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

Comments or questions – email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Abbas Warns that Israel & U.S. Will Annex While World is Dealing with Coronavirus

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called the heads of several Arab governments – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait – to beseesch them to intervene to stop possible annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel. Abbas called upon the governments to urgently express their opposition to annexation to their Israeli counterparts.

Another senior Palestinian official warned about moves to implement annexation while the world’s attention is focused on the COVID-19 crisis.  PA Social Affairs Minister Ahmad Majdalani said in a statement:

“Uncovered reports that Washington and Tel Aviv are about to agree on the maps of annexation – at a time the world is preoccupied with the war on coronavirus – falls within the framework of the US plan to implement the ‘deal of the century”

Following Abbas’ calls, Secretary of the Arab League, Mr. Ahmad Aboul Gheit, sent letters to leaders around the world – including the United Nations Secretary General, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Britain, China and Germany, as well as the Foreign Policy Representative of the European Union (EU). The letters warned of severe repercussions if annexation goes forward, and urged the international actors to prevent it.

Work of U.S.-Israeli Mapping Committee Continues, Israel Readying Requests for More Land and Roads in West Bank

Ronen Peretz, the Director-General of the Prime Minister’s office, told a right-wing Israeli newspaper that the joint US-Israeli committee tasked with mapping Israel’s annexation of West Bank land as part of the Trump plan is continuing its work, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Peretz, who is a member of the joint mapping committee, said that the Israeli side is working on a set of proposed amendments to the U.S. conceptual map, seeking to expand the amount of land annexed by Israel. 

For example, Peretz said that Israel will ensure that a new bypass road for settlers, planned to be built near the Palestinians city of Nablus deep in the central West Bank, is annexed to Israel. In the Trump Plan conceptual map, the area where the road will be falls within the borders a future Palestinian “state.” Approved for construction in April 2019, the Huwwara bypass road is designed by Israel to more seamlessly connect settlements in the Nablus area to Jerusalem. The road is built on land belonging to the Palestinian villages of Huwwara and Beita, which Israel seized for “security reasons”. Earlier this year, the Israeli authorities informed heads of the nearby Palestinian villages that construction was slated to begin soon.

Peretz also addressed the Trump Plan’s proposal to leave isolated Jewish outposts as sovereign Israeli enclaves within the Palestinian state, connected to Israeli borders by roads (that are also under Israeli sovereignty). Peretz rejected this proposal is unexceptable, assuring the right-wing interviewer:

“It is impossible for a settlement to be choked in the heart of Palestinian territory, it will not happen. We are working on these things now.”

“Hilltop Youth” Settlers Attack Palestinians, Leave Quarantine Outpost with Stolen IDF Gear 

Last week FMEP reported on the group of “Hilltop Youth” settlers for whom the IDF set up a special “temporary” outpost in the Jordan Valley for them to quarantine together, after the youth rioted en route to a regular quarantine facility inside Israel. This week, those same youth allegedly broke out of their quarantine to terrorize Palestinians in the area. The attack occurred on April 14th, when a group of masked Israeli settlers approached a group of three people (2 Palestinians, 1 Israeli) camping on land near the temporary quarantine outpost. The settlers threw rocks at the group and pepper-sprayed their victims, and then set fire to two cars before retreating. 

An anonymous Israeli official commented:

“Terrorism against Border Police in Yitzhar, terrorism against innocent minorities tonight in Metzoke Dragot – this is how the ‘hilltop activists’ express their thanks to Israel for taking care of them during the corona crisisl.. [the episode is] more proof that this is a violent, radical, and racist group that carries out terrorism wherever they are. Security forces will bring the perpetrators to justice.’”

Subsequently, these same settler youth left the quarantine (apparently at the end of the required quarantine period), but absconded with some of the Israeli army’s tents used to establish the outpost. 

Commenting on all of this, Defense Minister Naftali Bennet said in a statement:

“Vandalizing the compound set up by the military and setting ablaze Palestinian cars is an abomination, which has crossed every red line. This disgrace is unheard of, and we have no intention of letting this slide. I refuse to accept any act of violence, especially now, when the IDF and Israel’s defense establishment have enlisted to overcome the coronavirus crisis. We’ve instructed security forces to track down the suspects and bring them to justice, so that the following message is loud and clear: There’s a price for violence.”

Contrary to Bennett’s statement, this violence from the Hilltop Youth is not “unheard of.” Rather, violence towards Palestinians and their property is a key tool of settlers, both “Hilltop Youth” members and others.

The army told Haaretz that two suspects have been arrested over the theft of the tents, estimated to be worth tens of thousands of shekels. It is not clear if the IDF is pursuing any of the remaining 18 settlers who might have also been involved in the theft and the attack on Palestinians. 

More Reports of Settlers Taking Advantage of the the COVID Shut Down

There are numerous reports of settlers taking advantage of the focus on the COVID-19 crisis to establish new facts on the ground in various parts of the West Bank. These include:

• The Palestinian Wafa news agency reports that settlers placed a mobile home on Palestinian land southeast of Nablus in a bid to establish a new outpost there. According to that same report, settlers in Hebron attempted to raid the offices of Youth Against Settlements, a Palestinian organization which mobilizes opposition to Israeli settlements in Hebron. 
• North of Hebron, Palestinian farmers report that settlers are intentionally dumping sewage on their farmland.
• Outside of Bethlehem, settlers reportedly cut down 50 olive trees near the Palestinian village of al-Khader.

Israel Prioritizes Undermining PA over Fighting COVID in East Jerusalem

This week, the coronavirus has been confirmed to be spreading among Palestinian East Jerusalemites – with at least 80 confirmed cases. Around half of these cases are in Silwan, with others in the besieged neighborhood of Isawiyah, and one confirmed case – predictably and alarmingly –  in the isolated, densely populated, and impoverished Shuafat Refugee Camp. 

While the virus has been spreading, this week the Israeli government shut down a testing clinic in the Silwan neighborhood because the Palestinian Authority was reportedly involved in coordinating its operations. Israel prohibits any Palestinian Authority operations/presence in East Jerusalem, and recently arrested both the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem (a PA official) and the PA’s Minister for Jerusalem Affairs (both of whom are Jerusalem residents). In addition, on March 31st, Isareli authorities stopped a Palestinian food supply truck in East Jerusalem on the suspicion that the effort was organized by the Palestinian Authority. In fact, the supplies had been donated by Palestinians citizens of Israel for needy families in the  East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher. 

While denying hte PA any ability to help Palestinian East Jerusalemites, Israel has been heavily criticized for its failure to deliver aid to in these areas. Prior to a petition filed by Adalah, Israel had opened only 1 testing facility in East Jerusalem, in the Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood. In response to Adalah’s petition, Israel announced that it intends to open three more testing clinics in East Jerusalem, in Silwan, Kafr Aqab, and the Shuafat Refugee Camp. 

Notably, Jerusalem mayor Moshe Leon has been outspoken in his own criticism of the Israeli government’s neglect of East Jerusalem during the Coronavirus crisis, going so far as to write a letter to the Director General of Israel’s Health Ministry warning about “the serious shortage of medical equipment at the hospitals in East Jerusalem, particularly protective equipment and equipment to conduct coronavirus testing. This is despite repeated promises on the part of your [ministry].” 

Who Profits Resource: VIRAL OCCUPATION

In a new dynamic, regularly updated resource entitled “Viral Occupation” the Israeli NGO Who Profits is compiling important reporting and analysis (its own and others) of how the COVID-19 crisis is playing out in the occupied Palestinian territories. In the accompanying introduction, Who Profits makes four critically important points:

1. “COVID-19 is not operating in a vacuum. As it spreads through Israeli-occupied Palestinian and Syrian land, it is interacting with the structures of occupation which, while far from novel, are every bit as adaptive, resistant and continually mutating as any member of the corona family.
2. “COVID-19 will not function as a ‘Great Equalizer’ – The myth that a pandemic does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the dispossessed, is patently false. An occupied and besieged population and a systematically de-developed economy are particularly vulnerable to both COVID-19 and the economic fallout.
3. “Desperate times legitimize repressive measures. Declaring a state of emergency often provides the pretext for the introduction of new repressive and exploitative measures and the entrenchment and legitimization of existing ones.
4.  “What happens in Palestine does not stay in Palestine. A key reason Israel is continually looking to diversify its portfolio of repression is that it can later turn it outward for economic profit and political gains.”

New Analysis by Ir Amim: “Trump Plan” Accelerates Apartheid Reality

In a new report, Ir Amim takes a close look at nine Jerusalem-related elements of the Trump Plan, examining the details as well as their political and human ramifications.

Ir Amim concludes in part:

“In close coordination with the current American administration, Israel is advancing a policy of annexation and separation of ‘Greater Jerusalem.’ A large portion of the Trump plan is not a basis for negotiation or peace, but rather constitutes a fleshed-out work plan, which both echoes and advances measures already being implemented on the ground. It likewise further entrenches Israeli control of East Jerusalem and the majority of the West Bank, while foiling any prospect for a just and agreed resolution to the conflict. As both US Ambassador Friedman and Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, an agreement has been reached between the US and Israel concerning the advancement of Israeli moves regardless of Palestinian position or consent. This policy will not only impact the future of Jerusalem, but also the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict and will consign both Israelis and Palestinians alike to an accelerating apartheid reality. In Jerusalem, the uprooting of approximately one-third or more of the Palestinians living in East Jerusalem from the city and their confinement to neglected enclaves along with further isolation and suppression of those who remain within the city will fracture the urban fabric and liable to increase confrontation between the two populations of the city.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Israeli annexation talks threaten ties with Arab world” (Al Monitor)
2. “Abandoned by Israel, Jerusalem’s refugee camp is left to fight COVID-19 alone” (+972 Magazine)

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

1. Gantz/Netanyahu Agree to Annexation in (Likely Failed) Unity Talks
2. IDF Builds New “Temporary” Outpost as Quarantine Site for Extremist Settlers
3. Bonus Reads/Watches

Comments or questions – email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Gantz/Netanyahu Agree to Annexation in (Likely Failed) Unity Talks

Negotiations resume today, Friday April 10th, between Likud and Blue & White over the formation of the next Israeli government, following an unexpected breakdown in negotiations earlier this week (over the particulars of a new judicial appointment process). Prior to that disruption, Netanyahu and Gantz came to an agreement on how and when the unity government will advance annexation: The arrangement would allow Netanayhu to bring an annexation plan to the Knesset for a vote as early as July 10th (with or without Gantz’s support), on two conditions: 1) that Israel “consults” with the U.S. and, 2) that the plan is implemented in coordination with other international players. 

As of this writing, it remains completely unknown whether there will be a Gantz-Netanyahu agreement that allows the formation of a unity government. Some analysts are suggesting that Netanyahu at this point has little incentive to respect even the minimal compromises he had reportedly agreed to with Gantz. This is because with Gantz’s move to negotiate unity — which effectively dismantled his own party — Netanyahu may have concluded that another round of elections will, finally, deliver him, an outright victory.

Regardless, the tentative agreement on annexation that Gantz and Netanyahu arrived at prior to the breakdown is hugely significant for the future of annexation. Clearly, Netanyahu’s position on annexation carried the day (perhaps aided a little by outside politicking of the Yamina Party, which put pressure on Gantz to relent on the issue of annexation). Not only did Gantz agree to annexation in principle, he accepted a sped-up timeline for that annexation and also dropped his demand that the plan be coordinated with the King of Jordan – a concession which essentially renders the second condition of the agreement with Netanyahu (that annexation be coordinated with other international players) a moot point. 

The agreement also reportedly allows Blue & White Party members to vote against the annexation plan in the Knesset, but does not give Gantz veto power to prevent the bill from being presented to the Knesset. This arrangement allows Gantz (and his Blue-White colleagues) to vote against an annexation plan while knowing that the plan will likely pass in the Knesset. Assuming the plan for a rotation of the office Prime Minister is actually implemented, Gantz could use such a vote to try to cast himself as a reasonable, moderate partner to engage the Palestinians and the international community — which could come in handy if Trump is no longer the U.S. President and if Israel’s neighbors are enraged over annexation.  

Settlers both celebrated and criticized the reported agreement, expressing support for Netanyahu’s annexation demands (and exerting pressure for him to go farther with them), while at the same reminding political leaders that the Trump Plan falls short of their own hopes for annexation (i.e., annexation of the entire West Bank). In this vein, the pro-Greater Israel  “Sovereignty Movement” came out with an outright rejection of the announced Gantz-Netanyahu agreement in annexation, saying:

“application of sovereignty must correspond exclusively to Israeli interests and the Zionist vision and not to the Trump plan that ulltimately leads to a Palestinian terrorist state.”

The Yamina Party, headed by Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett, expressed concern about waiting until the summer months to move forward with annexation, given how close this brings such a decision to U.S. elections. They insisted that annexation must happen more urgently. Bennet and Shaked were critical of the Trump Plan when it was released because it slowed and limited the scope of Israel’s annexation and because it provided for the opportunity (however farcical) for a Palestinian state.

Back in the U.S., nearly 140 US Jewish leaders sent a letter to Gantz and fellow Blue-White politician Gabi Ashkenzi urging them “not to use the need for unity in the face of emergency to create a different crisis for Israel by moving forward on unilateral annexation.” 

At the same time, 11 members of Congress (all Democrats) issued a statement re-affirming opposition to Israeli unilateral annexation of West Bank land. It reads:

 

“As strong supporters of Israel and the United States-Israel relationship, we are deeply concerned by reports that the coalition government being formed in Israel intends to move forward with unilateral annexation of West Bank territory.  This runs counter to decades of bipartisan U.S. foreign policy and to the will of the House of Representatives as recently expressed in H.Res.326, which opposes unilateral annexation and explicitly warns against the dangers of such an effort for peace in the region and Israel’s security.

Amidst the current global health pandemic and financial crisis, we urge all parties involved in the formation of a new government not to create an additional crisis by agreeing to move forward with unilateral annexation, the effects of which could yield additional catastrophic consequences for all parties in the region and beyond.

At this sensitive and critical time, we support a return to a two-state framework and urge all parties to refrain from commitments or actions, such as unilateral annexation, that undermine the possibility of serious, good faith, bilateral negotiations, which still represent the surest path to a durable peace.”

 

IDF Builds New “Temporary” Outpost as Quarantine Site for Extremist Settlers

A group of 20 “Hilltop Youth” settlers – i.e., members of the extremist, lawless, violent settler movement that has been dubbed “a Jewish ISIS” – used violence to successfully coerce the Israeli military into establishing a new outpost for them in the Jordan Valley. The hilltop youth base their operations out of the Yitzhar settlement in the north-central West Bank (learn more about Yitzher here).

The story began when a member of the group tested positive for COVID-19 and exposed the others. Consistent with Israel’s COVID-19 policies, Israeli authorities sought to move the group into a quarantine facility inside Israel. The settlers refused to comply with the government’s quarantine regulations, first refusing to be taken to a Jerusalem hotel for quarantine (after they learned they would be required to stay in separate rooms). The government then agreed to let them be quarantined together at a facility in the southern part of Israel — but the settlers changed their mind en route, rioting while be transported to the quarantine site (doing significant damage to the government-provided bus, including reportedly breaking all or most of the windows).  

Instead of prosecuting the group for their defiance of Israeli law and its COVID-19 policies, the IDF instead opted to give in to the settlers’ demands for special treatment, establishing a new outpost where they are being allowed to quarantine together (in violation of Israeli quarantine rules). The IDF, which is supplying the group with food and lodging, told The Times of Israel that the outpost – referred to as a makeshift quarantine facility – is “temporary,” but years of experience with West Bank settlement policies suggest that what is at first called “temporary” almost always turns into something permanent.  The IDF likewise said there will be an investigation into the settlers’ criminal actions (with respect to rioting and destruction of property — and here, too, long experience suggests that the settler youth will never be held to account).

To make the matter even more outlandish, the head of the IDF, Major General Nadav Padan, was forced into self-quarantine after coming into contact with the member of the group who tested positive, which set the chain of events detailed above in motion.

Bonus Reads/Watches

1. “COVID-19 & The Settlements” (FMEP Webinar)
2. “Settlers hurl stones at group of Palestinian farmers, rights group says” (The Times of Israel)
3. “Annexation looking less likely to happen due to coronavirus crisis” (Jerusalem Post)
4. “Israel settlements turn Palestinian house into cage” (MEMO)
5. “Water Authority warns settlement wastewater exposes Palestinians to coronavirus” (WAFA)

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.

April 3, 2020

1. Debate about Annexation at Center of Negotiations for the Next Israeli Government
2. Israel’s Response to Coronavirus Looks A Lot like the Implementation of the Trump Plan, Especially in East Jerusalem
3. Settlers Advance Annexation Agenda of Their Own, Including Through Violence
4. Bonus Reads

Comments or questions – email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Debate about Annexation at Center of Negotiations for the Next Israeli Government 

In a wild week in Israeli politics, the Blue & White party splintered as Benny Gantz entered into negotiations with  Likud party to form an emergency power-sharing government. As negotiations made significant headway, the issue of Israel’s annexation of West Bank land nearly derailed the deal. At the time of publication, Israeli press is reporting that the parties have come to some kind of an agreement and expect negotiations to be completed soon that finalize a coalition agreement; it remains unclear what if anything has been agreed with respect to annexation..

To recap how we got here, the Likud party – led by the quarantined Netanyahu – demanded that under a coalition agreement the unity government would move to quickly annex at least part of the West Bank.  Likud has reportedly made this point non-negotiable. The Times of Israel reports that Netanyahu is pushing the point by arguing that annexation must be done before U.S. elections in November 2020, at which time the window of opportunity might close if Trump loses. Netanyahu is facing pressure to be absolutist on this point from his “frenemies” in the Yamina party – Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked – who have threatened to advance legislation against Netanyahu for corruption if he reneges on his annexation campaign promise. Yamina leader Shaked further threatened Netanyahu over rumors (which are looking to be accurate) that the Justice Ministry will go to a Blue & White MK, which Shaked warns “will end chances of expressing sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”

The remnant of the Blue & White party led by Benny Gantz has not agreed to the Likud push for annexation, instead insisting that the first six months of a unity government focus solely on weathering the COVID-19 crisis. Gantz has also reportedly insisted that annexation should then only happen in coordination with the international community,  and not unilaterally with solely U.S. backing, as Likud prefers. This Gantz position has been met with confusion, given that the international community has not been supportive of the Trump plan, and by-and-large opposes Israeli annexation of West Bank land. To make matters even more confusing, Gantz has previously and very publicly welcomed the Trump Plan with open arms.

Reportedly, one possible Gantz-Netayahu “compromise” would be to go ahead with annexation only “if the Trump administration gave its full-throated backing to the move.”  Likud sources have leaked a different version of the deal, suggesting that the parties have agreed to delay annexation, but have agreed the delay will be for less than six months, permitting Gantz to claim victory in keeping the government focused in the immediate term on COVID-19, while enabling annexation to be carried out before U.S. elections. In addition, sources suggest that an agreement along these lines would include a Likud “concession” that will allow Blue & White party members to “vote their conscience” on an annexation proposal in the Knesset (i.e., allowing them an empty gesture of opposition against an initiative that, by joining the coalition, they are responsible for allowing to come to a vote). 

In response to the negotiations, Peace Now called on Gantz to oppose annexation and released a statement saying:

“When the settler right talks about applying sovereignty to the territories or swaths of them, they mean a unilateral and dangerous annexation. The role of the government is to maintain Israel’s ability to flourish as a Jewish and democratic state. This can best be done by keeping an open hand for peace, promoting negotiations with the Palestinians, and taking care to keep its relations with its partners in the region and beyond from deteriorating. The so-called “unity government” to be formed soon must commit not to carry out any unilateral annexation measures in the West Bank. Below is a breakdown of reasons why annexation is not in Israel’s national interest.”

Israel’s Response to Coronavirus Looks A Lot like the Implementation of the Trump Plan, Especially in East Jerusalem

Adding to the topics covered in last week’s Settlement Report (cutting off Shufat Refugee Camp, over-policing Issawiya, and settler violence), the Israeli government continues to roll out policies in the name of fighting the spread of COVID-19 that, in actuality, advance Israel’s annexation plans. 

Illustrative of the Israel’s overall policies towards East Jerusalem in the time of Coronavirus, Israel allowed the Palestinian Authority (PA) police force to enter the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab in order to disperse a riot between groups clashing over the installation of a roadblock leading into the neighborhood. The PA is expressly prohibited by Israel from operating in East Jerusalem neighborhoods. This prohibition that has left neighborhoods like Kafr Aqab, which is located within the Israeli-drawn municipal borders of Jerusalem but on the West Bank side of the separation barrier, in a no-man’s land limbo, with Israel shirking its responsibility for the welfare of legal residents of Jerusalem while simultaneously prohibiting the PA from accessing the areas. One Kafr Aqab resident put it succinctly:

“We [Palestinians living in Kafr Aqab] are paying taxes like anyone else in Israel, but in the first real test, the state is disassociating itself from us. From their standpoint, we may as well die.”

Consistent with this long standing policy of neglect, Ir Amim reports that the Israeli government is failing to  provide adequate services to Kafr Aqab at this time of extraordinary urgency and need. In a letter to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon, Ir Amim noted that there is a shortage of medical supplies and disinfectant, that the water supply is insufficient, and that the city provided food baskets for only 300 families, while there are 800 families in need. Ir Amim also reports that there is a growing sanitation crisis as services have been impacted by employee furloughs at a time when trash production has increased due to families being quarantined at home.

Various Israeli plans and proposals for “Greater Jerusalem,” designated areas like Kafr Aqab, the Shufat Refugee Camp, and other neighborhoods beyond the barrier to be excised from the city, with the intent of engineering a stronger Jewish majority in Jerusalem. The Trump Plan adopts Israel’s position on the matter, and assigns the future (conditional) Palestinian state-in-name-only control/responsibility over Kafr Aqab neighborhood. By all appearances, the COVID-19 crisis has provided Israel a pretext to start implementing this reality by permitting the PA to operate openly in Kafr Aqab. 

Similarly, Palestinian police have also been openly operating in the Shufat refugee camp – where rumors swirled last week that Israel intends to close the only checkpoint leading into other areas of Jerusalem. Likewise, in the village of al-Walaja, located partially within the Israeli-drawn borders of Jerusalem and partially in the West Bank, residents are reportedly following orders from the PA offices based in Bethlehem. In both cases, Haaretz reports that the PA is acting in these areas to enforce quarantine/lockdown orders to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.

In East Jerusalem neighborhoods that Israel intends to formally annex, with the approval of the Trump Plan, Israeli actions are decidedly the opposite. Rather than allowing the PA to in any way play a role in helping Palestinian residents cope with the COVID-19 threat,  Israel continues clamp down on any hint of PA presence of activity — even arresting a prominent Palestinian Authority figure, Fadi al-Hidmi (the PA Minister for Jerusalem Affairs), at his home on the Mount of Olives on April 3rd, based on allegations that he was conducting activities on behalf of the PA. In addition, on March 31st, Isareli authorities stopped a Palestinian food supply truck in East Jerusalem on the suspicion that the effort was organized by the Palestinian Authority. In fact, the supplies had been donated by Palestinians citizens of Israel for needy families in the  East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher. 

Finally, in what is perhaps the most egregious and inhumane face of Israel’s COVID-19 pro-annexation policies, on March 22nd the Israeli military closed the only entry/exit checkpoint for the Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil. This small village is located on a strategic and highly prized hilltop (inside of a national park) just outside of the municipal borders of Jerusalem but on the Israeli side of the separation barrier — placing residents (who have West Bank ID cards) in a Kafka-esque situation wherein they are cut off from both Jerusalem and the West Bank (legally they are forbidden from taking the one road out of the village into Jerusalem, since they are West Bankers, and the West Bank is accessible only via a circuitous route that passes through an Israeli checkpoint – for background see: The Palestinian village where Israel forbids everything). The military enforced the closure with only 14 hours’ notice for residents. On March 25th, HaMoked submitted an urgent pre-petition to the State Attorney’s Office to re-open the checkpoint, arguing that the village does not have a permanent doctor and only one tiny store for supplies. HaMoked intends to submit another urgent petition to the High Court of Justice. HaMoked stressed that closing the checkpoint denies the village’s residents access to medical care and essential groceries. 

The suffocation of Nabi Samwil is in line with Israel’s long-time ambitions to completely de-populate the village and take control of the land.

Settlers Advance Annexation Agenda of Their Own, Including Through Violence

In addition to Israel government actions which advance an annexationist agenda (described above), settler efforts to take over more land have continued during the Coronavirus-based West Bank lockdown. Indeed, the lockdown may be aiding and even fueling these efforts. 

In the northern West Bank, for example, settlers are once again terrorizing Palestinians who come anywhere near the site of the former Homesh settlement, which was dismantled by Israel in 2005 as part of the Gaza disengagement. Since then, settlers have been obsessed with the desire to re-establish Homesh, hosting religious events and protests at the site of Homesh, some of which have been attended by Israeli MKs and politicians. Because of the settlers’ actions and the lack of enforcement by Israeli military/police, Palestinians were unable to access the area until as recently as February 2020. Now, while Palestinians’ movement is restricted due to PA-imposed efforts to stop COVID-19, settlers (who, as Israelis, are under far less strict COVID-19 related rules, which in any case the IDF doesn’t appear to be enforcing rigorously on settlers), have re-established a violent presence at the site intended to keep Palestinians away. Over the past month, Palestinians report at least five violent incidents.  On March 26, Yesh Din sent an urgent letter to Israeli authorities documenting the violent incidents and demanding that authorities immediately evacuate the settlers and investigate their crimes.

A key tool settles use to takeover Palestinian land is violence (as documented in great detail in this excellent report by Yesh Din). As the West Bank lockdown continues, settler violence towards Palestinians and their property has predictably continued and even increased, and fear is growing that it will get worse. According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, in data it provided to Haaretz, there were (at least) 16 physical confrontations between settlers and Palestinians in March, compared to only nine in February and five in January. B’Tselem recorded 21 cases of settler violence, including destruction of property, in March alone. 

The Executive Director of Yesh Din, which closely monitors settler violence in the West Bank, told Haaretz:

“The quantity and severity of the violent cases we’ve handled in recent weeks is mind boggling. As long as authorities continue to disregard Palestinians’ lives instead of protecting them and arresting the hooligans, the settlers’ violence will only increase and spread.”

Bonus Reads

1. “‘This Isn’t the West Bank’: Soldiers Deployed in South Tel Aviv to Enforce Coronavirus Lockdown” (Haaretz)
2. “COVID-19 and the Healthcare Systems in Israel/Palestine: Part 2 – West Bank & East Jerusalem” (Webinar ft. Jessica Montell/HaMoked and Tareq Baconi/ICG)

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

1. Israel Government Advances E-1 Plan to Next Stage
2. Israel Starts Building on Private Palestinian Land in Silwan
3. Likud MK Re-Introduces Jordan Valley Annexation Bill
4. Peace Now: Israeli Settlement Planning & Construction Surged in 2019
5. New Report Examines Impact of Settlers Digging on Palestinian Homes in Silwan

Comments or questions – email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Israel Government Advances E-1 Plan to Next Stage

Despite the COVID-19 virtual shutdown of all normal activity in Israel, Ir Amim reports that on March 18th, the Israeli government officially advanced plans for construction of the E-1 settlement to the next step in the approval process, depositing them for public review. Under normal circumstances, after plans are deposited the public has a 60-day period to submit objections/affirmations of the plans. However, Ir Amim states that it is unclear if government closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak will impact the planning process, including the public review period. Assuming the E-1 plan is subject to the normal planning process, at the close of the 60-day public review period (which would be 60 days after March 18th), the planning committee will convene to discuss objections and then decide whether to give final approval to the plan or to require more information or changes to it.

Israel Starts Building on Private Palestinian Land in Silwan

Despite the COVID-19 virtual shutdown of all normal activity in Israel, Emek Shaveh reports that on March 12th workers for Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority began development work on several plots of privately owned Palestinian land in the Ben Himmon Valley area, located just south of the Old City of Jerusalem between the Abu Tor and Silwan neighborhoods. These plots of land surround a cultural center and cafe run by the radical Elad settler group. They are part of an area over which Elad seeks to expand its control through elaborate plans involving touristic developments. 

The legal status of the land in question has been the subject of an ongoing legal dispute for nearly a year — a dispute which has seen an Israeli judge revoke several of the “gardening orders” which the Jerusalem Municipality issued in order to seize the land. 

Commenting on the action by the Municipality, Emek Shaveh said in a statement:

“Erasing the boundary between East and West Jerusalem is apparently vital and urgent for the economy. Otherwise it is unclear why when the entire country is in a state of emergency, thousands are quarantined and many have been instructed not to go to their work places, the Nature and Parks Authority has decided that this was the best time to carry out development work, the legality of which is being contested in court.”

In June 2019, the Jerusalem Municipality issued “gardening orders” to take control of 12 plots of privately owned Palestinian land near the Elad development, ostensibly to add new landscaping, new terraces and a new walking path. “Gardening orders” allow Israel to “temporarily” take over privately owned land for what are public purposes (like establishing a parking lot or public garden), based on the argument that the owners are not presently using the land. Importantly, as Emek Shaveh notes, the 12 plots in question are located in an area declared by Israel to be a national park, meaning that private landowners are legally barred from using their own land. Under these orders, this control would be for a period lasting 5 years, with the likelihood of extensions after that — tantamount to expropriation.  

In short, this is an Orwellian situation wherein Israel has actively blocked Palestinains from using their own land, and is now using the fact that the Palestinians aren’t using their land as a pretext for seizing it. Adding insult to injury, the land is being taken ostensibly for public purposes – but the public the seizures are designed is Elad and its supporters, not the Palestinian residents of the area.

Likud MK Re-Introduces Jordan Valley Annexation Bill

Likud MK Miki Zohar submitted two bills to the Knesset on March 18th, one of which provides for the annexation of the Jordan Valley by applying Israeli sovereignty over the area (the other proposes the death penalty for Palestinian political prisoners). Commenting on the bills, Zohar said that he hopes the legislation will “embarrass” Likud rivals Benny Gantz and Avigdor Liberman, saying: 

“Let’s see this wonderful cooperation between the Joint List, Yisrael Beiteinu and Blue and White. We will see how they will work together [with] those who work against the state. Shall we see [Gantz and Lieberman] oppose these legislations in order to please their new friends from the Joint List?”

Numerous bills to annex the Jordan Valley have been introduced in all of the recent Knesset sessions, but have not yet been procedurally advanced by the Netanyahu government. In September 2019 Netanyahu announced his own plan for annexing the Jordan Valley, but his plan was not submitted to the Knesset as a bill nor considered by the Israeli security cabinet.

FMEP tracks all annexation-related policies in its regularly updated Annexation Policy Tables.

Peace Now: Israeli Settlement Planning & Construction Surged in 2019

In a review of final 2019 settlement figures, Peace Now reports that Israeli settlement planning surged in 2019, growing from 2,100 units advanced in 2018 to 8,457 units advanced in 2019 (a 75% increase). Likewise, during the Trump-Netanyahu era (thus far), the average annual pace of settlement construction has been 25% higher than during the Obama era. Further, Peace Now notes that 2019 settlement planning and construction was “largely focused in isolated settlements and in areas that are highly problematic in terms of a two-state solution.” Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran notes:

“[the Israeli government is] trying to take advantage of the window of opportunity that they have under the Trump administration, knowing that it might change in a few months. There was no such supportive administration for the settlements previously, ever.”

Peace Now reports the following settlement-related developments that took place over the course of 2019:

New Outposts: 11 new outposts were established in contravention to stated Israeli law. Those outposts are:

• Tekoa E, located in the  Bethlehem area
• Nofei Prat South (Hill 324), located east of Jerusalem
• Susiya East, located in the South Hebron Hills
• Mitzpe HaTorah, located east of Jerusalem
• Rimonim North, located east of Ramallah
• Maskiot South, in the northern Jordan Valley
• Nili West, located west of Ramallah
• Makhrour, located in the Bethlehem area
• Halamish East, located north of Ramallah
• Mitzpe Kramim East, located east of Ramallah
• Kedar East, located east of Jerusalem

New Residential Units in Settlements/Outposts:  1,917 new settlement units were constructed. 

• 10% of the new units (195 housing units) were built illegally – i.e., in unauthorized outposts, without permits.
• 110 of these new settlement units were in the Jordan Valley.

New Non-Residential Construction in Settlements/Outposts: In addition to housing units, 2019 saw significant non-residential construction in settlements/outposts.

• Construction was started on 61 new public buildings (such as schools, synagogues etc.) in settlements;
• Construction was started on 87 new structures for industry or agriculture
  • 53% of these new structures for industry or agriculture are located in illegal outposts.

Advancement of Plans for New Construction: Settlement planning surged in 2019, including:

• Plans for 8,457 settlement units — to be built across 58 settlements — were advanced through various stages of the planning process. 
• Construction tenders were published for 1,761 settlement units
  • 805 of the units under tenders are located in East Jerusalem settlements.

New Report Examines Impact of Settlers Digging on Palestinian Homes in Silwan

In a new report entitled, “Fissures and Cracks,” Emek Shaveh surveys the damage to Palestinian homes above the so-called “Pilgrims Road” in the Wadi Hilweh section of Silwan. Palestinians believe the damage is the result of the extensive archaeological digs led by the radical settler group Elad, in cooperation with the Israeli Antiquities Authority. The report shares the stories of Palestinian families who have suffered because of structural damage to their homes.

Emek Shaveh writes:

“For over a decade, Palestinian residents of the neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan have reported damage to their homes. Almost all the complaints come from families living along Wadi Hilweh’s main street which is situated above the archaeological excavation of a central tunnel in an underground network of tunnels, named the ‘Pilgrims’ Road’ by the Elad Foundation. Over time, damage to homes in the neighborhood has amassed and increased. In 2019, Emek Shaveh attempted to map the homes which have shown cracks in the walls or where walls have collapsed, to gauge the scope of the phenomenon, learn of the nature of the damage, and the degree of. proximity between the excavations and the damaged homes…the documentation…does not purport to substitute a comprehensive engineering investigation. However, it raises questions regarding the responsibilities of the authorities working in the neighborhood. The Jerusalem Municipality, the Nature and Parks Authority, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Elad Foundation all boast of exciting archaeological discoveries, praising the stepped street excavations as one of the most important discoveries in recent times. In light of the touristic development and archaeological research, these bodies must recognize the collapses and detrimental effect to homes located at the heart of the antiquities site and examine how they were caused and whether they are linked to the excavations. The authorities must find a suitable solution for the dozens of families whose homes were damaged, whether inadvertently or not.”

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

1. Bennet Approves Plans for “Sovereignty Road” In Move Toward Construction of E-1, Annexation of Ma’aleh Adumim Settlement Bloc
2. Israeli Planning Committee Asks for Changes, More Info on Har Homa & Givat Hamatos Plans
3. Palestinian Minor Killed by IDF During Clash Over Settlers Entering Palestinian Land Near Nablus
4. 2019 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report Further Erases Occupation, Denies Palestinian Identity, Affirms Golan Annexation
5. Reports: U.S. Will OK Annexation “Within Months” Unless Palestinians Negotiate on Basis of Trump Plan (i.e.,  Palestinians Either Agree to Annexation, or They Get Annexation Anyway)
6. Bonus Reads

Comments or questions – email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Bennet Approves Plans for “Sovereignty Road” In Move Toward Construction of E-1, Annexation of Ma’aleh Adumim Settlement Bloc

On March 9th, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet approved a plan for the construction of a controversial road designed to facilitate Israeli annexation of a huge area of West Bank territory located between Jerusalem and Jericho. The purpose of the road is to enable Palestinians to travel between the northern and southern West Bank through what would be the new massive Israel settlement bloc just east of Jerusalem, while preventing them from entering Israel’s (expanded) territory. The road represents a key element in Israel’s broader plan to annex the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, the planned settlement of E-1 settlement, and surrounding territory. 

For decades, construction of the E-1 settlement – which is now actively advancing through the planning process – has been adamantly opposed by the international community. A key criticism of that plan is that it would effectively cut the West Bank in half – preventing any two-state solution. The new road has long been Israel’s answer to that criticism, with Israel arguing that it will replace territorial contiguity with limited “transportational continuity” – via a sealed road that is under Israel’s total control. With Minister Bennett’s support and green light, the plan for that road can now be submitted to the Israel Defense Ministry’s High Planning Council for consideration.

If built, a section of the Palestinian-only road is projected to run under the separation barrier (which is not currently built in this area). The rest of the road will run relatively adjacent to the route of the future seperation barrier, in order to prevent Palestinian traffic from coming “near Jewish communities,” in the words of Defense Minister Bennet. This new section of road connects to the infamous “apartheid road” (aka, the Eastern Ring Road) which was opened for Paelstinian traffic in January 2019, and has a high wall dividing Israeli and Palestinian traffic.

In a statement announcing his plan, Bennet gave lip service to the idea that the plan will benefit Palestinians (even as it further cuts them off from Jerusalem, takes more land, and cuts the West Bank in half) while also making clear his real objective:

“[the road] will improve the quality of life for residents in the area, avoid unnecessary friction [for Israelis] with the Palestinian population and most importantly — allow for continued [settlement] construction. We’re applying sovereignty [to the West Bank] in deeds, not in words.”

Peace Now explains the issue with Israel’s design:

“The new road is intended to allow Palestinians to pass under the route of the separation barrier, and to travel ‘inside’ the Adumim Bloc along a wall without entering the ‘Israeli’ side, as in a kind of tunnel. Once the road is paved, Israel can then claim that construction in E1, and the construction of the barrier around the Adumim bloc does not sever the West Bank because the Palestinians have an alternative transport route. This argument is preposterous. A thin line of road connecting separate territorial sections–transportational contiguity–does not meet the needs for territorial viability for the development and livelihoods of Palestinians in the critical Ramallah-Jerusalem-Bethlehem metropolitan area. Without actual territorial contiguity, an independent Palestinian state cannot be established and prosper, and therefore a two-state solution cannot be reached.”

Further, Peace Now said in a statement:

“This is bad news for Israel as it enables annexation toward rendering a two-state solution insoluble. The planned road would allow Israel to cut the West Bank in half, build up E1 and the West Bank barrier, and shut down the possibility of developing a viable Palestinian state.The only roads Israel paved for Palestinians in its 52 years of control over the Territories were designed to allow Israel to build settlements or barriers that block existing Palestinian routes. There is no desire here to improve Palestinian transport, only to expand the settlements.”

Israeli Planning Committee Asks for Changes, More Info on Har Homa & Givat Hamatos Plans 

Ir Amim reports that at a March 8th meeting, the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee asked for several modifications and required that additional surveys be completed before they approve plans for the construction of the Har Homa and Givat Hamatos settlement plans.

Ir Amim explains:

“There is a big gap between Netanyahu’s far reaching declarations regarding ‘the advancement of thousands of housing units in Har Homa and Givat Hamatos’ and the actual result of the discussions at the committee. It is unclear whether this gap is a result of real planning considerations that have to be resolved or is it a sign that despite Netanyahu’s dramatic announcements the Israeli government nevertheless needs to restrain itself. Ir Amim will try to inquire into the issue.

In any case the advancement of the three plans [2 relating to Har Homa, 1 relating to Givat Hamatos] in one of the most sensitive areas of East Jerusalem after years during which the Israeli government refrained from advancing them is a cause for great concern. If constructed, these new settlements will essentially connect the existing Gilo and Har Homa neighborhoods/settlements and create a contiguous Israeli built-up area along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem. This will serve to detach Bethlehem and the south of the West Bank from East Jerusalem while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. Constituting a long term strategy of Israeli governments, construction of large settlements is employed as a means to fracture the Palestinian space and unilaterally determine the boundaries of Jerusalem to prevent the future establishment of a Palestinian capital in the city.

The fact that the discussion of all three plans ended without a decision to advance any of them is not the norm. But in a few months, the surveys and modifications requested by the committee may be completed and the plans will be discussed again and this time be advanced.

It is important to remember that the Israel Land Authority has also published (on February 24th)  a tender for 1,077 housing units in Givat Hamatos A (on the area of TPS 14295). The tender has not yet opened for bidding and this is currently scheduled to happen on May 3rd. This tender is not contingent upon developments of the Givat Hamatos masterplan described above and can open for bids regardless of whether or not the plan is approved. If the tender does open for bids in May leading to future construction this will be a most negative development with a new settlement in one of the most sensitive places in East Jerusalem.”

Palestinian Minor Killed by IDF During Clash Over Settlers Entering Palestinian Land Near Nablus

A 15-year old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli military forces on March 11th. The forces were deployed to protect a group of Israeli settlers from the nearby Itamar settlement who had entered Palestinian land to “tour” an area which is believed to be the site of an ancient fortress. The site – “Jabal al-Orma” in Arabic and “Tel Aroma” in Hebrew –  is located in Area B of the West Bank, which under the Oslo Accords is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control. 

Two months ago, the Palestinian Municipality responsible for the area designated the site as a tourist destination and began building infrastructure to enhance it. Settler groups accused Palestinians of “taking over” the fortress  (reminder: it is located in Area B) and destroying it. The settler “tour group” that instigated the clash had, in fact, established a temporary encampment at the site a day earlier. The next day, 300 Palestinians arrived at the site to protest. The IDF arrived and reportedly began firing tear gas at the protestors. The ensuing clash resulted in the death of the one Palestinian minor, injuries to 16 other Palestinians (2 serious), and a head injury to one of the settlers.

In a joint report on Israel’s use of archeology as a means for dispossession and pretext for annexation, the NGO’s Emek Shaveh and Yesh Din write:

“In addition to the takeover of archaeological sites by official entities via ostensibly legal means, there is also a phenomenon of invasion and illegal takeover of historic sites by settlers. As part of the overall negligence on the part of the Israeli enforcement authorities with regards to the dispossession of Palestinians of their land by Israeli civilians, there is also a clear failure on the part of the authorities to remove invaders, enforce the law and protect Palestinian rights in cases where historic sites have been invaded or taken over. The enforcement failures in these cases endanger the antiquities, because unqualified persons perform work on these sites without plans and building permits and without supervision.”

2019 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report Further Erases Occupation, Denies Palestinian Identity, Affirms Golan Annexation

The U.S. State Department recently published its “2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank, and Gaza.” 

Building on the significant changes to the structure, tone, and coverage of the 2018 report (text) — which removed the word “occupation” entirely from the report — the 2019 report also:

• Normalizes Israeli control over the Area C of the West Bank, adding new language which reads:

“The government of Israel maintained a West Bank security presence through the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), the Israeli Security Agency, the Israeli National Police, and the Border Guard. Israel maintained effective civilian control of its security forces throughout the West Bank and Gaza. West Bank Palestinian population centers mostly fall into Area A, as defined by the Oslo-era agreements. The PA has formal responsibility for security in Area A, but Israeli security forces (ISF) regularly conducted security operations there, at times without coordinating with the PASF. The PA and Israel maintain joint security control of Area B in the West Bank. Israel retains full security control of Area C and has designated the majority of Area C land as either closed military zones or settlement zoning areas.”

• Ceases to refer to Jerusalem’s Palestinian population as “Palestinians” – instead referring to them as “Arab residents.” This change is consistent with the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to de-nationalize the Palestinians people and its attempts to undermine their national claim to Jerusalem.
• Re-affirms the legitimacy of  Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights (which the U.S. officially recognized in March 2019). Whereas the 2018 report included a section entitled, “Israel and the Golan Heights” (alongside a separate section entitled, “West Bank and Gaza”), the 2019 report no longer differentiates between Israel and the Golan Heights at all (as in, the two sections are now entitled, “Israel” and “West Bank and Gaza”).

Reports: U.S. Will OK Annexation “Within Months” Unless Palestinians Negotiate on Basis of Trump Plan (i.e.,  Palestinians Either Agree to Annexation, or They Get Annexation Anyway)

On March 5th, an Israeli news program quoted a senior White House official suggesting that the United States is prepared to approve Israel’s unilateral annexation of 30% of the West Bank “within months” if the Palestinians do not agree to participate in U.S.-led negotiations over the details of the Trump Plan.

The day before, Senior White House Advisor and Trump Plan architect Jared Kushner reportedly told U.S. Senators during a closed-door briefing that the work of the joint Israeli-American committee mapping will take “several more months,” which would appear to align with the comments and timeline laid out by the anonymous White House source. The source further said:

“Nobody can say we didn’t give the Palestinians an opportunity to return to the negotiating table. If they want to come back and talk we are ready for that and we believe we could improve the plan for them. But if they don’t, we will continue moving ahead without them.”

Kushner’s closed-door briefing members for Congress included a powerpoint presentation, slides of which were subsequently leaked. Notably, Kushner’s presentation appeared to argue that the continual expansion of Israeli settlements is one of two factors that has made peace impossible to obtain to this point (the other being the increasing amount international aid to the Palestinian people). 

FMEP President Lara Friedman has a fun Twitter thread commenting on the double-speak in the slides.

Bonus Reads

1. “Israeli AG’s objection to ICC jurisdiction in Palestine divorced from reality” (B’Tselem)
2. “Another push to make Qalandia Airport a Jewish settlement” (Al-Monitor) 
3. “‘You Want to Kill Me?’ Totally, He Said. ‘Leftists Are Worse Than the Arabs’: Election Day at a Settlement” (Haaretz)
4. “Palestinian villagers ask why company exploiting West Bank quarry isn’t it on UN list” (Middle East Eye)
5. “Hebron settlers hold Purim parade while Palestinians locked down for coronavirus” (+972 Magazine)

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

Comments or questions – email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Fuel on the Fire: Netanyahu Advances E-1 Settlement Plans

On February 26th, the High Planning Council of the Israeli Civil Administration deposited for public review two separate plans (for a combined total of 3,401 units) for the construction of the infamous E-1 settlement. This move sets in motion a 60-day public commenting period, after which the committee can grant final approval for construction. Long called a “doomsday” settlement by supporters of a two-state solution, construction of the E-1 settlement would sever the West Bank effectively in half,  foreclosing the possibility of drawing a border between Israel and Palestine in a manner which preserves territorial contiguity between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank. It would likewise consolidate the isolation of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem from the West Bank. In combination with the recent advancements on Givat Hamatos and new tenders for Har Homa,  Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Greater Jerusalem settlement construction announcements – leading up to the third round of Israeli elections – have crossed red lines (in the eyes of the international community) that Netanyahu didn’t dare cross in the past.

The day before the High Planning Committee’s decision to deposit the plans, Netanyahu announced that he had lifted the freeze on E-1 that his government has imposed since 2012. Though the plans were approved for deposit in 2012, the administrative act of actually depositing the plans (which requires the plans to be published in at least three newspapers to inform the public) never occurred, largely as a result of intense international opposition to E-1. Under the recently released Trump Plan, the area where E-1 is located is slated to become part of Israel, meaning the long-held U.S. opposition to E-1 has transformed into apparent support.

Peace Now explains important context to Netanyahu’s flood of East Jerusalem settlement approvals:

“This move to promote settlement units in E1 should be understood in the context of government actions to promote settlement construction in Givat Hamatos and Har Homa to sever the Bethlehem-Jerusalem continuum, and the early promotion of a plan to turn the decommissioned Atarot Airport into a new Jerusalem settlement that would work toward severing the Ramallah-Jerusalem continuum. With E1 added to the mix, the pattern of severing the East Jerusalem and the West Bank is a clear policy direction of this government. While this announcement may be connected to the upcoming election, Netanyahu should be taken at his word and his comments should not be written off as campaign bluster. Indeed just this week he fulfilled a promise he made the week prior to publish tenders in Givat HaMatos, another area that was seen as a red line by the international community. It is likely that if moving on E1 is not met with deterring action domestically or abroad then it will further encourage settlement activity, seeing as E1 is the most recognized red line on settlement construction. The US, which has traditionally played a large role in deterring activity in E1, will likely not do so now with its current administration. Indeed, the Trump Plan envisions E1 as part of Israel, and allows for Israeli annexation pending coordination with the US and not negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Ir Amim adds:

“Although these advancements have taken place against the backdrop of the upcoming Israeli elections, they should also be seen as an alarm bell in the context of a new reality which has been created with the publication of the US Peace Plan. Carte blanche has essentially been given to Netanyahu and the Israeli government to further carry out unilateral measures in the Jerusalem area with little to no resistance. An acute exemplification of this major shift is the spate of new settlement plans (Atarot, Har Homa E, Givat Hamatos) being advanced over the Green Line in East Jerusalem, and now within the E1 area. After years of restraint due to international opposition, Israel is now set to advance construction in some of the most controversial areas in Jerusalem and along its perimeter. The realization of these plans will serve as an immense obstacle towards the future establishment of a Palestinian capital in the city and the prospect of a negotiated agreement based on a viable two-state framework.”

PLO Executive Committeewoman Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement: 

“With the active participation and support of the current US administration, Israel is unilaterally and illegally annexing Palestinian territory and trampling on the Palestinian people’s most basic rights. These announcements are the practical translation of an extremist, ideologically-driven, and dangerous right-wing agenda that trounces Palestinian human rights and threatens to unravel the international order in favor of unilateralism, exceptionalism and political bullying.”

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, said:

“I am very concerned about Israel’s recent announcements regarding the advancement of settlement construction in Giv’at Hamatos and Har Homa, as well as the worrying plans for 3,500 units in the controversial E1 area of the occupied West Bank. All settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace. If the E1 plan were to be implemented, it would sever the connection between northern and southern West Bank, significantly undermining the chances for establishing a viable and contiguous Palestinian state as part of a negotiated two-state solution. I urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from such unilateral actions that fuel instability and further erode the prospects for resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements.”

Making Good On Bibi’s Promise, Israel Issues Tenders for Givat Hamatos Settlement – And Plans for More

As expected, on February 24th the Israeli Lands Authority published a tender for the construction of 1,077 housing units in the Givat Hamatos settlement. Haaretz reports that the tender relates to plans for “state land” and are intended to be sold as part of the the Treasury Ministry’s subsidized housing plan for young Jewish couples. Private companies will invited to bid on the project starting March 5th, with bidding set to close on June 22nd.

In addition to issuing tenders, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee met on February 27th to discuss the possibility of creating a new master plan for Givat Hamatos, in order to allow for more construction in the area. Ir Amim reports that the committee is considering a plan allowing for 6,500 residential units – which nearly doubles the total outlined in the current plan.

Ir Amim writes:

“This is the first time since the late 1990’s that Israel is constructing a new neighborhood/settlement in East Jerusalem. Furthermore, the location of Givat Hamatos means that its consturction will have dire consequences: It will serve to detach Bethlehem and the south of the West Bank from East Jerusalem while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. For several years Netanyahu has abstained from publishing the Givat Hamatos tenders, serving as a source of frustration among rightwing parties. Netanyahu’s announcement therefore constitutes a break in the longstanding restraint. This dramatic change of policy should be seen in the context of his re-election campaign and against the backdrop of the formal release of the US Peace Plan.”

In announcing his support for the construction of the Givat Hamatos settlement last week, Netanyahu also mentioned plans to build 1,000 new homes for Palestinian residents of Beit Safafa – an East Jerusalem neighborhood which will be completely encircled by Israeli construction if/when the Givat Hamatos and Har Homa West settlement plans are implemented. According to Haaretz, the plan was/is to build 1,000 units on “Arab-owned” land — and that plan, in fact, is frozen.

In reaction to the tender for construction of the Givat Hamatos settlement, European Union High Representative Josep Borrell said in a statement:

“The Israeli authorities have announced an imminent decision regarding settlement construction in the Givat Hamatos and Har Homa neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. Such steps would be deeply detrimental to a two-state-solution. As set out clearly on numerous occasions by the European Union, including in Council conclusions, such steps would cut the geographic and territorial contiguity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, isolate Palestinian communities living in these areas, and threaten the viability of a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as capital of both states. Settlements are illegal under international law. The EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties. We call on Israel to reconsider these plans.”

High Planning Council Advances Plans for 1,739 Settlement Units, Including a New Industrial Zone

On February 27th, the High Planning Council – a body within the Israeli Civil Administration responsible for regulating all construction in the West Bank – approved the advancement of plans for 1,739 settlement units in the West Bank. These advancements come on the heels of the publication of tenders to build the E-1 settlement , the initiation of plans to massively expand the Har Homa settlement, and the recommitment of Israel to build a new massive new settlement in East Jerusalem, at the site of the disused Atarot airport. All of these plans deal with construction on the edges of Jerusalem and serve collectively to sever the connection between Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and the West Bank (consolidating Israel’s uncontested sovereignty over “Greater Jerusalem”).

Of the total, 703 units received final approval, including:

• Plans to grant retroactive legalization to 620 units in the Eli settlement, a move which had been frozen by the High Court of Justice for the past 5 years while the Court considered a petition filed by Palestinians (with the assistance of Yesh Din and Bimkom) claiming to own the land. Last week, the High Court ruled against the Pallestinian petition and removed the injunction against the plans. The Eli settlement is located  south of Nablus and southeast of the Ariel settlement in the central West Bank
• 48 units in the Har Bracha settlement, located just south of Nablus
• 35 units in the Givat Ze’ev settlement, located south west of Ramallah (north of Jerusalem).

Of the total, 1,036 units were approved for deposit for public review, including: 

• A new industrial zone – called “Shaar Hashomron” – to be located south of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya (a town which is literally surrounded on three sides by the Israeli separation barrier – which in this area is, indeed, a massive wall). Peace Now reports: “[the new industrial zone is] close to Green Line, east of Salfit and South of Qalqilya, near the planned Nahal Rabah cemetery. In the area of Nahal Rabah, there existed a firing zone for years that prevented the use of the land. The land’s designation as a firing zone was lifted a few years ago, and the government’s Blue Line team set new boundaries for the state lands that comprised this area, all in preparation for a plan to build a new industrial zone. Industrial zones are a type of settlement in of themselves, and the planned cemetery is likely to be the first component toward establishing the new industrial zone. The plan for this new industrial park is separate from the 1,739 housing units advanced in the HPC announcement.”
• A winery in the Kiryat Arba settlement, located on the border of Hebron.
• 534 units in the Shvut Rachel settlement, located near the Shilo settlement in the central West Bank. Shvut Rachel only recently became an authorized settlement area when Israel extended the jurisdiction of the Shiloh settlement to include it as a “neighborhood” (along with three other outposts). 
• Two plans for a total of 156 units in the Tzofim settlement, located just north of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya, a town completely encircled by Israel’s seperation barrier (except for a single road connecting it to the rest of the West Bank) – in the northern West Bank.
• 110 units in the Alon Shvut settlement, located south west of Bethlehem.
• 106 units in the Ma’aleh Shomron settlement, located east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya.
• 105 units in Kfar Eldad (formally a part of the Nokdim settlement), located south of Bethlehem.
• 24 units in the Karnei Shomron settlement, located in the northern West Bank east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya. Israel is planning to continue expanding Karnei Shomron with the stated goal of bringing 1 million settlers to live in the area surrounding the settlement.

The Times of Israel notes that this is the second time the High Planning Council has convened in as many months, marking an uptick in the frequency of such meetings, which until now have taken place quarterly (4x/year) since the Trump Administration came into power.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The caretaker government, without a public and moral mandate, sets facts on the ground for a small and extreme minority, against the will of the majority. In the battle over the settler right-wing vote, Bennett and Netanyahu are dragging Israel to invest in thousands of harmful and unnecessary settlement units. This is how a cynical and irresponsible leadership that is willing to abandon the Israeli interest for its political survival behaves.”

Netanyahu Orders 12 Outposts Hooked Up to Israeli Infrastructure, with More to Follow

On February 23rd, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he had ordered 12 unauthorized outposts to be connected to Israeli infrastructure, and that his government was working to formally legalize over 100 outposts. Connecting outposts to Israeli water, sewer, power, garbage collection, and other municipal services entrenches the permanence of these outposts and furthers the de facto annexation of Palestinian land.  It also copiously rewarding settlers for breaking Israeli law (by illegally building outposts), incentivizing further lawbreaking by Israel’s most radical and ideological settlers.

According to a letter from Netanyahu’s office, the 12 unauthorized outposts that will be connected to Israeli infrastructure were all built with “government encouragement” (though not formal approval or permits). In a perversion of the very notion of the “rule of law,” this unofficial encouragement for illegal actions is now treated by Israel as a valid legal basis for granting those outposts authorization.

The outposts slated for connection to Israeli municipal services are: 

• The Nofei Nehemia outpost, located east of the Ariel settlement in the heart of the West Bank.
• The Havot Yair (Yair Farm) outpost, located west of Nablus.
• An outpost called “Hill 851”, located south east of Nablus in the central West Bank.
• The Maoz Zvi outpost, located in the northern West Bank.
• The Shaharit outpost, located in a string of settlements stretching from Israel proper to the Ariel settlement in the central West Bank, and going on to the Jordan Valley.
• The Pnei Kedem Farm outpost, located halfway between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank.
• The Tekoa D outpost, located southeast of Bethlehem.
• The Negohot Farm outpost, located west of Hebron. 
• The Avigayil outpost, located in the South Hebron Hills near the village of Susya.
• The Asa’el outpost, located east of the Palestinian village of Susiya in the southern tip of the West Bank. 
• The Esh Kodesh outpost, located east of the Ariel and Shilo settlements, in a string of settlements stretching to the Jordan Valley.
• Ahiya, located in the Shilo Valley in the central West Bank.

David Elhayani, head of the umbrella settlement body called the Yesha Council, cheered Netanyahu’s announcement, saying:

“This is an important step for the benefit of young communities that have been suffering from electricity problems for years, and will now be able to receive electricity, just like any other citizen in the country.”

Since the passage of the Regulation Law in February 2017 and the invention of the “market regulation” principle by the Israeli Attorney General, the Netanyahu government has undertaken an energetic effort to grant retroactive legalization to outposts for which the Israeli government has not yet found a means to grant retroactive approval (though it has tried). The obstacle in all of these cases has been the fact that the outposts were built on privately owned Palestinian land. Following passage of the Regulation Law, Netanyahu immediately formed a committee tasked with finding a way to suspend the property rights of Palestinians; that committee produced the Zandberg Report in May 2018 — a report that, indeed, offers several justifications for the government to expropriate privately owned Palestinian land (one of the Report’s recommendations is to connect the outposts to Israeli municipal services). Following the publication of the Zandberg report, Netanyahu formed another committee tasked with implementing the report’s recommendations, by preparing individualized plans for each outpost to gain retroactive legalization. That taskforce, headed by notorious settler Pinchas Wallerstein. helped secure Cabinet approval for another bill to grant authorization to 66 outposts. All but two of the outposts named by Netanyahu this week (Hill 851 & Negohot) were part of a December 2018 bill to regulate 66 outposts – a fact that has drawn the wrath of settler leaders who bemoan Netanyahu’s delayed implementation.

FMEP tracks all events related to Israeli annexation and the drive to authorize outposts in its regularly updated Annexation Policy Tables.

Israel is Planning New West Bank Electricity Grid to Serve the Settlements

Haaretz reports that the Israeli government is close to approving a Master Plan for a new electricity grid in the West Bank, which will service Israel’s settlements. It may also serve Palestinian villages but only if — and it is a big if — the Palestinian Authority agrees to jointly implement the project. The plan is in the hands of Israel’s National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Ministry, which seeks to “provide a blueprint for the electricity market in the West Bank through 2040 and to develop infrastructure for Israeli settlements as well as for the Palestinians residing there.” However, the Israel-conceived plan calls upon the the Palestinian Authority to take responsibility over the Palestinian side of the equation, and the PA has refused to play that role and has condemned the plan.

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority’s Energy Authority said that the plan is designed:

“to establish Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and to support the brutal presence of the settlements on our land.”

Settler leaders concurred with the PA’s assessment. Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman told Haaretz: 

“All moves point to sovereignty, and when we build infrastructure, there is also a basic understanding that the State of Israel is the sovereign. We are pleased that more and more government ministries have realized that this sovereignty is the reality.”

The plan, as reported by Haaretz, would see the Israeli Electric Company build a vast network of power lines across the West Bank. Israel will build six substations in Area C of the West Bank to distribute the high voltage power to settlements. Palestinians, if they are willing, are called upone to build eight substations in order to distribute power to Palestinian homes. The project is expected to cost between $870 million to $1.2 billion. The integration of settlements into Israel’s domestic planning schemes and the construction of massive infrastructure in the West Bank to service the settlements are significant advancements in Israel’s ongoing, de facto annexation of land in the West Bank. 

Deputy Israeli AG Bemoans “Alarming Accumulation” Of Cases in Which Political Echelon Stops Outpost Evacuations

Haaretz reports that the Israeli Civil Administration planned  to evacuate the unauthorized Mitzpe Yehuda outpost, located east of Jerusalem, in September 2019, but was directed to cancel the evacuation by one of Netanyahu’s personal aids in the Defense Ministry – Avi Roeh. The political interference was revealed in a High Court case filed by Palestinians claiming to own the land upon which the outpost was illegally constructed. The Palestinians are seeking to have the outpost immediately evacuated. Settlers claim to have purchased the land, and even submitted an application to have the outpost retroactively legalized by the government.

At the time of the scandal, Deputy Attorney General Erez Kaminitz wrote to Ronen Peretz, acting director of the Prime Minister’s Office, criticizing Roeh’s role in the Mitzpe Yehuda case, as well as the recurrence of political interference on behalf of the outposts. Citing several cases in which such interference occurred (Sde Ephraim, Givat Assaf, and Havat Negohot), Kaminitz wrote:

“This is a very alarming accumulation of cases that raises the specter of the emergence of a highly problematic trend that undermines the rule of law. It’s important to make clear that, as a rule, the political echelon is not authorized to intervene in decisions related to law enforcement.

Joint U.S.-Israeli Annexation Mapping Team Begin Work in Ariel

On February 24th, members of the U.S.-Israeli team tasked with mapping Israel’s annexation of West Bank land under the Trump Plan met for the first time to “explore the terrain.” At a vista near the Ariel settlement, Netanyahu underscored the significance of the project:

“The joint mapping process of the Israeli team and the American team is underway here in Ariel. This is a major mission. The area has an 800-km. perimeter. There is serious work, but we will work as quickly as possible to get it done…[the mapping process will] allow for the application of Israeli law [sovereignty] on these areas and later American recognition as well…[once complete] sovereignty can happen immediately.”

U.S. Ambassador David Friedman said:

“In Israel rain is a blessing, and I hope that our efforts should be blessed as much as the rain is coming down right now,” Friedman declared before the meeting started, the US Embassy in Jerusalem said in a statement. “We have our team here, and we’re going to get to work right away. We hope to complete it as soon as possible, and complete it the right way for the State of Israel.”

Ariel Mayor Eli Shaviro – one of the few settler leaders who publicly supports the Trump Plan – praised the mapping team, saying:

“The sovereignty ship is under way. As I have said in the past, I believe that the prime minister will advance the ‘Deal of the Century’ with President Trump and US officials.  believe that the application of Israeli law in the Jordan Valley and in the communities of Judea and Samaria is closer than ever.”

Shaviro recently resigned from the settler Yesha Council over the group’s disavowal of the Trump Plan.

Bonus Reads + Resources

1. “An Alternative Guide to City of David Archeological Park” (Emek Shaveh)
2. “The Trump plan threatens the status quo at al-Haram al-Sharif”  (Al Jazeera)
3. “50 ex-European leaders and FMs condemn Trump plan, cite apartheid similarities” (The Times of Israel)
4. “Planned Western Wall Train Will Threaten Historic Jerusalem Spring, Report Says” (Haaretz)
5. “The Israelis fighting to keep the Jordan Valley Palestinian” (Al-Monitor)

Original Text of the Trump Plan

FMEP Analysis:

> Annexation of Settlements & Land
> In A Single Line, U.S. Vision Obliterates Palestine Property Rights
> U.S. Vision Endorses Population Transfer
> The Vision Supports Settlement Endeavors in Silwan
> U.S. Calls for a 4-Year “Pause” of *SOME* Israeli Settlement Expansion
> The Terms of Palestinian Surrender of Jerusalem

Peace Now on Annexation, Jerusalem, & Populated Land Swaps Under the Trump Plan

Emek Shaveh on Jerusalem Antiquities & The Trump Plan’s Embrace of the Settlers’ Agenda

Kerem Navot on the Trump Administration’s “Settlement Enclaves”

Terrestrial Jerusalem: The Trump Plan’s “Doublespeak” on Jerusalem

Ir Amim: Ramifications of the US Middle East Plan on the Future of Jerusalem

Yesh Din: The potential impact of West bank annexation by Israel on the human rights of Palestinian residents

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

Questions/comments? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Netanyahu Green Lights Construction of Doomsday Settlement Givat Hamatos – & Massive Expansion of Har Homa

On February 20th, Prime Minister Nentanyahu announced that he had lifted the freeze his government had put on building the controversial East Jerusalem settlement of Givat Hamatos and on the significant expansion of the Har Homa settlement (essentially creating a new settlement area called Har Homa West), both of which are located in geopolitically sensitive areas of East Jerusalem. Netanyahu said that he had given his blessing for plans that outline 3,000 units to be built at the Givat HaMatos settlement site (assuming, conservatively, a family size of 5, this means housing for 15,000 settlers) and for 2,200 new units in Har Homa West (i.e., housing for around 11,000 settlers).

Speaking at a vista overlooking the Har Homa settlement, and alongside Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon and Israeli Housing Minister Yariv Levin, Netanyahu also announced the government will be building 1,000 new homes for Palestinian residents of Beit Safafa – an East Jerusalem neighborhood which will be completely encircled by Israeli construction if/when the Givat Hamatos and Har Homa West settlement plans are implemented. 

Ir Amim writes:

“If advanced, these new settlements will essentially connect the existing Gilo and Har Homa neighborhoods/settlements and create a contiguous Israeli built-up area along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem. This will serve to detach Bethlehem and the south of the West Bank from East Jerusalem while isolating the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa. Constituting a long term strategy of Israeli governments, construction of large settlements is employed as a means to fracture the Palestinian space and unilaterally determine the boundaries of Jerusalem to prevent the future establishment of a Palestinian capital in the city.”

Unlike the Givat Hamatos plans, which were fully approved in 2014 and have since been awaiting the issuance of construction tenders, the plans to expand Har Homa towards Givat Hamatos are in preliminary stages of the planning process. The Jerusalem Planning & Building Committee is scheduled to meet on February 27th and is expected to initiate plans for Har Homa West. Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran points out to The Times of Israel that Netanyahu’s numbers regarding Har Homa were imprecise (the only Givat Hamatos plan slated to be considers outlines 2,610 units, not 3,000; and the project in Beit Safafa is for 805 homes not 1,000).

On the Har Homa plans, when rumors regarding these plans circulated in January 2020, Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann – who previously predicted Givat Hamatos will move in relation to Israeli election calendar – weighed in with concerns which remain relevant, saying:

“The construction potential at Har Homa has been exhausted, and it’s not possible to build anything near 2,000 units. So what are they talking about? Something is clearly going on. Three possibilities come to mind, all problematic…Possibility no. 1: the nearby planned doomsday settlement of Givat Hamatos, which is awaiting tenders. Possibility no. 2: Hirbet Mazmoriyya, to the northeast of Har Homa. The lands owned by Palestinians that will have to be expropriated. Not likely. Too complicated and controversial. Possibility no. 3: the area wedged btwn. Mar Elias Monastery, the Hebron Road,  the 300 Checkpoint, dubbed Bethlehem Gate or Har Homa West. The land is ownership is a mixture of Palestinian &Church lands, along with settlement developers.”

Peace Now said in response to this week’s news:

“This is the last point that can allow territorial contiguity between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem — the most significant Palestinian metropolitan area — and if the neighborhood is built, it will not be possible to connect the two cities. Such a policy change cannot be passed in a transitional government without a mandate from the public. This move is therefore but another cynical election exercise by Netanyahu to the detriment of the interests of all Israeli citizens.”

Palestinian Authority President Abbas quickly denounced Netanyahu’s announcement and insinuated it is a politcal stunt, saying in a statement:

“Netanyahu’s attempts to win right-wing Israeli votes on the eve of the Israeli elections at the expense of Palestinian rights will not bring peace and stability to anyone, and will lead to more tension and violence in the region.”

Israel Introduces Plan to Build Atarot Settlement in East Jerusalem, An Apparent Contradiction to the Trump Plan

On February 9th, the Israeli Ministry of Housing officially introduced a plan to build a new settlement on the site of the disused Atarot airport, located at the northern tip of East Jerusalem – an area that the Trump Plan seems to suggest would be the site for a Palestinian tourism zone (under the plan, that zone would be located entirely inside the state of Israel, and therefore subject to the complete control of Israeli authorities).

The Atarot settlements plan, which has existed for years, occasionally popping into the news and then disappearing, calls for up to 9,000 residential units aimed for ultra-Orthodox Jews (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 6, this means housing form 54,000 people), as well as synagogues, ritual baths (mikvehs), commercial properties, offices and work spaces, a hotel, and a water reservoir. If built, the Atarot settlement will effectively be an Israeli enclave, surrounded by Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods on three sides and Ramallah to its north.

Terrestrial Jerusalem’s Daniel Seidemann explains important context of the plan:

”This plan has been around since 2007. Every few years rears its ugly head, only to disappear for another few years. The obstacles to implementation are almost insurmountable but under Trump & Netanyahu, the unthinkable is commonplace. The plan keeps being ressurrected because it is the darling of the ultra-Orthodox. The land reserves in Jerusalem have been pretty much exhausted, and the haredim are leaving for Beit Shemesh and the settlements of Beitar and Modi’in Illit. They are pushing. There is even talk of a surrealistic plan to build a tunnel under the Qalandia Refugee Camp, linking the planned Atarot settlement with the existing West Bank settlement of Kochav Yaacov.”

There are currently 15 Palestinian families living in buildings on the land slated for the settlement, part of which is privately owned by Palestinians; other land in the area has been declared “state land” or belongs to the Jewish National Fund. To solve the problem of Palestinian land owners, the Israeli government will need to evict the Palestinians living there and demolish their homes — a step that will be facilitated by the fact that all of the homes lack Israeli-issued building permits (which are essentially impossible for Palestinians to receive). The private Palestinian landowners will then be subjected to a non-consensual process of reparcelization, in which Israel will unilaterally reparcel and then redistribute the land amongst its owners on the basis of the value of the land (as determined by Israel) and the percentage of their ownership claim.

Though the recently released Trump Plan does not explicitly designate the disused Atarot Airport as the site for a “special tourism zone,” this land is the only remaining undeveloped area in the Atarot. Explaining why the Atarot settlements plan has now resurfaced, despite the fact the has it contradicts the Trump Plan, Daniel Seidemann explains:

“The fact that the planned settlement contradicts the Trump plan’s designation as a Special Tourist Area for Palestinians is no problem at all: both Netanyahu and Trump secretly have silent contempt for the plan, exceeded only by their open contempt for the Palestinians. What is this REALLY all about? Elections. Courting the ultra-Orthodox, there is no rabbit that Netanyahu will not pull out of his sleeve before elections, even if the rabbit turns out to be a dead squirrel.”

The Atarot airport site is an important commodity and, during past negotiations, it was previously promised to the Palestinians for their state’s future international gateway. The Trump Plan borders, and Israels long-held desire to develop the site into a settlement, would deprive a future Palestinian state of the only airport in the West Bank, dismember Palestinian neighborhoods in the northern part of the city, and sever East Jerusalem from a Palestinian state on this northern flank of the city (acting like E-1 on Jerusalem’s northeast flank, and like Givat Hamatos on Jerusalem’s southern flank).

The Atarot settlement plan dates back to 2007; it was pursued by the Israeli government in 2012 but shelved under pressure from the Obama administration. The plan came back into consideration in April 2017 (a few months following the inauguration of President Trump) when it was rumored to be included on Netanyahu’s master blueprint of settlements for which he was seeking U.S. approval. It was expected to be announced in May 2017 on the occasion of the Jerusalem Day celebration, but was not. In December 2019, rumors on the plan once again rumbled, but nothing came of it.

Peace Now said:

“Netanyahu wants to strike another deadly blow to the prospect of a two-state solution. The planned settlement neighborhood drives a wedge in the heart of the Palestinian urban continuity between Ramallah and East Jerusalem, thus preventing the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with capital in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu is dragging Israel into a reality of a bi-national apartheid state and is putting the Zionist enterprise in jeopardy.”

Ir Amim writes:

“It is important to emphasize that construction of this new neighborhood/settlement (also marked in pale green in Greater Jerusalem map below) will create an Israeli residential area between Ramallah and Kufr Aqab and East Jerusalem, driving a wedge between Ramallah and Jerusalem from the north. Such a plan will significantly fragment Palestinian land contiguity necessary for any independent and viable Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem similar to the implications of potential future construction in the E1 area to the east and Givat Hamatos in the south. These measures serve to further seal off East Jerusalem from the West Bank and reinforce Israeli control of these areas, rendering the two-state framework based on two capitals in the heart of Jerusalem nonviable.”

Joint US-Israeli Mapping Committee Unveiled

On February 15th, the White House confirmed that U.S. Ambassador David Friedman will be leading the U.S. delegation appointed to the joint U.S.-Israeli committee formed to precisely map the Trump Plan. From the American side, Friedman will be joined by his longtime advisor Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone (a political appointee) as well as National Security Council advisor Scott Leith (a career military officer). From the Israeli side, Netanyahu has appointed Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, Ronen Peretz (director of the Prime Minister’s Office), and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer.

The committee is tasked with lying down exact borders in accordance with the Trump Plan, which would see Israel annexing around 30% of the West Bank, including nearly all of settlements and the entire Jordan Valley. The “conceptual map” published alongside the Trump Plan lacked granular detail, and, conspicuously, large icons covered some of the most delicate and geopolitically important areas when it comes to drawing borders. At the press conference unveiling the plan, Trump stated that once the committee was done with its work the U.S. will immediately recognize Israeli sovereignty based upon the map. 

Last week, Netanyahu suggested that the Israeli government has already started the mapping process, and that the committee’s work will not take “too long.”

Israel Advances Plan for New High Speed Rail Station, Requiring Tunnel Under the Old City’s Historic Basin

On February 17th, Israel’s National Infrastructure Committee approved a highly controversial route for a new segment of Israel’s high speed rail way, which will connect the Ben Gurion International Airport directly to the Western Wall,  inside the Old City of Jerusalem. The new rail line will require the construction of a 1.8 mile-long tunnel leading to the walls of the Old City, extending underneath some of the most sensitive and potentially explosive territory on earth: the Old City’s historic basin. 

Specifically, the tunnel would run beneath the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan – above which Israel is simultaneously advancing plans to build a new cable car line. Both projects, according to the archeological experts at Emek Shaveh, will negatively impact Palestinian inhabitants of the area, infringing on their rights and quality of life.. In addition to damaging Palestinian property and safety, the tunnel project is opposed by archeologists because it will disrupt archeological layers in what is one of the most historically and archeologically rich areas on earth. The plan also poses a pollution threat to a nearby historic spring.

Emek Shaveh writes:

“the NIC yesterday approved the route, likely due to political pressures on behalf of the Ministry of Transportation and settler organizations who view the train as another means of directly connecting settlements and tourist sites in East Jerusalem with West Jerusalem. The train’s route includes a strip that runs underneath dozens of Palestinian homes in the neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, parallel to the southern wall of the Old City. These are the same residents over whom the cable car is scheduled to be built. Even though both these projects will not be situated on the residential level, it is clear that the ventilation, above-ground infrastructure, and more, will be constructed adjacent to, or even on, Palestinian residents’ territory….Following the approval of the cable car plan to the Western Wall, the National Infrastructure Committee approved the advancement of the train’s route, which will further destroy the Western Wall area. It appears that government ministers are competing to see who will advance the most destructive transportation plan for Jerusalem’s Old City, which will ultimately serve the interests of a handful of settlers, to the detriment of hundreds of residents. The Israel Antiquities Authority, in its professional capacity, ought to prevent harmful development that will result in destruction of Jerusalem’s antiquities.”

The Kingdom of Jordan, which holds a special role as caretaker of Muslim sites in the Old City, quickly and strongly spoke out against the plan. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry called the plan a “flagrant violation of international law” and urged the international community to “assume its responsibilities to resist the illegitimate and illegal Israeli steps”.

The Israeli plan to extend the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed line to the Western Wall has been in the works since 2017. Introduced by Transportation Minister Israel Katz, the plan intends to name the station underneath the Old City after U.S. President Donald Trump.

Amazon Offers Free Shipping to Israeli Settlements, Not Palestinians

A report by Financial Times revealed the curious fact that Amazon, the online shopping and shipping giant, offers free shipping on orders over $49  to customers in the West Bank – so long as customers indicate that their addresses are in Israel. What this means in practice is that Amazon free shipping is available for settlers only. 

In a statement to Middle East Eye, an Amazon spokesman cited logistical challenges in delivering to Palestinian areas due to Israeli-imposed inspections, saying: 

“In November, we launched a free shipping promotion for customers within Israel. This does not include the Palestinian Territories, as we cannot guarantee the high standard of delivery experience that Amazon customers expect.”

Peace Now told Financial Times that Amazon’s policy “adds to the overall picture of one group of people enjoying the privileges of citizenship while another people living in the same territory do not”.

Diana Buttu told Financial Times that Amazon’s policy is “allowing the settlement activity to be viewed as legal when [it’s] not. The issue is just how normalized the settlements have become, not just in Israeli eyes, but in international eyes. And that’s the problem, it’s that unless you begin to treat them as illegal, then it becomes so natural for them to become normalised.”

Michael Sfard told Financil Times that Amazon’s policy is “blatant discrimination between potential customers on the basis of their nationality.” 

Six EU Countries Argue that  ICC Jurisdiction Does Not Have Jurisdiction Over Israeli Settlements, Others Push EU Recognition of Palestine

Australia, Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary have appealed to the International Criminal Court to join their investigation into Israeli practices, in order to present their argument that the Court does not have jurisdiction over Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank (perhaps related to their own hesitancy to grant the ICC universal jurisdiction over their own affairs). While Israel – which also denies the Court’s jurisdiction over its actions – is not likely to participate in the Court’s proceedings, these European countries echo Israel’s main arguments against the case. In addition to state filings, several non-governmental organizations also filed to join the case as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) on the side of Israel.

Haaretz reports that perhaps the most consequential filing on the case came from the court’s own Office of Public Counsel for the Defense (akin to a public defender’s office for the ICC). Haaretz reports that:

“[the Office of Public Counsel for the Defense] believes that the jurisdiction issue should be deferred until a specific case is brought before the court. Rather, that question should be discussed in concert with the charges. Why? In order to protect the rights of future defendants to raise the issues during their trials. That, because the ICC prosecutes individuals, not states. Experts in international law say that could also turn out to be the surprising position of the judges, who would pass the hot potato to the prosecutor. In that event, no friend would be able to block an investigation. That, because the ICC prosecutes individuals, not states. Experts in international law say that could also turn out to be the surprising position of the judges, who would pass the hot potato to the prosecutor. In that event, no friend would be able to block an investigation.”

At the same time, a different set of European countries, led by Luxembourg, are reportedly considering offering a motion at the upcoming meeting of European Union foreign ministers to extend EU recognition to the state of Palestine. Haaretz reports that Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn is in discussions with the foreign ministers of Ireland, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Malta and Slovenia.

Bonus Reads

1. “Congressmen to Samaria Council Head: We’ll fight UN blacklist.” (Arutz Sheva)
2. “More hospitals and cheaper houses: Netanyahu, Barkat unveil new financial plan” (Ynet)
3. “Settlement winery unveils ‘Pompeo’ wine in show of appreciation” (The Times of Israel)

 

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

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

1. Netanyahu Wavers on Timing of West Bank Annexation [Reminder: Israel is Annexing Land Every Day, & Has Been for Decades]
2. Israeli Court Grants Ateret Cohanim Third Victory in its Silwan Mass Displacement Campaign
3. Peace Now on Annexation, Jerusalem, & Populated Land Swaps Under the Trump Plan
4. Emek Shaveh on Jerusalem Antiquities & The Trump Plan’s Embrace of the Settlers’ Agenda
5. Kerem Navot on the Trump Administration’s “Settlement Enclaves”
6. Kushner’s Media Blitz Further Clarifies U.S. Support for Israeli Settlement Enterprise, Contempt for Palestinians
7. UN Security Council Drafts Resolution on Trump Plan & Prepares for Meetings with Kushner, Abbas
8. European Union Chief Says Israeli Annexation Will “Not Pass Unchallenged” (And Other European Moves)
9. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

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Netanyahu Wavers on Timing of West Bank Annexation [Reminder: Israel is Annexing Land Every Day, & Has Been for Decades]

Following the very poorly coordinated annexation announcements from Israel and the U.S. last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu is sending contradicting public messages on his timeline for annexing 30% of the West Bank, as prescribed by the American “Vision.”

After clearly stating his intention to move ahead immediately with annexation just a week earlier, on February 5th Netanyahu hinted that he will fall in line with Jared Kushner’s demand to wait until after the next round of Israeli elections. Speaking at a campaign event in Beit Shemesh, Netanyahu said:

“If we win, when we win, we’ll continue to make history. As soon as we win, we’ll apply Israeli law to all of the Jewish communities in the Jordan Valley and in Judea and Samaria. We, the Likud, won’t let this great opportunity slip from our grasp. But in order to guarantee it, in order to guarantee Israel’s borders, in order to guarantee the future of Israel, I need every Likud member this time around to go out and vote and get others out to vote. This time we’re getting everyone out of the house, we’re not leaving anyone behind.” [emphasis added by author]

Netanyahu’s suggestion that annexation will wait until after elections should not ease any sense of alarm. As Israeli political analyst Gayil Talshir tells the New York Times, the scuffle over immediate annexation has left Netanyahu bruised and vulnerable heading into the next round of elections. In order to win back his angered base of settlers and right-wing fans, Talshir says, Netanyahu might be considering promoting a more limited annexation bill ahead of the March voting date – a means of feeding his base red meat without flagrantly crossing swords with the Trump administration.

Further, on February 6th the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom paper (owned by Trump backer Sheldon Adelson) printed a front-page story reporting that Netanyahu is in deliberations with the Trump Administration about implementing annexation ahead of elections.

If you need a reminder about Israel’s ongoing annexation of West Bank land, check out FMEP’s Annexation Policy Tables.

Israeli Court Grants Ateret Cohanim Third Victory in its Silwan Mass Displacement Campaign

On February 6th, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled in favor of another petition filed by the radical settler organization Ateret Cohanim, to evict Palestinians from their homes in a building in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan. The ruling was based on the Court’s acceptance of the setter group’s claim to own the land on which the building stands.  The court ordered two Palestinian families living in the building to vacate the property by August 17th.

This is the third time in as many weeks that the Magistrate’s Court has ruled in favor of Ateret Cohanim’s petitions seeking the eviction of Palestinians in Silwan. Ateret Cohanim has nearly a dozen additional petitions still in process, threatening the mass displacement of around 700 Palestinians from the tiny section of Silwan known as Batan al-Hawa, located just outside the southern wall of the Old City.

Previously, on January 19th the Court ruled in favor of the Ateret Cohanim’s petition to evict the Palestinian Rajabi family from their home home of 45 years in Batan al-Hawa. In so doing, the court accepted Ateret Cohanim’s claim to own the tract of land in Silwan upon which the Rajabi home was built. The court ordered that the family must vacate their 3-story apartment building by July 1st; however, the eviction might be delayed as the Rajabi family announced that the family intends to file an appeal against the decision with the Jerusalem District Court.

Subsequently, on January 26th the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled to evict the Palestinian Dweik family from their home (also located in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan) based on a petition filed by Ateret Cohanim on the same basis as the Rajabi petition. The Dwieks were ordered to vacate the building by August 2nd.

Peace Now on Annexation, Jerusalem, & Populated Land Swaps Under the Trump Plan

Peace Now analyzed the details of the proposed annexation and populated land swaps found in the Trump Administration’s “Vision”.

On annexation and Jerusalem, Peace Now found that the Vision green lights:

• Israel’s annexation of 30% of land in the West Bank, bringing a total of 647,072 Israeli settlers into the state’s borders.
• 412,798 of the total number of settlers will remain living in West Bank settlements that will become territorially contiguous with the state of Israel.
• 220,000 of the total number of settlers are currently living in East Jerusalem and will remain there. All East Jerusalem neighborhoods on the Israeli side of the separation barrier (i.e. all Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the surrounding areas) will become part of the State of Israel.
• 14,274 settlers will find themselves in “settlement enclaves,” surrounded by what would nominally be called the state of Palestine (assuming Palestinians met all preconditions and ongoing conditions) but connected to the State of Israel by Israeli-secured roads/tunnels/bridges.

On the annexation plan, Peace Now writes:

“Annexation of settlements would require Israel to secure a line of defense around the West Bank five times greater than the Green Line. Further added to this immense security burden would be the costs building a security barrier around it, as well as to secure Israeli enclaves inside Palestinian territory for less than a mere 15,000 Israelis. Annexation is a unilateral move that critically undermines the goodwill needed for fruitful negotiations… The issue of Jerusalem and its holy sites is among the focal points of the conflict. The US proposal not only denies Palestinians of their symbolic national and religious capital, but it also permanently leaves hundreds of thousands of Palestinians severed from a Palestinian state, under Israeli sovereignty. Previous negotiations have proven that the conflict cannot be resolved without finding a solution for Jerusalem. Israel’s previous attempt to do so at Camp David in 2000, in proposing that the Palestinian capital be located in Abu Dis, led to the derailing of talks and contributed in part to the national-religious tensions over the ownership of parts of Jerusalem that precipitated the outbreak of the Second Intifada.”

Specifically on the annexation of land in the Jordan Valley, Peace Now found that the map accompanying the “Vision” does not match the map Prime Minister Netanyahu published in September 2019 when he unveiled his own plan to annex the Jordan Valley. The main differences is that the Trump  map provides for Israel’s annexation of less land and fewer Palestinians than Netanyahu’s map.

On the “Vision”’s proposal for populated land swaps, Peace Now finds:

• In exchange for the annexation of 30% of the West Bank land, Israel would “give” the future State of Palestine land that equal in size to 13.5% of the West Bank (including land that can by no measure be viewed as comparable on quality).
• Observing a discrepancy, Peace Now notes that:
  • According to the Trump map, 132,028 Palestinian citizens of Israel will be transferred into the borders of the future State of Palestine. 
  • According to the “Vision”’s explanatory paragraph (which lists specific communities to be transferred), 257,050 Palestinian citizens of Israel will be transferred into the borders of the future State of Palestine. 
• In addition, 120,000 East Jerusalem Palestinian non-citizen permanent residents are designated to become a part of the future State of Palestine.

On populated land swaps, Peace Now writes:

“Depriving Arab citizens of citizenship and a place in Israel is shameful, legally questionable, and reeks of ethnic cleansing.”

Emek Shaveh on Jerusalem Antiquities & The Trump Plan’s Embrace of the Settlers’ Agenda

A new Emek Shaveh publication provides specific details on exactly how the Trump “Vision” lends support to settler initiatives to use Jerusalem’s history and antiquities to promote Israeli-Jewish hegemony and control over the city. Though there are hundreds of recognized holy sites in Jerusalem, the “Vision” lists just 31 sites (17 Christian, 13 Jewish, just 1 Muslim, in addition to the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif – which is identified as of joint Jewish-Muslim significance. The list notably omits Al Aqsa Mosque). Sprinkled among the holy sites, the “Vision” lists sites which are neither holy nor widely known, including several sites either owned or managed by the radical Elad settler group.

On this point, Emek Shaveh writes:

“It appears that beyond indicating the city’s sanctity, the list of sites is indicative of how dangerous it is for Jerusalem to remain under the sovereignty of one party which has an interest in underscoring and enhancing its own religious and historical connection to the city. Emek Shaveh’s publication Selectively Sacred: Holy Sites in Jerusalem and its Environs (2016), details how Israel has recognized Jewish sites as holy, without formally recognizing Christian or Muslim sites. In our opinion, the assumption articulated in President Trump’s plan, according to which Israel optimally or equitably protects historical and holy sites, is mistaken. Over the past 20 years we have witnessed the opposite phenomenon, in which the Jewish narrative at heritage sites has been highlighted while non-Jewish connections to sites have been played down or ignored. Settler organizations and the Israeli government have initiated several plans, most notably the Shalem Plan, which aims to reinforce the Jewish connection to Jerusalem through archaeological excavations and tourism. To our knowledge, no projects exist that aim to strengthen Christian or Muslim connections to the city.”

Emek Shaveh goes on to list and explain the antiquity sites listed in the “Vision,” drawing critical distinctions that the ”Vision” obscures in a manner that benefits the settlers’ agenda and erodes Jerusalem’s multi-faith character. Emek Shaveh highlights the following antiquities cites listed in the “Vision” which are connected to settler initiatives:

• “Mount Scopus,” which the state of Israel has never defined as a sacred site. 
• The ‘Path of the Pilgrims,’ which is an archaeological excavation site in Silwan funded by the radical Elad organization. The excavation of this road has caused severe damage to the Palestinian homes above ground. Emek Shaveh notes “The excavations are still ongoing and no scientific reports have been published. Identification of the site remains unclear, therefore its branding as the ‘Path of the Pilgrims’ has not been backed by any publicized research.” Moreover, Israel does not recognize this as a holy site.
• The “Gihon Spring/Ein Umm Al-Daraj/the Pool of Siloam”, which is a way to refer to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy site located in the neighborhood of Silwan, where the Elad settler organization has financed archeological excavations for 25 years. Further, the state of Israel, which officially recognizes this site as holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, has entrusted Elad to manage the City of David national park, which covers this area and the antiquities there. 
• ‘The Tombs of the Prophets Haggai, Zecharia, and Malachi’ (on the Mt. of Olives), which has not been scientifically identified and located. Israeli settlers have adopted this site into their agenda by citing rare Christian traditions which associate the site with the tombs, but that claim has not been corroborated by scholars and is not supported by many clerics.
• Other sites which are not holy and/or not well known:
  • The Sambuski Cemetery (not recognized as holy by Israel)
  • The Hurva Synagogue (not recognized as holy by Israel)
• In addition, settler organizations are applying pressure to shift the status quo on some of the Christian holy sites, such as the “Room of the Last Supper” among others. To date, authorities in control of those sites have managed overall to preserve their properties and status.

All of these facts are the basis for Emek Shaveh’s conclusion that the authors of the Trump Plan lack the essential knowledge regarding “the city’s diverse traditions, and a familiarity with archaeological research and  the sociopolitical changes that have occurred over the past several decade.” [Another equally likely conclusions: they have the knowledge and don’t care, preferring to weaponize the notion of “holy sites” for political purposes.]

Read Emek Shaveh’s full analysis here.

Kerem Navot on the Trump Administration’s “Settlement Enclaves”

In an extended Twitter thread, Kerem Navot founder Dror Etkes uses the Ma’ale Shomron settlement and a neighboring outpost to explain how the Trump Administration’s “Vision” for Israeli-Palestinian “peace” is nothing short of rewarding war crimes. Etkes writes:

“Last week the Trump admin published its plan predicated on the idea that none of the 130 or so Israeli settlements in the West Bank will be dismantled. Israeli settlements are illegal. They are war crimes. Trump’s one-sided proposal fails to recognize this. 

One of these settlements is Ma’ale Shomron – located between the Palestinian cities of Qalqilya and Nablus. Notably, it is home to the Honorable [Dani Dayan], Israel’s Consul in New York. Next to Ma’ale Shomron there is a small Palestinian village (often referred to in Arabic as a ‘khirbeh’) that Dayan doesn’t want anyone to know about. Dayan especially doesn’t want people outside of Israel, to whom he loves to tell his story that ‘settlements are actually good for the Arabs!’ to know about this Khirbeh. So we’ll tell you about it ourselves!  

Long before Dayan started to represent the State of (Greater) Israel overseas, he moved to Ma’ale Shomron – located about 10 kms east of the Green Line, just south of the Qalqiliya-Nablus Road (Road 55). Ma’ale Shomron was established in 1980, on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Kafr Thulth. How was it established? Israel declared more than 5,000 acres in this area as ‘state land,’ of which about 500 acres were given to the settlers of Ma’ale Shomron. The settlement was in fact built in the heart of a British-era pine tree forest, in which half of the trees were cut down for its construction. Here you can see two images, 1 from 1979 & the other from 1983. [map] The rest of the newly-declared ‘state land’ was given to other settlements — Karnei Shomron, Nofim and Yakir — located along Wadi Qana, a tributary of the Yarkon River that runs through the northern West Bank. 

The land Israel took wasn’t uninhabited. In the mid-1940s, 2 Palestinian families moved from Al-Shaykh Munis (on which Tel Aviv Univ is built) to what became a Palestinian Khirbeh called Ayoun Kafr Kara, located southeast of where Ma’ale Shomron would be established. 

With time & enormous investment by the Israeli government and taxpayers, residents of Ma’ale Shomron built permanent homes. Dani and Einat Dayan, like their neighbors, built a generously sized home in the heart of what became a gentrified settlement. 

What about Khirbet Ayoun Kafr Kara? Did Israeli authorities, as they invested heavily in Ma’ale Shomron, also provide for basic necessities – water, electricity, roads – for its Palestinian neighbors, whose residence there pre-dated the arrival of the Dayans by decades? Stop wasting time with silly, provocative questions. 

Instead, let’s fast-forward to the end of the 1990s, when illegal outposts – that is, new proto-settlements established by settlers in violation of Israeli law – started popping up all over the West Bank. Residents of Ma’ale Shomron wanted an outpost of their own. They decided to locate that new outpost to their south, on land that the military had allocated to settlements but for which no construction planning or permissions was granted. Forging ahead on their own, in 1999 Ma’ale Shomron settlers began (illegally) paving a road, with the intention to establish a new outpost on the southernmost part of the land. Their plan came to fruition in 2002, with the establishment of an outpost they called ‘El-Matan.’ As with most outposts, El-Matan was populated by a group of people who, even as compared to the general settler population, are political and ideological extremists. What subsequently happened to El-Matan is linked to the fate of all the outposts. 

Over the years, the Israeli High Court wrestled with the challenge illegal actions by settlers posed to Israel’s rule of law. The Court, rather than hold settlers accountable, encouraged the govt to find creative ways to retroactively legalize the illegal acts of settlers. One of the ways the government developed was to categorize outposts, post-facto, as “neighborhoods” of existing, ‘legal’ settlements. This is what happened to El-Matan, which in 2015 was defined as a “neighborhood” of the settlement of Ma’ale Shomron, located a km away.

In Dec 2014 Ayala Shapira, an Israeli child residing in the outpost, was badly injured by a Molotov cocktail thrown by a Palestinian. As a result, Israel’s government allocated tens of millions of shekels to pave a ‘security road’ for the 15 families in El-Matan.The construction of the ‘security road,’ completed in 2017, severely damaged the historic road connecting the nearby Palestinian Khirbeh, home to around 100 people, to the larger village of Kafr Thulth, where they went for shopping, schools, medical care, etc. 

Shortly after the opening of the new road to El-Matan, the Palestinian Authority began, in coordination with the Israeli military, to fix and upgrade that critical route. But guess who didn’t like this road project? The settlers, who are experienced with these kinds of things, managed with just a little pressure and a couple of protests to get the Israeli military to shut down access for all Palestinian vehicles on the road. But even that wasn’t enough for the Ma’ale Shomron settlers!

Over the past few months the settlers have been demanding that the military block the historic access road even further away from El-Matan in order to prevent Palestinians from coming in with tractors and cars to their own olive groves, located east of Kafr Thulth. While writing this thread, we remembered that a few years back, Dani Dayan said: ‘The prime minister & defense minister have to act as if they are facing a virtual sign that reads, What have we done to facilitate a dignified life for the Palestinians today?’ Clearly, Dayan’s ideas for benevolent Israeli control don’t apply to those Palestinians unlucky enough to be his neighbors. Likewise, this same worldview – under which Palestinian rights are non-existent – is the foundation of Trump’s Vision for Peace.”

Kushner’s Media Blitz Further Clarifies U.S. Support for Israeli Settlement Enterprise, Contempt for Palestinians

In a series of interviews, White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner spoke without hesitation about his support for Israel’s annexation of West Bank land and settlements, and about his contempt for the Palestinians.

Kushner highlights include:

To Al Jazeera: “With regards to the boundaries, we took the time and we tried to draw a map, this is something – between the settlements and the growth of Israel – that has been going on for many years, and we tried to carve out a way with land swaps and with bridges and tunnels to create a Palestinian state that can be contiguous. Where you can drive from the top, with tunnels and bridges and land and highways, all the way to the bottom….that was something that was very, very hard to do. Quite frankly, if we don’t do this today, at the rate at which Israel is growing, I think that it will never be able to be done. So we see this as the last chance for the Palestinians to have a state…What’s more important than what happened in 1967 is what the ground looks like today in 2020…the map that we have drawn is in the spirit of UN Resolution 242…We also recognized the reality that we do not want to uproot any Jews or Palestinians to make sure that all people have the ability to live in as good of an areas as possible…Under this plan, what we’ve done is we’ve capped the growth of the Israeli settlements for four years. So, there’s never been a four-year freeze before, Israel has agreed to do that in exchange for us recognizing those settlements. But the reality is that those settlements are never being uprooted and if we don’t do this then the settlements will continue growing. [Asked about the specific conditions of the settlement growth freeze] Look, we have outlined a map… and what we are prepared to do is recognize the reality of the map. If there is ever going to be a two state solution, I believe this is the only map that can work. Now, is there flexibility? Yeah, there are different areas you can move a line here, you can move a line there but that can only happen through negotiations, but the Palestinian Authority would rather complain which quite frankly shows they are not ready to have a state. If you are ready to have a state you don’t go and call for ‘days of rage.’… what we’ve done is try to unscramble the eggs to the best degree possible and put this in a position where you can have Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in a construct that can work.” And later with regard to Jerusalem, “The Palestinians have been lied to for so many years. They’ve been promised things and there has been no counter to the promises that have been made to them.So, if they have certain expectations that are not realistic, I feel bad for them. They’ve been lied to by their leadership, they’ve been lied to by a lot of people, and they’ve been used as pawns in the Muslim, in the Middle East, ok?…If people want to have better futures, if they want to have better opportunities for them and their children, if they want to get jobs, it’s time to let go of past fairy tales that quite frankly will never happen.” 

To El-Hakaya, an Egyptian news show: “What’s been happening for many years is that Israel has been expanding as they’ve been negotiating and negotiating and there has not been a resolution to the conflict. This is land that they [the Israelis] are never going to leave anyway because they have their people there.” Kushner said, clarifying that the US recognition would be “in exchange for them [Israelis] stopping growing.”

To Fareed Zakaria on CNN: “What they did is they rejected this before it came out. They called for a day of rage, and they’re saying, we want a state. But people who are ready to get a state aren’t calling for days of rage and then marching in the street…What we’ve tried to do is take a pragmatic approach to it. We’ve tried to do it differently, and I think that for the first time there’s a real offer on the table to break the logjam. And it’s really up to the Palestinians to see if they have the opportunity to pursue it.”

To Christiane Amanpour on CNN: “It was very, very difficult to draw these lines… This is something we inherited.” And later, “This is something that we inherited, the situation where Israel continues to grow and grow…“You have 5 million Palestinians who are really trapped because of bad leadership. So what we have done is we’ve created an opportunity for their leadership to either seize or not. If they screw up this opportunity, which again, they have a perfect track record of missing opportunities. If they screw this up, I think that they will have a very hard time looking the international community in the face, saying they’re victims, saying they have rights. This is a great deal for them…They’re calling for a Day of Rage. Who do you know that runs a state that when they don’t get what they want, they call for a Day of Rage?…Again, the Palestinian leadership have to ask themselves a question: do they want to have a state? Do they want to have a better life? If they do, we have created a framework for them to have it and we are going to treat them in a very respectful manner. If they don’t, they’re going to screw up another opportunity like they’ve screwed up every other opportunity that they’ve ever had in their existence.”

UN Security Council Drafts Resolution on Trump Plan & Prepares for Meetings with Kushner, Abbas

The United Nations will host White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner for a closed meeting of the Security Council on February 6th, and then Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Feb 11th. Both will speak to the Security Council specifically about the recently published U.S. “Vision.”

According to reports, Tunisia and Indonesia have drafted and are currently circulating a Security Council resolution critical of the Trump Administration’s plan, emphasizing that annexation is illegal, and reaffirming international commitments to the parameters of a two-state solution. 

Tunisia is the only Arab state currently with a seat on the Security Council.

The United States, which is a permanent member of the Security Council, will undoubtedly veto such a resolution, at which point the Palestinians (in their capacity as a non-member observer state) can take the draft text to a vote in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly.

European Union Chief Says Israeli Annexation Will “Not Pass Unchallenged” (And Other European Moves)

Failing to broker unanimous support among European Union member states for a statement against the Trump Vision, on February 4th EU Vice President Josep Borrell issued the following statement:

“The EU recalls its commitment to a negotiated two-State solution, based on 1967 lines, with equivalent land swaps, as may be agreed between the parties, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition – as set out in the Council Conclusions of July 2014. The US initiative, as presented on 28 January, departs from these internationally agreed parameters. To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties. This includes notably the issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question. The European Union calls on both sides to re-engage and to refrain from any unilateral actions contrary to international law that could exacerbate tensions. We are especially concerned by statements on the prospect of annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank. In line with international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the EU does not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied since 1967. Steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged. The European Union will continue to support all efforts aimed at reviving a political process in line with international law, which ensures equal rights and which is acceptable to both parties. The EU will engage with both parties, with actors in the region and all international partners. In this context, the European Union reiterates its fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, including with regard to current and emerging threats in the region.”

Israeli press reported that six countries – Italy, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, and at least two other unnamed member states – did not agree to a draft of a joint statement. However, later reports suggested that Hungary was the only member blocking the resolution, and doing so on the basis of “timing.” A short time later, Hungary’s Foreign Minister met with White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner. 

Also making news this week, Estonia’s representative in the European Parliament tabled a motion to support the Trump Administration’s “Vision,” and claimed to have support from 27 Members of the European Parliament. This rep, Jaak Madison, has an alarming, anti-immigrant and virulently homophobic recent history. The European Parliament has scheduled a debate on the Trump Plan –  entitled “US Middle East plan: EU response in line with international law” –  on Feb. 11th. 

One positive/helpful European reaction (there are not many) came from Ireland, where the two largest political parties have both promised to pass a piece of legislation which will ban the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements. Ireland’s general elections will be held this Sunday, Feb. 9th.

Bonus Reads

1. “Can the Netanyahu Government Annex Parts of the West Bank?” (Lawfare Blog)
2. “Trump aide ties Israeli settlements to rising anti-Semitism” (AP)
3. “Trump peace plan offers land without people to people who don’t want the land“ (The Times of Israel)
4. “Trump’s ‘peace plan’ rewards settler violence” (Al-Monitor)
5. “Kushner Does Not See the Brutal Occupation I Helped Carry Out” (+972 Magazine)
6. “For Settlers Like Me, Trump’s Plan is a Losing Proposition” (The Times of Israel Blog)
7. “Netanyahu sought deal with US, Morocco to allow normalization of ties” (The Times of Israel)
8. “Netanyahu’s Land of the Settlers” (Al-Monitor)