noting:

The government insists that East Jerusalem should be part of Israel’s capital, yet it walls off 140,000 residents–1/2-2/3 of which are Israeli citizens–and brings in the army after the radicalization brought on in no small part by years of neglect and discrimination bear fruit. Once again the government has deceived the public by talking about “United Jerusalem” while practicing segregation

Until now, the the Israeli police department was the only permitted security presence in Shuafat refugee camp and Kafr Aqab, both of which are legally parts of Jerusalem, even though they were left on the West Bank side of the separation barrier. The Palestinian Authority is not allowed to operate in East Jerusalem (including these neighborhoods), which Israel annexed following the 1967 war. Israel’s isolation and systematic neglect of these East Jerusalem neighborhoods has come at an extraordinarily high cost for Palestinian residents.

New West Bank Bypass Road Opens “New Era in Settlement”

Israeli officials joined together for the opening of a new bypass road for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, the first major new bypass road opened in 20 years. And this is only the start: the road is the first of five new bypass roads that Netanyahu promised to build under pressure from settlers, who pushed the Prime Minister to expedite funds for projects the settlers claimed were needed for their security. The new Israeli-only road will link several settlements located deep inside the northern West Bank to cities inside Israel (i.e., within the Green Line), while bypassing Palestinian towns.

Prime Minister Netanyahu was clear about the importance of the road and what it means for the future of Israeli settlement construction. Netanyahu said,

Returning to our homeland – that’s what we’re doing here, in the heart of the Land of Israel … This is a festive day. It’s a festive day for Samaria, a festive day for the State of Israel.This bypass road is part of the system of bypass roads that we are building throughout Judea and Samaria that serves the residents of Judea and Samaria and the residents of the entire State of Israel

Not to be outdone, Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, a municipal body for settlements in the West Bank, put it even more bluntly saying that this is,

the beginning of a new era in settlement…It is impossible to overstate the importance of these bypass roads and the importance of transportation routes for settlement. They are the keys to the development of settlement.

At the ceremony, Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan announced that the government will begin paving two more bypass roads in the coming weeks.

[2/2/2018 Update] Last year, B’Tselem documented Israeli construction of the bypass road Netanyahu christened this week. In order to build the road, Israel uprooted olive trees belonging to the Palestinian city of Qalqilya. Documenting the olive tree destruction, B’Tselem wrote in January 2017:

This work is being carried out as part of the decision made by the military and the Civil Administration to build a bypass road to replace the section of Route 55 that runs through a-Nabi Elyas. Route 55 originally served as the main link between Nablus and Qalqilya and was one of the major traffic arteries in the West Bank. Over time, as settlements expanded, it also became essential to settlers, as it connects several large settlements with Israel’s coastal plains and central region.

The decision to build the bypass road was first made in 1989, with the goal of sparing settlers the need to drive through the village of a-Nabi Elyas. However, it was not pursued until September 2013, when the Civil Administration planning institutions began the planning process. In October 2015, the project was expedited due to pressure by the settler leadership: According to Israeli media reports , Prime Minister Netanyahu promised the heads of the settlement local councils that the road would be built after they had set up a protest tent in October 2015, following the attack that killed Naama and Eitam Henkin.

On 21 December 2015, the head of the Civil Administration issued an expropriation order for 10.4 hectares of land earmarked for the bypass road. The order noted that the new road will “serve the public good” and improve mobility between Nablus and Qalqilya. In March 2016, the Palestinian village councils and landowners petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice (HCJ) against the expropriation, on the grounds that the road will not serve all residents of the area but only settlers. On 16 November 2016, the HCJ denied the petition after accepting the state’s claim that the road is intended to serve the entire population of the area.

The seizure of the land and uprooting of olive trees have severely harmed the landowners, who have lost a source of income and a major financial asset, as well as an open space that served all local residents for leisure and recreational activities.

The state argued that the road is meant to serve Palestinians in the area, too, in order to comply with the provisions of international law, which allow the occupying power to expropriate land within the occupied area in two circumstances only. The first is a specific military need related to the occupied territory itself, and the second is promoting the wellbeing of the residents of the occupied territory.

 

European Union Says Israel is Using Tourism to Legitimize Settlements

In a leaked report, European Union officials said that Israeli archaeological and tourism projects in East Jerusalem are “a political tool to modify the historical narrative and to support, legitimacy and expand settlements.”

The Guardian, which saw the annual report written by the EU Heads of Mission in Jerusalem, lists settler-run excavation sites, the proposed cable car project (which FMEP has reported on repeatedly), and national parks in East Jerusalem as part of Israel’s mission to change facts on the ground.

The report covers activity of Israeli settler groups in Silwan (called the “City of David” by settlers and the Israeli government, both of which seek to assert exclusive Jewish heritage there). It is in this area that the Israeli government approved the Kedem Center, a huge tourism complex proposed by the settler group Elad, as the final stop of the Jerusalem cable car project. Silwan is home to 450 hardline settlers, guarded by government-funded private security, living amongst 10,000 Palestinians. The Palestinian population of this area faces home demolitions, land and property seizures, evictions, intense settlement building, and devastating property damage resulting from massive underground excavation projects run by settler-aligned groups with the financing of the Israeli government.

Of the cable car project and the Silwan stop in particular, the report says:

Critics have described the project as turning the World Heritage site of Jerusalem into a commercial theme park while local Palestinian residents are absent from the narrative being promoted to the visitors

[2/2/2018 Update] Emek Shaveh, an Israeli NGO who has been raising concern about archeological settlement activity in Jerusalem since 2009, issued a statement elaborating on the extent of the threat posed by the type of activity the EU report highlights. They wrote,

Archaeological tourism projects are favored by the settlers as a means of winning the hearts of minds of the Israeli, Jewish and evangelical publics. The EU now recognizes how archaeological sites in East Jerusalem are being used as a political tool to “modify the historical narrative and to support, legitimise and expand settlements”. The City of David in Silwan, the new cable car project, the national parks in Palestinian neighborhoods compliment evictions and house demolitions in marginalising and disenfranchising the East Jerusalem Palestinian public. The difference between “cultural projects” such as the national parks or the City of David and house demolitions is that in addition to the physical displacement, the former also expropriate the narrative, dispossessing the Palestinians from their historical and cultural contexts. When it comes to Jerusalem, narrative is not an abstract issue because in Jerusalem history and questions of present-day sovereignty are intertwined. And when it will come to determining the final status of the city, the question of who “owns” the history of the city will be crucial.

 

Israeli Expansion Plan Threatens Flood Out (Literally) Palestinian Town

Palestinian residents of Wadi Foquin, a West Bank village located in a valley along the 1967 Green Line, west of Bethlehem, are chronicling how nearby construction in Israel has resulted in unprecedented flooding and the severe depletion of their 11 historic natural springs.

A victim of its location on the Green Line and its lush lands, Wadi Foquin sits between the Israeli city Tzur Haddassah to its west and the ever-growing mega-settlement pf Beitar Illit, to its east. Last year, the Israeli government approved an expansion plan for Tzur Hadassah that extends the city past the Green Line into the West Bank, as reported by the Israeli settlement watchdog Kerem Navot. Wadi Foquin residents say Tzur Hadassah and Beitar Illit, both of which look down on the valley town, have already created something akin to concrete water slides, shooting rainwater straight into Wadi Foquin and flooding their homes, streets, and businesses, while also preventing the water from replenishing the springs. The expansion is only making matters worse. The Israeli government, for its part, claims that all the proper and required ecological studies have been completed and the plan passes muster and will move forward. 

Yesh Din Report Slams the Israeli Civil Administration

The Israeli NGO Yesh Din released a new report, “Through the Lense of Israel’s Interests: The Civil Administration’s Role in the West Bank.” The report is an in-depth look at the main functions of the Civil Administration, the arm of the Israeli military which is the de facto sovereign in the West Bank. The Civil Administration regulates virtually every aspect of Palestinian life, including travel permits, roads, land, resource extraction, archeology, and of course settlement-related issues. The report examines the role of the Civil Administration and the ways in which its authorities have become a “means of oppression and domination over Palestinians.”

Yesh Din concludes:

The Civil Administration, established to serve “the welfare and benefit of the population” and “for the purpose of operating and providing public services”, betrays its professed role. Instead of ensuring public order and safety in a temporary trusteeship, as required by international law, the Civil Administration uses administrative tools to effect long-term, irreversible changes in the OPT and to impose restrictions and bans on the protected persons, in a severe, systemic and widespread abuse of the human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Bonus Reads

1. “More than 200 companies have Israeli settlement ties: U.N.” (Reuters)
2. INFOGRAPHIC “50 Years of Occupation: The Security Burden Continues” (Peace Now)
3. “After Netanyahu Summons Ambassador, Irish Senate Postpones Debate on Bill Blocking Israeli Settlement Goods” (Haaretz)
4. “Ireland to vote on settlement trade sanctions bill” (+972 Magazine)

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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.