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.

January 4, 2019

1. Israel Advances Plans for 2,191 New Settlement Units – Including Establishing 2 New Settlements & Laying Groundwork for 2 New Settlement Industrial Zones
2. Based on New Legal Tools to Take Palestinian Land, Israel Announces Intention to Build A New Settlement (“Givat Eitam/E-2”) Near Bethlehem
3. Following High Profile Political Support, Settlers Violently Resist Evacuation from Amona Outpost Site
4. Knesset Speaker & Leaders Call for Annexation of Hebron
5. Regavim Petitions Jerusalem District Court to Stop the EU-Backed “Arab Takeover” of Area C
6. Knesset Lawyer Criticizes Bill to Give Palestinian Land to the World Zionist Organization
7. Sheldon Adelson’s Medical School in Ariel Settlement May Not Open
8. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

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Israel Advances Plans for 2,191 New Settlement Units – Including Establishing 2 New Settlements & Laying Groundwork for 2 New Settlement Industrial Zones

During its final meetings of 2018 (held on December 26th and 27th), the Israeli Civil Administration High Planning Council advanced plans for a total of 2,191 new settlement units. Peace Now reports that 87% of the settlement plans advanced are located deep inside of the West Bank, far beyond any of the negotiated parameters for a border between Israel and a future Palestinian state. 

The flood of settlement approvals includes plans that will effectively create two new settlements (by legalizing the unauthorized outposts of Ibei Hanachal and Gva’ot, detailed below) and establish two new settlement industrial zones (one near the Beitar Illit settlement and one near the Avnei Hefetz settlement). Another plan, for an educational campus and a gas station, will serve to connect the unauthorized outpost of Mitzpeh Danny to a nearby settlement (Ma’aleh Mikhmash) – paving the way towards the eventual legalization of that outpost, creating yet another new settlement.

Of that total, plans for 1,159 units were given final approval for construction – meaning building permits can be issued immediately.  These include

• 220 new units in the Givat Ze’ev settlement;
• 180 new units in the Neveh Daniel settlement;
• 135 new units in the Tene settlement;
• 120 new units in the Karmei Tzur settlement;
• 129 new units in the Avnei Hefetz settlement (where plans to build a new, noncontiguous industrial zone nearby were also advanced – see below);
• 61 new units in the Tzofim settlement;
• 42 new units in the Alfei Menashe settlement;
• 55 new units in the Tomer settlement;
• 18 new units in the Adora settlement;
• 16 new units in the Metzad settlement;
• 1 new units in the Shilo settlement; and,
• 62 new units in the Ma’aleh Mikhmash settlement;
• 

  Map by Peace Now

  A plan to build an educational campus and a gas station between the Malakeh Mikhmash settlement and the unauthorized outpost of Mitzpeh Danny. Peace Now writes, “Although this is not a residential program, these buildings also qualify as the establishment of a new settlement complex in the West Bank. The plan covers 140 dunams and will create a permanent presence of hundreds of Israeli students and teachers…During the discussion it was noted that the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council is preparing a plan to regulate the outpost.” 

• A plan to build a cemetary on an area of “state land” south of the Palestinian city of Qalqilya. The area used to be a closed firing zone, but that military designation was rescinded years back, and the site has since been the subject of settlement planning. Peace Now writes, “The planned cemetery is likely to be the first component on the road to the establishment of an industrial zone, which is also a type of settlement.”

Settlement plans that were advanced through earlier stages of the planning process include:

• 

  Map by WINEP

  A plan for 98 units in the unauthorized Ibei Hanachal outpost, which will turn the outpost as a “neighborhood” of the Maale Amos settlement. In reality, the outpost is not contiguous with the built-up area of the Maale Amos settlement, meaning that the implementation of this plan will, in effect, create a distinct new settlement. 

• A plan for 61 new units in the unauthorized Gva’ot outpost, an outpost originally built in 1999 by the settlers as a “neighborhood” of the Alon Shvut settlement. The settlers built a yeshiva there, but abandoned it not long after. The new settlement plan is for a public building, likely an educational institute with housing.
• 82 new units in th Ofra settlement. FMEP reported on this plan in the Dec 14th edition of the Settlement Report, in conjunction with the litany of punitive settlement plans advanced by Israel in response to terror attacks. The area where the new units are slated to be built is land that was allegedly purchased by the settlers from its original Palestinian owners.
• Plans for two new settlement industrial zones, one near the Beitar Illit settlement and one near the Avnei Hefetz settlement. The latter industrial zone, called Bustani Hefetz, will cover a large area of land (some 730 dunams) and will not be not contiguous with any other settlement. Peace Now writes, “an industrial zone of this scope, which is cut off from any other settlement, in all actuality constitutes a new settlement.”
• 121 new units in the Yitzhar settlement, where the IDF has been trying to rein in the violence perpetrated by the “Hilltop Youth” settlers, who are based in Yitzhar.
• 152 new units in the Shavei Shomron settlement.
• 212 new units in the Har Bracha settlement.
• 94 new units in the Beit Haggai settlement.
• A plan to legalize 75 existing settlement units in the Shvut Rachel settlement, which Israel considers a “neighborhood” of the Shiloh settlement.
• 100 new units in the Halamish settlement.

Peace Now released a statement saying:

“In 2018, the government advanced thousands of housing units, including most which can be found in isolated settlements deep inside the West Bank that Israel will eventually have to evacuate. Those who build these places have no intention of achieving peace and a two-state solution. The latest announcement, which as an aside was cynically passed on Christmas while most Western governments are on holiday, shows that Netanyahu is willing to sacrifice Israeli interests in favor of an election gift to the settlers in an attempt to attract a few more votes from his right-wing flank.”

Top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, released a statement saying:

“While the world is celebrating Christmas with its spirit of peace and joy, the Grinch ‘occupation’ decided to steal the Christmas spirit from the people of Palestine. As part of his early election campaign, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has as well stolen more Palestinian land and resources for the benefit of Israel’s illegal colonial settlement expansion. Such illegal actions are a deliberate campaign to destroy the two-state solution and to prevent the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Tamar Zandberg, head of the Meretz Party, slammed the new announcements, and previous decisions taken by the government to retroactively legalize 60 outposts. Zandberg said:

“The Israeli government has become a settlement government. (MKs Bezalel) Smotrich, Moti Yogev, (Justice Minister) Shaked and (Education Minister) Bennett are its landlords. They exploit the (Palestinian) attacks to build more settlements. But the truth needs to be said. To achieve security we need to evacuate settlements, not build more and more…”The 60 new settlements are the real threat to Israel’s security and to IDF soldiers. The pogroms they are waging in Palestinian villages. The stone-throwing, the shooting and the uprooting of the trees. This is the danger to our moral image and our security! They eight seats of Habayit Hayehudi party dictate eight million lives.”

Based on New Legal Tools to Take Palestinian Land, Israel Announces Intention to Build A New Settlement (“Givat Eitam/E-2”) Near Bethlehem

On December 26th, the Israeli Civil Administration announced that it will draft plans to build as many as 2,500 new settlement units at the Givat Eitam outpost site, creating a new settlement on a strategic hilltop that will cut off Bethlehem from the southern West Bank, completing the near encirclement of Bethlehem by Israeli settlements.

For years, settlers have lobbied for construction at the site, but those efforts have been stymied by the lack of a legal access road to the outpost, which is surrounded by land that even Israel recognizes is privately owned by Palestinians. Until recently, Israel has balked at seizing private land from Palestinians for the exclusive benefit of the settlements. But now, several new legal opinions have allowed Israel to violate the private property rights of Palestinians for the sole purpose of legalizing settlements and settlement infrastructure. Those legal opinions include the “market regulation” principle, the opinion(s) regarding the Haresha outpost case, and the Regulation Law. It is unclear which legal argument will be applied to the Givat Eitam/E-2 case.

The Givat Eitam outpost has been nicknamed “E-2” by settlement watchers for for its resemblance, in terms of dire geopolitical implications, to the infamous E-1 settlement plan. Located east of the separation barrier on a strategic hilltop overlooking the Palestinian city of Bethlehem to its north, Givat Eitam/E-2 is located within the municipal borders of the Efrat settlement but is not contiguous with Efrat’s built-up area, making Givat Eitam/E-2 effectively a new settlement that, according to Peace Now, will:

“block Bethlehem from the south, and prevent any development in the only direction that has not yet been blocked by settlements (the city is already blocked from the North by the East Jerusalem settlements of Gilo and Har Homa, and from the West by the Gush Etzion Settlements) or bypass roads (that were paved principally for Israeli settlers). The planned building in area E2 would likely finalize the cutting off of Bethlehem city from the southern West Bank, delivering a crushing blow to the Two States solution.”

In September 2018 FMEP reported that the local council of the Efrat settlement encouraged the start of (unauthorized) construction of an outpost at the Givat Eitam/E-2 site (presuming that any such illegal construction would be retroactively legalized by the government) in response to a Palestinian terror attack in the Efrat settlement. Since then, the Civil Administration has allowed the settlers to build and maintain an agricultural farm there.

FMEP tracks all developments related to Israeli legislative, cabinet, and judicial action that promotes the retroactive legalization of outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land as part of its documentation of creeping annexation – available here.

Following High Profile Political Support, Settlers Violently Resist Evacuation from Amona Outpost Site

On January 3rd, 23 Israeli police officers were injured by Israeli settlers and their supporters who violently resisted the court-ordered evacuation from illegal encampments erected on privately owned Palestinian land as part of an effort to re-establish the Amona outpost. Approximately 300 settlers showed up at the Amona site (which is currently a closed military zone) overnight to resist the removal of settlers and two caravans from the hilltop, which was ordered by the Jerusalem District Court. The settlers and their supporters burned approximately 300 tires at the entrance to the outpost, poured oil on the access roads, and threw rocks and boulders at the Israeli police. Seven suspects were arrested and quickly released.

The evacuation of the outpost was reportedly carried out in defiance of a direct order from Prime Minister Netanyahu. According to the Haaretz report, Netanyahu gave orders to the Israeli military secretary, Col. Avi Bluth, to stop the evacuation. Col. Bluth did not relay the message in time, and the evacuation was carried out. Now, Netanyahu has ordered a disciplinary hearing to investigate the actions of Col. Bluth, which is scheduled for January 4th.

The violent evacuation of settlers from the Amona hilltop follows a week of high profile support for their efforts. Israeli Cultural Minister Miri Regev attended a ceremony near the recently re-established (yet unauthorized) Amona outpost to express her support for authorizing construction on the hilltop – which, according to the Israeli High Court of Justice, is privately owned Palestinian land. Regev could not go to the actual Amona site, because the area is a closed military zone where no one (settlers, politicians, and even the Palestinians who own the land) is permitted to enter. Regev and the settlers claim that the hilltop land has been legally purchased by the settlers, but that claim has not been investigated, much less verified. Casting doubt on the settlers’ claims, Haaretz notes:

“The lot in question is jointly owned by several different Palestinians, which means every single one of them would have to consent to the purchase for it to be legal. It’s not clear which, if any, of these Palestinians signed the sale document. In the end, the land was designated military land, is zoned for agriculture and has no building permits.The Binyamin Regional Council didn’t await the administration’s decision before moving two prefab homes into Amona and providing basic infrastructure such as water tankers.”

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit slammed the settlers for trespassing and illegally moving caravans onto the site. Mandelblit criticized MK Bezalel Smotrich and the heads of regional settlement councils who went to the site to express support, saying:

“Breaking the law with the support of public figures, like placing caravans on privately-owned lands, can’t be a source of pride.”

A Haaretz report recently revealed Bezalel Smotrich was a founding member of a non-governmental group called Ofek Lehityashvut, which directly financed the illegal reestablishment of the Amona outpost last month by purchasing the two caravans that settlers moved onto the hilltop. The Haaretz report goes on to reveal that the Benyamin Regional Council has purposefully tailored various calls for proposals so that Ofek Kehityashvut would be the only group qualified to receive financing for that project. As a result of that manipulation, Ofek Kehityashvut has received substantial amounts of funding from the Benyamin REgional Council, which is an Israeli-taxpayer funded entity.

Knesset Speaker & Leaders Call for Annexation of Hebron

The speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Yuli Edelstein (Likud), called for Israel to apply its sovereignty over the city of Hebron – which would constitute an act of de facto annexation. Edelstein released a statement announcing his intention to go on a tour of Hebron – where some 500-800 settlers live under Israeli military protection amongst 200,000+ Palestinians – with the far-right, pro-annexationist group Im Tirzu. In the statement he wrote:

“In my view, it’s delusional that some Knesset members dare to undermine the Jewish people’s right to dwell in the city of our forefathers,” Edelstein said in a press statement issued prior to the conference. “We’re developing Hebron, investing in it and inculcating its importance in future generations. We are saying clearly – sovereignty in Hebron first.”

Speaker Edelstein also participated in a conference highlighting Israel’s historic connection to the city of Hebron. Organized by the Knesset Land of Israel Lobby, the event culminated in the signing of a document that reads:

“We, the undersigned, hereby express deep solidarity with the roots of the Jewish people in Hebron and the support of the Jewish community in Hebron that has clung to the city despite all the difficulties. We declare an unambiguous commitment to the continued existence, security and prosperity of Hebron as the city of both our forefathers and children.”

The event was co-organized by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) who said:

“Hebron is a litmus test. What is happening in Hebron shows our Jewish pulse….[those who call for settlers to leave Hebron] understand very well that if Hebron grows and develops, the entire settlement enterprise will grow and develop, so they invest in harming Hebron. But they will continue to shout and complain while we will continue to build, reach the people and connect with our roots.”

Regavim Petitions Jerusalem District Court to Stop the EU-Backed “Arab Takeover” of Area C

Following the Knesset’s passage of a bill in July 2018 that brought many West Bank legal matters under Israel’s domestic jurisdiction (an act of de facto annexation), the Jerusalem District Court is set to hear its first case concerning land disputes in the occupied territory. The bill was sponsored by Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, whose three-fold rationale for the bill explicitly states that its purpose is to help settlers take more Palestinian land and shut-down Palestinian challenges to such thefts — by bringing matters to the Jerusalem Court instead of the High Court of Justice, which Shaked believes is too concerned with Palestinian rights and international law. The bill is part of the legislative body’s broader effort to erase all remaining distinctions (legal, judicial, economic, and otherwise) between sovereign Israel and the occupied territories, distinctions which allowed Israel to preserve the guise of respect for rule of law, and good intentions, for the last 50 years.

Looking to cash in the bill’s explicit purpose, the radical settler group Regavim initiated the petition asking the court to intervene to stop the “illegal Arab takeover” of land in the West Bank. Regavim’s petition claims that Palestinians are cultivating “state land” near the Mezad settlement. The petition also blames the European Union for its financial backing for the agricultural projects on the land. (Note: Regavim, like most settler media outlets, uses the word “Arab” to describe Palestinians, a vocabulary choice meant to erase any recognition of Palestinian identity).

A coordinator for Regavim told the Arutz Sheva outlet:

“The intervention of the European Union in what is happening in Area C is a brazen and aggressive intervention. We see extensive involvement on their part in lawbreaking and invading state land throughout Judea and Samaria. Their symbols are everywhere, and the State of Israel must respond to this blatant intervention on the diplomatic level as well.”

Shlomo Ne’eman, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council said:

“The direct involvement of the European Union in financing Arab squatters in the territories and state lands has already become a plague on the state. We congratulate Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on the obvious step that has led to great logic and justice in reducing the burden on the Supreme Court and in uniform enforcement against the land grabs by hostile elements…the Arabs understand that the real battle is on the ground. Foreign countries with their money are trying to shape a false consciousness and finally change the map of the state, but nothing can change history and our natural belonging on our national land.”

FMEP tracks the application of domestic Israeli law over the occupied West Bank (the de facto annexation of the West Bank) on its Annexation Policy Tables, which are regularly updated.

Knesset Lawyer Criticizes Bill to Give Palestinian Land to the World Zionist Organization

The legal advisors to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee criticized a bill that would transfer vast tracts of land in Area C of the West Bank to the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), a quasi-private state-funded entity that works to establish and expand settlements in the West Bank. Despite pressure to pass the bill, the legal advisors called on the committee to reexamine the text over concerns that it would also give the WZO authority over Palestinian communities in Area C. The experts wrote in a legal opinion for the committee:

“The proposed definitions of ‘rural settlement’ and ‘land’ do not include references to the character and nature of the settlement, and it seems that land that is government or abandoned property intended for Palestinian rural settlement will also be included in the boundaries of the proposed arrangement, and will be transferred to the management of the Settlement Division. Is the intention of the bill that the Settlement Division will also manage the Palestinian rural settlement in the area?”

As FMEP has previously reported, the bill was proposed by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) to accelerate the transfer of almost all of the land in Area C to the control of the World Zionist Organization. The land transfer is, in fact, taking place at the bureaucratic level, but Smotrich and the Israeli Cabinet (which endorsed the bill) are increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of the transfer (and perhaps also the limited scope of land slated to be handed over). Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit expressed his opposition to the bill, saying it is unnecessary given that ministry staffs are already working to transfer more land to the WZO through an administrative process.

In June 2018, when the Knesset gave preliminary approval to the bill, Peace Now responded:

“the government is scandalously planning to give the biggest land thieves responsibility for managing the land distribution, which will continue to be done under the cover of darkness if the bill passes into law.”

For more information on this bill, read a comprehensive background briefing by Peace Now.

Sheldon Adelson’s Medical School in Ariel Settlement May Not Open

The state-of-the-art medical school planned to be built in the Ariel settlement is now in danger of not opening, after a letter from the Israeli Justice Ministry warned that the school’s approval is in jeopardy. The Justice Ministry discovered an undisclosed conflict of interest that voids an important vote in favor of approving the school by the planning and budgeting subcommittee of the Higher Education Council. A member of the subcommittee, Dr. Rivka Wadmany-Shauman, allegedly met with the heads of Ariel University ahead of the vote, and made her approval of the new medical school conditional on being promoted to the rank of professor. Israel Hayom reports the Ariel University has already shelved plans to inaugurate the new school for its first semester in the Fall of 2019.

As FMEP has previously reported, Ariel University became an accredited Israeli university in 2012, following significant controversy and opposition, including from Israeli academics. It has since been the focus of additional controversy, linked to what is a clear Israeli government-backed agenda of exploiting academia to normalize and annex settlements. In 2018, the settlement broke ground on the new medical school, with significant financial backing from U.S. casino magnate and settlement financier, Sheldon Adelson. In February 2018, in an act of deliberate de facto annexation, the Israeli Knesset passed a law that extends the jurisdiction of the Israeli Council on Higher Education over universities in the settlements (beyond Israel’s self-declared borders), ensuring that the Ariel settlement medical school (and its graduates) are entitled to all the same rights, privileges, and certifications as schools and students in sovereign Israel.

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

Bonus Reads

1. “Israeli settlements threaten to engulf West Bank communities” (Al-Monitor)
2. “Israeli settlement activity appears to surge in Trump era” (AP)
3. “It Pays Off to be an Israel Settler, Whether Trespasser or Landowner” (Haaretz+)
4. “In the West Bank, the Israeli army works for the settlers” (Haaretz)
5. “Netanyahu’s pro-settler allies force annexation into campaign agenda” (Al-Monitor)

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.

December 14, 2018

1. Israel Seizes on Palestinian Attacks as Pretense to Advance Settlement on Multiple Fronts
2. The WZO Used Non-Existent Land Plots as “Collateral” for Loans to Build Illegal Outposts
3. Israeli AG Freezes New Grants Program for Illegal Outposts
4. At the Opening of New West Bank Highway Interchange for Settlers, Netanyahu Celebrates Erasing the Green Line
5. Hanukkah Event Draws Political Support for Settlers’ Bid to Take Over Site in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter
6. Huge Holes Open on Streets of Silwan…Above Settler Excavations
7. Israel’s Top Court Slams State Rail Company for Moving Debris to Private Palestinian Land as Part of Plan to Build a Settlement Park
8. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

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Israel Seizes on Palestinian Attacks as Pretense to Advance Settlement on Multiple Fronts

Seizing on a series of deadly Palestinian attacks this week as his pretext, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced he will:

• retroactively legalize thousands of settlement structures and outposts;
• initiate a plan to build 82 new units in the Ofra settlement;
• build two new settlement industrial zones (one near the Avnei Hefetz settlement and one near the Beitar Illit settlement); and,
• implement a range of policies that collectively punish Palestinians in the West Bank.

In addition, the Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation (a committee within the Israeli cabinet that decides whether to give government-backing to Knesset legislative proposals) will consider supporting a bill written by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) which would allow the government to provide municipal services, like water and electricity, to some illegal outposts. The bill assumes the series of outposts will be retroactively legalized, an assumption based on the work to achieve that end spearheaded by settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein (who has his own history of ignoring the law).

Many other senior Israeli officials joined Netanyahu in advocating for the immediate legalization of every unauthorized (i.e., illegal under Israeli law) structure in the Ofra settlement. The Ofra settlement – located northeast of Ramallah – was first established by settlers on land that had been expropriated in 1966 by the Jordanian government in order to build a military base (which was never built, as Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967). The Israeli government used this pretext to expropriate the land in 1977 in order to recognize the Ofra settlement, which had been established in the area illegally (i.e., without government approval, but with its tacit cooperation) two years prior. However, the majority of the Ofra settlement was not built on the land expropriated by the Israel in 1977, but instead on land that is registered to Palestinian owners from the nearby village of Ein Yabroud. In light of the legal status of the land, no Israeli government has yet been able to find a way to fix the legal status of these homes (not for lack of trying) – meaning that the majority of the structures in Ofra were built without permits, making them illegal under Israeli law.

Peace Now elaborates:

“Most of the houses built in Ofra (approximately 413 out of 625) were built on an area of ​​550 dunams of privately owned Palestinian land. In addition, hundreds of dunams of Palestinian private land were seized for roads in Ofra, as well as infrastructure and agricultural lands for the settlers. The only way to regulate the theft of these lands would be to expropriate them from the Palestinian landowners for the benefit of the settlers, in complete contradiction to the positions of previous Israeli governments and legal advisors, and contrary to binding rulings of the High Court. Although the current legal advisor (Avichai Mandelblit) allowed land expropriation in some places for settlement purposes (for example, in Haresha), in the regulation of massive land theft such as in Ofra the Israeli government would be crossing a new red line.”

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said that she already has a draft resolution and a legal opinion supporting retroactive legalization of Ofra. Shaked further threatened:

“Facing the price tag of Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas], we pose our own price tag. Every terror attack will strengthen the settlement establishment instead of weakening it, and every potential attacker will know in advance that he will be considered responsible for strengthening settlements.”

Speaker of the Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein vowed to push a plan through the Knesset to regulate Ofra, saying:

“The immediate answer to such an incident is to finally regulate Ofra, one of the oldest and most beloved communities. The 20th Knesset has been good and the Government has been positive towards the settlement enterprise. There have been important achievements and laws, but it’s not enough…  I pledge to support the plan that will be formulated and advance it myself in the Knesset. This is our duty towards millions of citizens. The fate of Ofra must be the same as the fate of Petah Tikva.”

Yisrael Gantz, the new chairman of the Binyamin Regional Council, called for the:

“immediate approval of thousands of housing units… in order to deepen our roots here.”

The WZO Used Non-Existent Land Plots as “Collateral” for Loans to Build Illegal Outposts

The Israeli NGO Kerem Navot discovered more proof that the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division is directly financing the construction of illegal outposts with public funds — by providing loans to settlers based on non-existent assets, including fictitious plots of land in the West Bank. This reporting builds on previous revelations about the WZO’s complicity in illegal settlement construction on privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank, including in the cases of the Mitzpe Kramim outpost and the Ma’aleh Rahavam outpost. Nonetheless, the Israeli government is rapidly advancing plans to hand over even more West Bank land to the WZO for settlement expansion.

On its latest findings, Kerem Navot founder Dror Etkes told Haaretz:

“This story exposes again the Settlement Division’s swindling ways and dirty dealings. [Like in the case of MK Bezelal Smotrich] who received a mortgage in the Kedumim settlement for a plot that doesn’t exist. It’s obvious from that and from the other cases that this is only the tip of the iceberg of a much broader practice.”

As a reminder, the WZO’s Settlement Division was created by the Israeli government in 1968 and is funded entirely by Israeli taxpayers. Its mandate is to manage West Bank land expropriated by Israel, in order to facilitate the settlement of Israeli Jews in the occupied territories. To make this possible, the Israeli government has allocated approximately 60% of all “state land” in the West Bank to the WZO’s Settlement Division [over the past 50 years Israel has declared huge areas of the West Bank to be “state land,” including more than 40% of Area C, where most of the settlements are located]. In addition, settlement and human rights watchdogs have repeatedly documented how the WZO’s Settlement Division has worked to take over additional land, including privately owned Palestinian land, in order to build more settlements.

Israeli AG Freezes New Grants Program for Illegal Outposts

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has reportedly frozen the implementation of a resolution, passed by the Israeli cabinet last week, designating three outposts as “national priority areas” for development. The resolution would direct enormous amounts of state resources to the outposts for construction.

Mandelblit wrote a letter slamming Housing Minister Yoav Gallant for bypassing the Attorney General in approving the resolution. According to Haaretz, Mandelblit had previously told the Housing Minister that the inclusion of settlements in the list of national priority areas needs to be thoroughly reviewed before the resolution was passed. Ignoring Mandelblit, Gallant advanced the resolution without a thorough review and without the permission of the government’s top legal official.

At the Opening of New West Bank Highway Interchange for Settlers, Netanyahu Celebrates Erasing the Green Line

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a ceremony marking the opening of a newly renovated traffic interchange on Highway 60 (the main north-south highway in the West Bank). Located near the Adam/Geva Benyamin settlement and the Palestinian village of Hizma, the new interchange is meant to ease traffic congestion for settlers travelling to Jerusalem from the northern West Bank. More importantly, it advances the seamless integration of infrastructure serving Israeli settlements and sovereign Israeli territory – a key effort by settlers and their government allies to effectively erase the Green Line.

At the event, Netanyahu said:

“We are not stopping here. We will yet complete the paving of bypass roads, the widening of lanes and the improvement of infrastructures. There is a combined transportation-security aspect here. We are making yet another great link. While we are joining the country geographically, we are also joining the present to the future. Today and in this place we are doing something else, we are also joining the present to the past. Our ancestors walked here and took in this view of these valleys and these hills. The greatest dramas in the history of our people and of humanity took place here in this place; therefore, we are also joining our past to our future and this is a very great privilege.”

Minister Katz, who was also in attendance, said:

“We’re promoting a strategic plan on a very wide range with light rail routes at high-risk areas and traffic lights to make Judea and Samaria part of the Israeli norm of a developed and connected country…After we completed these two projects (Adam Interchange and Givat Assaf Traffic Light) we’ll work to enable this connection with a road with better conditions. This is part of the large and complementary projects to allow traffic to flow here.”

In September 2018, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHAS) released a report looking at the impact of Israeli roads on the the village of Hizma, as a case study of the effects road closures have on Palestinian rights. OCHA wrote:

“Hizma is a Palestinian village of over 7,000 residents in Jerusalem governorate. The bulk of its built-up area is in Area B but small parts of the village lie in Area C or within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, although it is separated from the rest of the city by the Barrier. Between 28 January and the end of March 2018, the three access roads into the village were either totally or partially closed to Palestinian traffic. The Israeli army hung posters on village shops stating that the army ‘will continue its work so long as you [residents] continue to be disruptive’. Other posters showed broken windshields. Following communications with the Israeli military, the head of the village council reported that the posters justified the closures as a response to stone throwing by Palestinian youths at vehicles with Israeli number plates. In 2017 and the first two months of 2018, OCHA recorded 11 incidents of Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli vehicles near Hizma that resulted in Israeli injuries or damage to vehicles.

The closures disrupted access by Hizma’s residents to services and livelihoods. Traffic between the north and south of the West Bank that passed through the village was diverted, undermining the commercial life of the village. Service providers, including a third of the teachers in village schools who commute on a daily basis, faced delays reaching the village. Over 50 shops/businesses that are the main source of income for 150 households were affected by the diversion of Palestinian traffic away from the village. Family life was also affected by the unpredictable nature of the closures.”

Hanukkah Event Draws Political Support for Settlers’ Bid to Take Over Site in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter

The Israeli archeological group Emek Shaveh reports that the Ateret Cohanim settler organization hosted a Hanukkah celebration –  drawing the participation of the incoming Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Lion, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elk, and the son of the Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Netanyahu – at the “Little Western Wall.”  The site (which Israelis call the “Kotel Ha’Katan”) is a section of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif located within the Old City’s Muslim Quarter. It is viewed by some religious Jews as the closest point to the Holy of Holies at which Jews are permitted to pray. For historical background on the site and Ateret Cohanim’s role and goals related to it, see this 2016 report by Haaretz’s Nir Hasson.

Emek Shaveh writes:

“The recent Hanukkah ceremonies demonstrate an increase in political support for Ateret Cohanim and, no less important, the growing importance of the Little Western Wall, a politically and religiously charged place, attesting to a growing consensus among the Israeli Right regarding strengthening Jewish presence in areas immediately adjacent to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.”

Ateret Cohanim is a radical settler organization working to increase the presence of Israeli Jews living inside Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem – including in the Old City, where the group recently succeeded in purchasing a Palestinian house in the Muslim Quarter (a property sale that continues to stoke controversy within the Palestinian community). Ateret Cohanim, along with their compatriots in the Elad settler group, also leads efforts to take over land and evict Palestinians from their homes in the Silwan neighborhood. Ateret Cohanim’s recent efforts in Silwan include using the guise of a Yemenite cultural center to build a new settlement in Silwan with government financing, and winning a High Court ruling that permits them to continue their campaign to evict 700 Palestinians from their homes.

Huge Holes Open on Streets of Silwan…Above Settler Excavations

The Israeli archeological group Emek Shaveh reports that holes have begun appearing in the ground of Silwan, along the route of an underground excavation run by the Israeli Antiquities Authorities and funded by the Elad settler group. Elad has invested heavily in archeological excavations in Silwan in a campaign to co-opt the ancient history of Jerusalem to strengthen the Jewish hold on and presence in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. Emek Shaveh writes:

“There’s rarely a dull moment in Silwan. Last weekend, after the rain came, large holes opened up in the ground. This is not normal. And no amount of cement poured into the holes will make it so. Perhaps the reason for this odd occurrence can be found in the fact that Israel Antiquities Authority is excavating a tunnel along an ancient Roman road which runs right underneath the places where the holes opened up. There are 15 houses along the route of the tunnel. In some of them cracks have shown up. Others have shown signs of sinking into the ground. A few months ago we asked the Antiquities Authority to examine the homes and were assured the engineer would look into it. We’re still waiting for answers.”

The new holes are just the latest in a long series of above-ground damage related to excavations which the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) started in 2013. The IAA began the excavations without notifying Palestinian residents of the project. Palestinians began complaining about the work when cracks began appearing in their homes, threatening their structural integrity, and forcing many to leave their homes.

Emek Shaveh has repeatedly asked the IAA to investigate the issues caused by the excavations, but has not received an answer to date. Emek Shaveh also shared footage of Israelis haphazardly attempting to fill in the new holes with concrete.

Israel’s Top Court Slams State Rail Company for Moving Debris to Private Palestinian Land as Part of Plan to Build a Settlement Park

The Israeli High Court of Justice sharply criticized Israel Railways, the state rail company, for moving debris on to privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank, as part of a plan to use the debris to develop a new park in the nearby Nili settlement. The debris comes from tunnelling a path for the Tel Aviv to Jerusalem rail line, meaning the debris was transported from sovereign Israeli territory into the West Bank, where it was deposited on Palestinian land.

Back in 2011, the Court chastised Israel Railways for its actions and ordered the debris to be removed. Seven years later, the Palestinian land is still a dumpsite while the Israeli government and Israeli Railways bicker over who is responsible for clearing the refuse. This week the Court rebuked the company and hinted that it would soon issue a ruling against it.

Bonus Reads

1. “Q&A with Naftali Bennett” (The Forward)
2. “A Plan for Perpetual Conflict” (Carnegie Endowment)
3. “The New Capital of Israel” (Haaretz)
4. “Annexation Legislation is Imminent, and Dangerous” (Commanders for Israeli Security)
5. “Forged Jerusalem Home Sale Gets Jordan’s Attention” (Al-Monitor)

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

August 24, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 168 units in the Tzofim settlement, located on the Israeli side of the separation barrier, but jutting towards the Karnei Shomron settlement, which also received advancements this week. See the section on Karnei Shomron, above, for context and news regarding this area of settlements.
• 108 units in the Nofim settlement, located on the Israeli side of the separation barrier but jutting towards the Karnei Shomron settlement, which also received advancements this week. See the section on Karnei Shomron, above, for context and news regarding this area of settlements.
• 56 units in the Barkan settlement, located near the Kiryat Netafim settlement. Both Barkan and Netafim are located about half way between the Ariel settlement and the cluster of settlements slated to be united into a “super settlement” area (Oranit, Elkana, Shiva Tikva, and others). See the section on Kiryat Netafim, above. for context and news regarding this area of settlements.
• 44 units in Ma’ale Adumim, the mega settlement just east of Jerusalem.
• 6 units in the Avnei Hefetz settlement, located southeast of the Palestinian city of Tulkarem.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Those tenders include:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Settlement Wave, Part 4: More Settlement Construction Coming Soon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arnon argues:

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

The brief also argues:

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

Lawyers representing Adalah responded:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Regarding the strategic implications of the location, Ynet reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bonus Reads

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

 

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 17, 2017

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

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

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Building Permits Issued for 240 More Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

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

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

Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann recently explained

Since 1967, the Government of Israel has directly engaged in the construction of 55,000 units for Israelis in East Jerusalem; in contrast, fewer than 600 units have been built for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the last of which were built 40 years ago. So much for (Jerusalem Mayor Nir) Barkat’s claim ‘we build for everyone.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In conclusion, Peace Now writes

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

Bonus Reads

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

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