Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

October 16, 2020

1. No Annexation, No Problem – Israel Advances Nearly 5,000 New Settlement Plans, Including New Settlement South of Jerusalem
   • Overview
   • Record-Setting Settlement Activity in 2020
   • Har Gilo West Approved for Deposit w/ Plan to Seal Off Al-Walajah
   • Two Outposts Advance Towards Retroactive Legalization
   • Not Just Residential Units – Council Advances Settler Tourism & Infrastructure Projects
   • Location of Approvals
   • Reactions
2. Plan for 570 Units in East Jerusalem Settlement Approved for Deposit
3. Israel Approves Construction of Elevator at Tomb of the Patriarchs
4. Israel Delivers Confiscation Notices to Palestinians Living in the Heart of Hebron
5. Palestinians Report Newly Established Outposts & Land Confiscations
6. Targeting Palestinians Construction in Area C: State Devotes $6 million to Mapping Program
7. In First, Palestinian Authority Courts to Hear Lawsuits Against Settlers
8. NF, Elad Face International Heat Over Sumarin Family Eviction Case – Will it Matter?
9. Report: U.S. Will Not Back De Jure Annexation Until 2024 [Friedman Says 2021 in Play]
10. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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No Annexation, No Problem – Israel Advances Nearly 5,000 New Settlement Plans, Including New Settlement South of Jerusalem 

Overview

During meetings held October 14th and 15th, the Israeli High Planning Council advanced plans for a total of 4,948 new settlement units. Of that total, plans for 2,688 units were granted final approval and plans for 2,260 units were approved to be deposited for public review (a late stage in the planning process). The latter approvals include a plan to build a new settlement, “Har Gilo West,”  just beyond Jerusalem’s southern border. In addition, the Council granted retroactive approval to 340 existing illegally-built settlement units in the unauthorized outposts of Peni Kedem and Tapuach West, paving  the establishment of two new official West Bank settlements (through post-facto legalization of the illegal outposts).

These were the first meetings of the High Planning Council since February 2020, at which time settlement planning was put on pause in favor of attempting to implement annexation plans as designed by Trump’s “Deal of the Century.” Under annexation, authority over the settlement planning/approval process could have been shifted from the Israeli Civil Administration (the branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry, in charge of the administration of affairs in the West Bank, – i.e., Israel’s occupation) into Israel domestic planning mechanism. Such a shift has long been a goal of settlers and their political allies.

In addition to advancing construction of new residential settlement units, the High Planning Council also advanced plans for the construction of new settlement projects that support tourism, further entrench the permanency of settlements, and that continue the exploitation of West Bank land and resources.

Record-Setting Settlement Activity in 2020

With the huge advancement of settlement plans this week, the Israeli government has advanced plans for 12,159 settlement units so far in 2020. With over two months to go, the settlement watchdog group Peace Now reports that this is already the highest total number settlement advancements in any year since Peace Now began tracking totals in 2012. Peace Now also reports that it is possible that the High Planning Council will convene one more time before the year ends.

Har Gilo West Approved for Deposit w/ Plan to Seal Off Al-Walajah

The High Planning Council approved for public deposit a plan to build 560 units at the Har Gilo West settlement site, located just south of Jerusalem. The Council is treating this plan as merely an expansion of the existing Har Gilo settlement, but in actuality it represents the construction of a new settlement on Jerusalem’s southern border, as the two areas of construction (Har Gilo and Har Gilo West) would not be contiguous. The plan for 560 units in Har Gilo West is part of a larger plan to construct around 952 units in the new settlement, extending the its borders right up to the Jerusalem municipal boundary, with dire consequences for the long-beleaguered Palestinian village of Al-Walajah. 

The discussion on October 14th further revealed  that, in order to build Har Gilo West, Israel plans to extend the separation barrier in that area to completely encircle al-Walajah, which is surrounded on three sides by the separation wall already. The new section of the barrier would be a 7-meters high concrete slab along the western edge of the built-up area of Al-Walajah. That would leave Al-Walajah completely encircled by the separation barrier and Israeli construction beyond it.

Ir Amim explains:

“In the past decade a series of Israeli moves have taken over more and more of Al-Walaja land and gradually isolating it. These are now culminating with the intention to construct the new settlement on the land reserves on the western side of Al-Walaja and to extend the separation barrier so as to complete the encircling of the village. As Al-Walaja will turn into an isolated enclave which lacks an outline plan its residents will be especially vulnerable to increasing home demolitions and other Israeli sanctions. Since the village will separate the new settlement from the existing Har Gilo we are likely to see increasing Israeli actions against Al-Walaja and its residents which will put their future existence at risk.”

Peace Now writes:

“The current plan of 952 housing units to be advanced will create a brand new neighborhood that will be larger than the existing settlement, and will exploit the land cut off by the West Bank barrier to further break up the western Bethlehem metropolitan area, including the land connecting al-Walaja and the town of Battir, as well as Battir and Bethlehem. This land also constitutes some of the only uninhabited fertile land reserves for Bethlehem, which currently is cut off by the West Bank barrier to its immediate north and west.“

FMEP has repeatedly documented various Israeli efforts to seal off al-Walajah from Jerusalem. Residents of al-Walajah have fought the growing encroachment by the nearby Etzion settlement bloc and the Israeli government’s attempt to de facto annex the bloc as part of “Greater Jerusalem.” Ir Amim explains several prongs of this effort, including a particularly unbelievable section of Israel’s separation barrier planned to almost completely encircle the village, to turn its valuable agricultural land into an urban park for Jerusalem, and construction of a highway that will connect the Etzion settlement bloc to Jerusalem with Israeli-only bypass roads.

Two Outposts Advance Towards Retroactive Legalization

The High Planning Council approved for deposit two plans that would, if implemented, have the effect of retroactively legalizing two outposts – bestowing upon those outposts legitimacy in the eyes of Israeli law and, in effect, establishing two new, official settlements. Those plans are:

1. Pnei Kedem: A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 120 units in the Pnei Kedem farm outpost by recognizing the outpost as a “neighborhood” of the Metzad/Asfar settlement. This is despite the fact that the two areas of construction are non-contiguous. Pnei Kedem is located halfway between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. Settlers were particularly gleeful about this plan being advanced
2. Tapuach West: A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 133 units in the Tapuach West outpost, located south of Bethlehem. 

Not Just Residential Units – Council Advances Settler Tourism & Infrastructure Projects

The High Planning Council also advanced plans for the construction of new settlement projects that support tourism, further entrench the permanency of settlements, and that continue the exploitation of West Bank land and resources.

The Council granted final approval to:

1. A plan for new shops and an educational site (to include an agricultural farm) in the Kochav Yaakov settlement – located between Jerusalem and Ramallah; and,
2. A plan to grant retroactive authorization to a motor park and 120 hotel rooms in the Petza’el settlement, located in the Jordan Valley. As FMEP has covered in the past, this state-of-the-at racetrack and hotel complex is being built partially on land that the Israeli army previously declared a closed firing zone, a designation which resulted in the forcible displacement of Palestinians who lived there. The land remains under this designation today. Rather than halting the construction of this complex, the Israeli authorities instead created a Master Plan for the area in order to enable even more construction in the area.

Plans the Council granted final approval for public deposit include:

1. A plan for an industrial zone near the Mishor Adumim settlement; and,
2. A plan to build a new commercial area and 50 hotel rooms in the Maale Adumim settlement;

Location of Approvals

Included in the total number of units receiving final approval and/or retroactive legalization (3,028 units) are  (in descending order of number of units): [map]

1. 382 units in the Beit El settlement, located in the heart of the northern West Bank. This includes retroactive legalization for 36 units which had been previously built without authorization and the construction of 346 units in highrise buildings with 9 or 10 floors (building up, not out in Beit El) [as a reminder, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has deep ties to the Beit El settlement];
2. 357 units in the Geva Benyamin (Adam) settlement, located just north east of Jerusalem, just beyond the separation barrier. Israel has been steadily building the Adam settlement in a manner meant to unite the settlement more seamlessly with East Jerusalem settlements and infrastructure, erasing the Green Line;
3. 354 units in the Nili settlement, located in the northern West Bank;
4. 213 units in the Shiloh settlement, including the retroactive legalization of 21 units built without required approvals. The Shiloh settlement is located in the central West Bank;
5. 211 units in the radical and violent Yitzhar settlement, including some retroactive authorizations (exact number not specified) as well as approval for public buildings. Yitzhar, located just south of Nablus, is associated with the Hilltop Youth movement – and a string of illegal outposts in the area associated with repeated attacks on Palestinians and their property;
6. 205 units in the Nokdim settlement (actually approved for the Kfar Eldad settlement, which is officially within the jurisdiction of Nokdim), located south of Bethlehem;
7. 200 units in the Metzad settlement (also known as Asfar), including the retroactive legalization of an unspecified number of existing units built without necessary approvals;
8. 160 units in the Kochav Yaacov settlement, located east of Ramallah;
9. 140 units in Kerem Reim settlement – located north west of Ramallah. Peace Now has repeatedly challenged the illegal construction of the Kerem Reim outpost, which the Israeli government retroactively legalized by declaring it a neighborhood of the Talmon settlement even though the areas are non-contiguous. Though a court rejected one Peace Now petition, there is an ongoing case against the Amana settler organization which Peace Now alleges engaged in illegal activities to build the outpost;
10. 132 units in Kfar Adumim settlement –  located east of Jerusalem and less than one mile from the Khan al-Ahmar bedouin community which the state of Israel is seeking to demolish;
11. 106 units in the Ma’ale Shomron settlement,  located east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya;
12. 84 new units in the Shima settlement, including retroactive legalization of 14 existing units;
13. 74 units in the Yakir settlement –  located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line deep into the West Bank;
14. 64 units in the Telem settlement – located west of Hebron;
15. Retroactive legalization of 18 units in the Psagot settlement – located east of Ramallah, and home to the Psagot Winery;
16. Retroactive legalization of 2 units in the “Givon Hadasha” settlement;

Plans which were approved for deposit for public review include (in descending order of number of units):

1. 629 units in the Eli settlement, including the retroactive legalization of 61 units – located  south of Nablus and southeast of the Ariel settlement in the central West Bank. Though the Eli settlement previously received Israeli government approval, a “Master Plan” – which officially zones land for distinct purposes (residential, commercial, public) –  has never been issued for Eli, meaning all construction there is illegal under Israeli law;
2. 560 units in the Har Gilo settlement located just south of Jerusalem (covered in detail above);
3. 286 units in the Har Bracha settlement – located just south of Nablus. If implemented, these new units will double the size of Har Bracha;
4. 179 units in the Einav settlement – located northwest of Nablus;
5. 148 units in the Rimonim settlement – located between Ramallah and Jericho in the Jordan Valley;
6. A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 133 units in the Tapuach West outpost, thereby granting approval to the outpost itself (discussed above);
7. A plan to grant retroactive legalization to 120 units in the Pnei Kedem outpost by recognizing the outpost as a “neighborhood” of the Metzad/Asfar settlement although the two areas of construction are non-contiguous. Pnei Kedem is located between Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank;
8. 82 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.;
9. 75 units in the Shimaa settlement, including the legalization of 14 units previously built without authorization;
10. 52 units received retroactive legalization in the Kfar Adumim settlement; 
11. 35 units in the Efrat settlement – located south of Bethlehem. As a reminder, Efrat is located inside a settlement block that cuts deep into the West Bank. Efrat’s location and the route of the barrier wall around it, have literally severed the route of Highway 60 south of Bethlehem, cutting off Bethlehem and Jerusalem from the southern West Bank. The economic, political, and social impacts of the closure of Highway 60 at the Efrat settlement (there is literally a wall built across the highway) have been severe for the Palestinian population;
12. 14 units (in one building) in the Maale Mikmash settlement – located east of Ramallah;
13. 10 units in the Barkan settlement – 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).
14. 7 units in the Peduel settlement –  located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley; and,

Reactions

The High Planning Council met only after settlers, who represent a key ally of the embattled Prime Minister, pressured Netanyahu to allow it. Settlers have spent months decrying what they understood to be a freeze on settlement constructed inflicted upon them by Netanyahu. Gush Etzion Regional Council Head Shlomo Ne’eman said:

“Sometimes we take our prime minister to task, which we feel is justified as a result of our disappointment in postponing the application of sovereignty over our country. But now something tangible is happening – we are building and developing our communities, and of course, the highlight of today is the full registration in the Land Authority of the young community of Pnei Kedem, 20 years since it was established.”

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said:

“This is a happy day for Samaria. [New construction] in Har Bracha, Yitzhar, Einav and Tapuach is another step on the way to a million residents in this beautiful region of the country…While we’re very content with today’s developments, I call on the Prime Minister not to stop here. We’re overfilled with joy, but it is a drop in the ocean with sovereignty falling off the agenda. The expectation now is that construction and strengthening of the settlement movement will increase tenfold.”

Peace Now responded to the approvals in a statement saying:

“While Israel reels from its second lockdown and economic distress, Netanyahu is promoting construction in isolated settlements that Israel will have to evacuate. Instead of taking advantage of the agreements with the Gulf states and promoting peace with the Palestinians, he is distorting Israel’s priorities and catering to a fringe minority for these settlement unit approvals that will continue to harm future prospects for peace. We call on the Defense Minister and the Alternative Prime Minister Benny Gantz to veto these plans. Far from a ‘settlement freeze,’ the right has been complaining about, the expected settlement approvals announcement next week prove that the settlement enterprise under Netanyahu is moving ahead at full steam toward solidifying the de facto annexation of the West Bank. The move also will be the first major demonstration of Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s bowing to the ‘Greater Israel’ settlement agenda that would in reality bring about a permanent undemocratic one-state reality. By doing so, Israel will be signaling to the world its bi-partisan support for the end to the concept of a two-state solution and a Palestinian state – the paradigm that until now has largely shielded Israel from formal pressure over its 53-year occupation. The settlement enterprise is not in Israel’s national or security interest, and is a strategic mistake at the international level.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh denounced the approvals, saying:

“Every settler unit constitutes a plan to annex our land.”

Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement: 

“We warn against this Israeli policy that will lead the region to the brink of the abyss, and we call on the international community to intervene immediately and urgently to pressure the Netanyahu government to stop this settlement madness that totally eliminates any real opportunity to achieve a just and comprehensive peace to end the occupation and establish the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.”

UN High Representative Josep Borrell said in a statement:

“In recent days, Israel has announced a significant expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, in areas in and around Jerusalem. These plans, which foresee the construction of close to 5.000 housing units, jeopardise the viability and territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian State as the outcome of a negotiated two-state solution, in line with the internationally agreed parameters. Settlements are illegal under international law. As stated consistently, the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties. Settlement activity threatens current efforts to rebuild trust, to resume civil and security cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis and to prepare the ground for an eventual resumption of meaningful and direct negotiations. The Government of Israel should reverse these decisions and halt all continued settlement expansion, including in East Jerusalem and sensitive areas such as Har Homa, Givat Hamatos and E1. The period from March to August 2020 also saw a spike in demolitions or confiscations of Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU reiterates its call on Israel to halt all such demolitions, including of EU-funded structures, in particular in light of the humanitarian impact of the current pandemic. Against the background of normalization of relations between Israel, UAE and Bahrain, Israelis and Palestinians should seize this opportunity and take urgent steps to build confidence and restore cooperation along the line of previous agreements and in full respect of international law.”

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement flagging concern over the advancements, saying:

“We are concerned about the reports of Israel’s settlement advancements in the occupied West Bank and will continue to follow developments closely, as the Israeli High Planning Committee finalizes its meetings tomorrow. The Secretary-General has consistently reiterated that all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace. We 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.”

Plan for 570 Units in East Jerusalem Settlement Approved for Deposit

Ir Amim reports that on September 22nd, the Jerusalem District Committee approved for deposit for public review a detailed plan providing for the construction of 570 units in the Har Homa E settlement, located in East Jerusalem. Taken together with the pending construction of the nearby Har Gilo West settlement (discussed in the section above), the Palestinian village of al-Walajah stands to be completely encircled by Israeli settlements. 

If implemented, this plan will extend the Har Homa settlement westward, in the direction of the site of the as-of-yet-unbuilt Givat Hamatos settlement. Ir Amim explains:

“If realized, Har Homa E together with construction in Givat Hamatos will connect Har Homa to Gilo creating a contiguous Israeli settlement area that will disconnect East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and the south of the West Bank.”

Ir Amim also reminds us that the Jerusalem District Committee previously approved a Master Plan for a total of 2,200 units in Har Homa E. The plan for 570 units approved for deposit in late September represents the first detailed plan under this Master Plan allows for. Plans to build the remaining units permitted under the Master Plan are not yet being advanced.

Israel Approves Construction of Elevator at Tomb of the Patriarchs

Emek Shaveh reports that on September 29th the Civil Administration granted final approval to a plan to build accessible infrastructure, including an elevator, at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarch in Hebron — a plan which requires Israel to seize land from the Islamic Waqf.  As of this writing, Emek Shaveh is considering whether to challenge that approval.

Regarding the significance of the plan, Emek Shaveh said:

“One need not be an archaeologist or architect to review the council’s plan and understand that it is destructive in a manner which is unprecedented. We are convinced that the plan, as approved, would never have been promoted had it not been driven by political motives.”

Emek Shaveh has previously provided critical context as to why this plan is not really, or not fully, being advanced out of humanitarian concerns, explaining:

“Israel’s decision to seize responsibility for the site from the Hebron municipality and the Palestinians sends a clear political message that Israel is reneging on agreements that were signed with the Palestinians in Hebron.  Beyond the precedent that will enable the settlers in the future to demand additional changes at the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque, this is also a precedent that could play out at other sites under the responsibility of the Islamic Waqf. Experience has shown us that what begins in Hebron percolates into other places including Jerusalem.  It begins with a seemingly rational demand to benefit the disabled or the general public and evolves into a new status quo.  The expected change in Hebron has not escaped the attention of members of the Temple movement and they will know how to present their demands to the government.  If Israel can repudiate agreements with the Palestinians in Hebron and expropriate land from the Waqf, it would seem that accepting what appears to be the far more modest demands by the Temple movement to pray or to walk about the Temple Mount complex freely is not so far-fetched. In the reality of Hebron and East Jerusalem, a change involving only several meters at a historic or holy place is not free of political considerations and often it is part of long-term strategy.  While it is necessary to tend to the needs and interests of persons with disabilities, the extremists who presume to speak on their behalf must be prevented from forging Israeli policy, even if it is only a matter of a lift and an access path.”

Read Emek Shaveh’s full analysis here: “Humanitarianism Hebron Style.”

Israel Delivers Confiscation Notices to Palestinians Living in the Heart of Hebron

The Palestinian media outlet WAFA news reports that several Palestinians living in the Tel Rumeida section of downtown Hebron were handed confiscation notices from the Israeli authorities, informing them that the State of Israel had confiscated 17 plots of land, including land privately owned by Palestinians. 

Tel Rumeida is a part of Hebron located directly in the city center, considered H2 by the Hebron Accords giving Israel full control of security in that area. B’Tselem estimates that there are around 700 settlers living in enclaves amongst approximately 34,000 Palestinians in H2. The Israeli army heavily protects those settlers, and has implemented an apartheid system of segregated movement and checkpoints, most notably in the area of Shuhada Street.

Palestinians Report Newly Established Outposts & Land Confiscations

The Palestinian news outlet WAFA reports that settlers have installed three new outposts over the past month – one near Nablus and a second near Hebron, and a third in the Jordan Valley.

Near Nablus, Palestinians report that the settlers installed mobile homes and a small farm in an attempt to establish a permanent presence on a new plot of land. The settlers are reportedly in the process of connecting the new outpost to the Elon Moreh settlement via roads and water supply.  Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlements on behalf of the PLO, told WAFA that the specific area has seen even wider road construction recently, which he sees as an effort to create more seamless contiguity between settlements in the Nablus area and the Jordan Valley. The construction comes at the direct expense of the Palestinian village of Beit Dajani, which has historically owned the land where the outpost and roads are being built.

Near Hebron, WAFA reports that an Israeli settler erected a tent with and Israeli flag on privately owned Palestinian land near the Birin village.

In the Jordan Valley, WAFA reports that settlers set up a caravan on land on which they began planting trees about three months ago. The settlers also reportedly dug a well at the site. 

On October 15th, Israel reportedly announced its intention to confiscate large tracts of land (11,000 dunums) adjacent to the Jordan Valley settlements of Rotem, Maskiyot, and Mesovah. This confiscation, according to Palestinian settlement watcher Qasem Awwad, was presented by the Israeli authorities as a move to add land to natural reserve areas, but seems clearly to be linked to efforts to expand settlements and their control over land in the area.

Targeting Palestinians Construction in Area C: State Devotes $6 million to Mapping Program

Despite COVID and the suspension of Israeli’s unilateral annexation of vast tracts of land in the West Bank, the Israeli government — at the urging of settlers and their allies — is continuing its push to consolidate its control over all aspects of life in Area C (the over 60% of the West Bank that is under full Israeli control). 

OCHA has documented an acceleration in the Civil Administration’s demolition of Palestinian structures in the West Bank over the summer, documenting the demolition of 389 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C of the West Bank.  As a result of those demolitions, 442 Palestinians were made homeless. OCHA further reported that In just the month of August, 205 Palestinians lost their homes, the highest single month total since January 2017. In addition, Israel continues to issue more demolition notices, including against Palestinians living in a cave near Jenin, and against a newly constructed school for bedouin children located east of Ramallah.

To further this effort, on September 10th the Israeli government allocated $6 million USD (20 million NIS) for the newly created Settlement Affairs Ministry to survey and map unauthorized Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank, which Israel and its settlers have been aggressively demolishing in an effort to rid the area of Palestinians. Haaretz reports that this is the first time that the state budget has included funds specifically for a land survey in the West Bank. The state also allocated an additional $2.8 million (9.5 million NIS) to an existing grant program specifically for settlement municipalities to cash in on. As a reminder, virtually all Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank is unauthorized, because Israel almost universally refuses to give Palestinians permission to build in Area C even on land that Israel recognizes as owned by Palestinians. 

The Settlement Affairs Ministry is a new creation of the current coalition government, and is headed by Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud). The funding for the Settlement Affairs Ministry to conduct a survey of unauthorized Palestinian construction in Area C further empowers a domestic Israeli body to exert extraterritorial sovereignty over Area C – in effect, treating the area as land already de facto annexed by Israel. While technically the occupied territories are administered by the Israeli Civil Administration (a body within the Defense Ministry), Israel has spent decades bringing the administration of the territories (specifically the settlements and Area C) ever more directly under direct Israeli sovereignty (de facto annexation). 

In the lead up to the allocation of funds for this new survey of Palestinians life in Area C, the Knesset hosted two committee discussions the political outlook of which was clearly indicated in the stated subject of the meetings: “the Palestinian takeover of Area C.” Consistent with this framing (which is predicated on the idea that Area C belongs to Israel), and pushed by outside groups, many members of the Knesset have criticized the Israeli government’s allegedly lackadaisical approach to preserving State interests in Area C (i.e., clearing out Palestinians, expanding settlements, consolidating state infrastructure). Reportedly, Foreign Affairs Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue & White) sent a letter to the committee specifically addressing the Knesset’s outrage over European humanitarian assistance projects for Palestinians in Area C. In the letter, Ashkenazi not only celebrated the reduction of European projects over the past year, but validated settlers’ insinuations regarding the nefarious nature of European assistance for Palestinians, saying that any European activity in the West Bank lacking Israeli permission is “an attempt to define a border.” Ashkenazi also said that Israel will not compensate European donors for confiscated equipment or the demolition of European-funded projects that lack Israeli permission (like in the case of schools built with European funding, and solar panels donated to bedouin communities lacking power). 

At one Knesset hearing, MK Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina) suggested that a solution could be to empower the settlements with the ability to demolish Palestinian construction they believe to be unauthorized. Smotrich’s partymate Ayelet Shaked (former Justice Minister) suggested that the government should appoint a project manager tasked with preventing a Palestinian takeover of Area C.

As noted above, Israel has long denied Palestinians the ability to build in Area C. To fully understand what is happening, it is worth reviewing B’Tselem’s excellent explainer:

“Israel’s planning and building policy in the West Bank is aimed at preventing Palestinian development and dispossessing Palestinians of their land. This is masked by use of the same professional and legal terms applied to development in settlements and in Israel proper, such as “planning and building laws”, “urban building plans (UBPs)”, “planning proceedings” and “illegal construction”. However, while the planning and building laws benefit Jewish communities by regulating development and balancing different needs, they serve the exact opposite purpose when applied to Palestinian communities in the West Bank. There, Israel exploits the law to prevent development, thwart planning and carry out demolitions. This is part of a broader political agenda to maximize the use of West Bank resources for Israeli needs, while minimizing the land reserves available to Palestinians….

In the West Bank, the potential for urban, agricultural and economic development remains in Area C. Israel uses its control over the area to quash Palestinian planning and building. In about 60% of Area C – 36% of the West Bank – Israel has blocked Palestinian development by designating large swathes of land as state land, survey land, firing zones, nature reserves and national parks; by allocating land to settlements and their regional councils; or by introducing prohibitions to the area now trapped between the Separation Barrier and the Green Line (the boundary between Israel’s sovereign territory and the West Bank).

Even in the remaining 40% of Area C, Israel restricts Palestinian construction by seldom approving requests for building permits, whether for housing, for agricultural or public uses, or for laying infrastructure. The Civil Administration (CA) – the branch of the Israeli military designated to handle civil matters in Area C – refuses to prepare outline plans for the vast majority of Palestinian communities there. As of November 2017, the Civil Administration had drafted and approved plans for only 16 of the 180 communities which lie in their entirety in Area C. The plans cover a total of 17,673 dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 square meters), less than 1% of Area C, most of which are already built-up. The plans were drawn up without consulting the communities and do not meet international planning standards. Their boundaries run close to the built-up areas of the villages, leaving out land for farming, grazing flocks and future development. Since 2011, seeing that the Civil Administration did not draft plans as it is obliged to do, dozens of Palestinian communities – with the help of Palestinian and international organizations and in coordination with the PA – drafted their own plans. Some of the plans covered communities or villages located in full in Area C and others covered places only partly in Area C. As of September 2018, 102 plans had been submitted to the Civil Administration’s planning bodies, but by the end of 2018, a mere five plans – covering an area of about 1,00 dunams (or about 0.03% of Area C) – had received approval.

The odds of a Palestinian receiving a building permit in Area C – even on privately owned land – are slim to none. Given the futility of the effort, many Palestinians forgo requesting a permit altogether. Without any possibility of receiving a permit and building legally, the needs of a growing population leave Palestinians no choice but to develop their communities and build homes without permits. This, in turn, forces them to live under the constant threat of seeing their homes and businesses demolished.

The impact of this Israeli policy extends beyond Area C, to the hundreds of Palestinians communities located entirely or partially in Areas A and B, as the land reserves for many of these communities lie in Area C and are subject to Israeli restrictions there.

The demand for land for development has grown considerably since the 1995 division of the West Bank: The Palestinian population has nearly doubled, and the land reserves in Areas A and B have been nearly exhausted. Due to the housing shortage, much land still available in these areas is used for residential construction, even if it is more suited for other uses, such as agriculture.

Without land for construction, local Palestinian authorities cannot supply public services that require new structures, such as medical clinics and schools, nor can they plan open spaces for recreation within communities. Realizing the economic potential of Area C – in branches such as agriculture, quarrying for minerals and stone for construction, industry, tourism and community development – is essential to the development of the entire West Bank, including creating jobs and reducing poverty. Area C is also vital for regional planning, including laying infrastructure and connecting Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank.

In contrast to the restrictive planning for Palestinian communities, Israeli settlements – all of which are located in Area C – are allocated vast tracts of land, drawn up detailed plans, connected to advanced infrastructure, and the authorities turn a blind eye to illegal construction in them. Detailed, modern plans have been drawn up for the settlements, including public areas, green zones and, often, spacious residential areas. They enjoy a massive amount of land, including farmland that can serve for future development.

Israel’s policy in Area C is based on the assumption that the area is primarily meant to serve Israeli needs, and on the ambition to annex large parts of it to the sovereign territory of Israel. To that end, Israel works to strengthen its hold on Area C, to further exploit the area’s resources and achieve a permanent situation in which Israeli settlements thrive and Palestinian presence is negligible. In doing so, Israel has de facto annexed Area C and created circumstances that will leverage its influence over the final status of the area.”

In First, Palestinian Authority Courts to Hear Lawsuits Against Settlers

For the first time since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994, it will allow Palestinians to bring lawsuits against Isareli settlers in Palestinian courts. The Palestinian Authority’s Justice Minister Mohammed al-Shalaldeh announced that the PA had formed a national team to handle these cases, and the team was already working to collect evidence and file suits against settlers who have committed crimes against Palestinians in Hebron and in the village of Burin, located just south of Nablus.

Until this point, no Israeli citizen has been tried in a Palestinian court. Under the Oslo Accords (which established the Palestinian Authority), the Palestinian Authority holds no jurisdication over Israeli citizens – including Israeli citizens living in the West Bank. In May 2020, PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the PA considers all accords and agreements with Israel to be void following Israel’s announcement that it intends to annex large parts of the West Bank in accordance with the Trump Plan. Shalaldeh said that the announcement this week flows directly from Abbas’s decision to free the PA from the Oslo Accords’ provisions.

Explaining how these cases might work, Shalaldeh said: 

“The Israeli side will be notified as an occupying power to appear before the Palestinian court…If the [Israeli] side refuses the jurisdiction of the Palestinian courts, formal procedures will be followed and in absentia rulings will be issued, in accordance with Palestinian laws.”

JNF, Elad Face International Heat Over Sumreen Family Eviction Case – Will it Matter?

Over the past month, international audiences have directed heightened scrutiny towards the radical settler group Elad and the Jewish National Fund (JNF) for the role both organizations have played in spearheading the effort to evict the Palestinian Sumreen family from their home in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Due to the new attention, the JNF is reportedly reconsidering whether or not to carry out the eviction of the Sumreens – an eviction which the organization has pursued since 1991.

JNF donors – along with activists, religious leaders, members of Congress, and Israel prize winners – reportedly began to express concern and outrage over the JNF’s role in the Sumreen case following the September 2020 ruling by Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court against the Sumreen’s claim to the home. In response to the criticism, the JNF (via actions by the Board of its subsidiary organization, Himnuta, which was created to take the lead for JNF in litigating aggressive settlement takeover cases like this) has acted to freeze the eviction process internally, and was scheduled to consider a proposal for freezing the formal legal proceedings against the Sumreens this past week. Himnuta’s decision and deliberations  caused conflict with Elad, which had the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court intervene to postpone Himnuta’s Board meeting to discuss the proposal. Elad argues that Himnuta transferred all legal authority over the Sumreen case to their organization, and cannot now interfere in the proceedings. The meeting was subsequently postponed at the request of the Court.

Elad is also coming under new international scrutiny following the revelation that Roman Abramovitch – a Russian oligarch and naturalized Israeli citizen who also is one of the owners of the renowned Chelsea football club – is Elad’s single largest donor, having anonymously donated over $100 million to the settler group over the past 13 years. The BBC produced an investigative feature report on Abramovitch’s connection to Elad, pointing out that over the past 15 years more than half of Elad’s funding has come from offshore companies in the Caribbean, which are now known to be owned or controlled by Abramovitch. The BBC feature connects Elad to the settlers’ struggle to evict the Sumreen family, and the larger effort to replace Palestinians in Silwan with Jewish Israelis. 

Peace Now writes:

“The news about Abramovich’s involvement highlights the injustice Palestinians face at the hands of these settlement groups. Impoverished families are up against the financial weight of a Russian oligarch. NGOs trying to protect these families are delegitimized and their work dismissed for receiving funding from democratic European aid agencies while settler groups rake in vast sums of non-transparent money from offshore Caribbean shell companies. And the JNF is profiting off of all of this. We can’t force Abramovich to stop his funding or the JNF to stop abetting Elad in its settling campaign, but we can make them worry about their reputation. Peace Now has been conducting a campaign inside Israel to call Abramovich out for his devious funding.”

Regarding the revelations of Elad’s funding source, Emek Shaveh writes:

“…the Elad Foundation, through a combined strategy of sponsoring excavations, developing tourism and settling in Palestinian homes, succeeded in recreating Silwan as the Jewish neighbourhood of Ir David (City of David) and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The exploitation of archaeological tourism by the Elad Foundation has become a number one strategy for entrenching Israeli sovereignty over historic Jerusalem. “

The Sumreen family home is located in the middle of what today has been designed by Israel “the City of David National Park.” The area is managed by the radical Elad settler organization, which for years has also been pursuing the eviction of Palestinians from the homes in Silwan. For nearly three decades, the Sumreen family has been forced to battle for legal ownership of their home, after the state of Israel, prompted repeatedly by the JNF, declared the Sumreen’s home to be “absentee” property. After that designation – which was not communicated to the Sumreen family – Israeli law permitted the state to take over the rights to the building. The state then sold the rights to the home to the JNF in 1991. The JNF has pursued the eviction of the Sumreen family ever since. Israeli courts ruled in favor of the Sumreen family’s ownership claims to the home for years, until a September 2019 ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court granted ownership of the family’s home to the JNF, a decision the family immediately appealed to the Jerusalem District Court. 

A full history of the saga involving the Sumreen family – which is similar to dozens of other Palestinian homes in Silwan that were declared Absentee Property in the 1990s – can be found on the Peace Now website here.

Report: U.S. Will Not Back De Jure Annexation Until 2024 [But Friedman Says 2021 Is in Play]

A series of reports in mid-September suggested that, as part of its commitment to the U.A.E. in exchange for normalization with Israel, the U.S. promised to withhold its recognition of Israeli annexation until January 2024, at the earliest.

The 2024 timeline harkens back to a concept in Trump’s “Deal of the Century” which gave (oh so generously) the Palestinians a four year window to enter into negotiations with Israel on the basis of the Trump Plan’s conceptual map.

Following these reports regarding a 2024 timeline for the U.S. greenlighting Israeli annexation, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman (who has been a champion of annexation) told Israel’s Army Radio that annexation can happen next year. Friedman, pushing back on U.A.E. press leaks seeking to promote the notion that the Abraham Accords stopped annexation, said:

“We said in our statement that sovereignty will be postponed, and this does not mean that it has been abolished, but rather that it has stopped. It has been suspended for a year, maybe more, but it has not been cancelled.”

Bonus

1. “Tourism in the Service of Occupation” (Al-Shabaka)
2. “The Status Quo on the Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif: Dodging a Bullet (For Now)” (Terrestrial Jerusalem)
3. “How Evangelicals Working in Settlements Bypassed Israel’s COVID-19 Entry Ban” (Haaretz)
4. “ The March of Folly in the Settlements Continues” (Haaretz)
5. “Israeli Students in State-funded Scholarship Program Guard Illegal West Bank Outposts” (Haaretz)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

August 7, 2020

1. U.S. “Source”: Annexation is Still on the Table
2. Givat Hamatos Settlement Tender Delayed (Again)
3. Emek Shaveh: Civil Administration Hearing on Hebron Settlement Project is a “Farce”
4. Minister Presides Over Celebration of Completion of New Migron settlement
5. On 15-Year Anniversary of Disengagement, Israeli MKs Vow No More Settlement Evacuations
6. Settlers Say Israel’s Mismanagement of West Bank Land Registry Has Enabled Palestinian Theft of Land in Area C
7. State Comptroller Report Re-Centers Long Standing Settler Safety Complaints As Grounds for More De Facto Annexation
8. Near Nablus, Palestinians Take on IDF & Settlers to Stop Land Theft
9. Israel’s Short-Lived Settlement Affairs Ministry Shipped to London
10. West Bank Realities No Longer Hidden by U.S. Satellite Imagery Prohibition
11. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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U.S. “Source”: Annexation is Still on the Table

Annexation rumors were kept alive this week with an August 3rd report that a “well placed source” told The Times of Israel that Avi Berkowitz (an assistant to President Trump and Special Representative for International Negotiations) continues his work to get Trump’s sign-off on Israel’s plan to annex of a massive portion of the West Bank. The source said that more negotiations between the U.S. and Israel are needed, and that the U.S. is demanding that Israel make some kind of gesture to the Palestinians. In weeks past, it has been suggested that this “gesture” could be Israel giving Palestinians some degree of control over a small part of Area C.

Also on August 3rd, Prime Minister Netanyahu commented to his fellow Likud Party members that the Trump Plan was not off the table, but that the decision and movement around the plan was in the U.S. arena.

Speaking on August 5th, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (a key leader of the Blue & White Party) appeared to contradict Netanyahu, saying: 

“Right now [annexation is] not on the agenda, because everyone is busy” [but also making clear his support for the Trump Plan and annexation, noting “as we stated, it’s a framework to solve the conflict. We prefer to do to in dialogue with our neighbors, we prefer to do to it without interfering with the existing past peace agreements [with Egypt and Jordan], and future ones. We are fully aware of the consequences of this vision and we would like to do it in a responsible way.”

Givat Hamatos Settlement Tender Delayed (Again) 

Scheduled to be open for bidding on August 2nd, Ir Amim reported on August 3rd that (as of that date) the tender for the construction of the Givat HaMatos settlement in East Jerusalem (1,077 units) had not yet been opened online. The Israeli government has not offered an explanation for the delay (the second delay in this opening for bids) or timetable for when the bidding will be opened. 

Though the plan for Givat Hamatos has been fully approved, construction of the settlement has yet to start. Givat Hamatos has long been regarded as a doomsday settlement by parties interested in preserving the possibility of a two-state solution. If the Givat Hamatos settlement is built, the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa in East Jerusalem will be completely surrounded by Israeli construction, severing its connection to the West Bank. 

In anticipation of the bidding window opening, 15 European Union members issued a rebuke of the plan during a video conference, with the French Embassy in Israel later tweeting its disapproval of Israel’s advancement of both the E1 and Givat Hamatos settlements. Peace Now also delivered a letter to Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi beseeching them to stop those two settlement plans from moving forward.

Hanan Ashraw sharply responded to the outcry against E-1 and Givat Hamatos from the EU countries, saying:

“Rhetorical opposition has not deterred Israel. In fact, Israel is emboldened to escalate its criminal actions precisely because it is confident that opposition will not move from the verbal to the practical. If implemented, these Israeli plans would completely sever occupied Jerusalem from its natural Palestinian surrounding and cut the occupied West Bank in half. While the international community is concerned with the “possibility” of annexation, Israel is implementing its annexation scheme on the ground without any deterrence.”

Emek Shaveh: Civil Administration Hearing on Hebron Settlement Project is a “Farce”

On August 4th, the Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee held a public hearing to discuss objections submitted against its plan to build accessible infrastructure, including an elevator, at the al-Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarch in Hebron — a plan which requires Israel to seize from the Islamic Waqf. 

Described as “unprofessional” and “a farce” by Emek Shaveh (an Israeli NGO with deep expertise in archaeology and the preservation of historic sites), the hearing began with the Council chairman stating that the government had already determined that it will build the elevator regardless of any objections to the plan. The Chairperson said:

′′We [the members of the planning committee] all decided, it is an important program that must be promoted…What is this attitude, you came to resist. Why resist?””

Emek Shaveh raised several objections to the plan’s archeological and planning deficits, and the Palestinian Municipality of Hebron submitted objections to Israel’s violation of agreements, signed by Israel, relating to governance and planning in Hebron. 

Emek Shaveh said in its statement:

“The most important historical, archaeological and holy site in the West Bank has been subject to reckless and amatuer planning and is the victim of politically motivated, unprofessional decision making.”

Minister Presides Over Celebration of Completion of New Migron settlement

On July 27th, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein spoke at an event to celebrate the end of construction on the new Migron settlement, which will house 50 settler families. 

The new Migron site is located a little over one mile away from the original site of the outpost bearing the same name – which settlers were forced by Israel to evacuate. The new site is on a hilltop that is technically within the jurisdiction of the Kochav Ya’acov settlement, but is not contiguous with its built up area. As such, it is properly understood as a new settlement. The fact that the site is within the territory allocated to Kochav Ya’acov allowed Israel to approval of New Migron as if it were merely a neighborhood of an existing settlement rather than a new settlement.

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

At last week’s ceremony, which was also attended by Ronen Peretz, a senior aid to Netanyahu, Minister Edelstein said:

“This is an important national moment…this is the response [to Disengagement]. This is what provides hope…With God’s help, the application of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria will give an even more determinative response.”

Edelstein’s reference to the “Disengagement” refers to Israel’s unilateral move in 2005 to evacuate its settlements in the Gaza strip and a small number of settlements in the northern West Bank (which took place almost 15 years ago to the date the celebration of New Migron). 

On 15-Year Anniversary of Disengagement, Israeli MKs Vow No More Settlement Evacuations

On August 4th, a coalition of Knesset Members led by Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina) and Miki Zohar (Likud) introduced a bill meant to prevent the government from evacuating settlements under any circumstances. The bill was introduced on the anniversary of Israel’s 2005 unilateral move to evacuate 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Minister of Diaspora Affairs Omer Yankelevich (Blue & White) also took the opportunity to state her opposition to settlement evacuation, making the following remark during a tour of settlements in the northern West Bank:

“Settlement evacuation brings terror, not peace…Judea and Samaria are an inheritance from our forefathers. There are those who speak of these areas in terms of cost versus benefit but we need to remind them that we are talking about our land and not to be ashamed of this fact. Extension of sovereignty over these areas is our desire at the end of the day, under the right conditions,”

In addition, Gilad Sharon (son of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who devised and implemented the 2005 disengagement) added his voice to the anti-evacuation chorus. While defending his father’s actions and bashing the Palestinians, Sharon said:

“What we could afford in the Gaza Strip, in an isolated area squeezed between the desert and the sea, we cannot do in Judea and Samaria. This is the heart of the land, Judea and Samaria. When the world sees what happened in Gaza, because they got billions of dollars. What did they do with the money? [Did they build] any housing, factories, something? Only rockets and terror tunnels. That’s what they did, so everyone understands that that’s how they behave when they are left alone. What you can afford for yourself in an isolated corner, you cannot do in the heart of Tel Aviv, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, in the heart of the country. I don’t think we should evacuate anything. Gaza was a very unique case, nothing to do with Judea and Samaria, which we have to hold forever.”

Settlers Say Israel’s Mismanagement of West Bank Land Registry Has Enabled Palestinian Theft of Land in Area C

A new report published by the Israeli State Comptroller chided the Israeli Defense Ministry for its incomplete land registry documenting land ownership (Palestinian and Israeli) in Area C of the West Bank. The radical settler group Regavim used the report as yet another opportunity to perpetuate the myth that the Palestinian Authority is orchestrating a campaign to steal Area C land from Israel. As a reminder, Area C land is not Israeli land; it is land occupied by Israel that, under the Oslo Accords, came under temporary Israel civilian and security control under arrangements that were supposed to last only a short period of time before a permanent status agreement was reached between the parties – an agreement that was supposed to be reached within 5 years.

Regavim Director-General Meir Deutsch said:

“The painstaking, glacial pace of handwritten record keeping is fertile ground for forgery, and leads to further violation of property rights, making it nearly impossible to conduct property transactions in a normal fashion. The failure to carry out the necessary registration and regulation of land in these areas has enabled the Palestinian Authority to carry out a well-planned, carefully-timed and well-funded land-seizure program.”

State Comptroller Report Re-Centers Long Standing Settler Safety Complaints As Grounds for More De Facto Annexation

A new report published by the Israeli State Comptroller blamed the Israeli Defense Forces for putting settlers in danger by failing to secure roads in Area C for the settlers. The report explained that part of the IDF’s failure was due to bad communication and conflict over which Israeli ministry – Defense or Transportation – was actually in charge. This framing is significant given that the Israeli Civil Administration –  the body which effectively is the occupying government of the West Bank – is part of the Defense Ministry, while the Transportation Ministry does not have legal planning authority in the West Bank (it is a part of Israel’s own government, meaning that giving it authority in the West Bank amounts to de facto annexation). The report also called out the Defense Ministry for the poor quality and incompleteness of the West Bank land registry (as discussed above).

Efrat Council Chairman Oded Revivi said that the report demonstrates why Israel needs to annex the settlements.

As a reminder: settlers are Israeli civilians who have chosen, for a variety of reasons, to live in an area under military occupation where their “safety” must be actively attended to by the Israeli army. The issue of security for settlers and settlement infrastructure has in the past translated to massive investments of government resources into projects that entrench and expand Israel’s de facto annexation of the West Bank. For example, following months of intense pressure from settlers, in October 2017, then-Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman promised to allocate $939 million for projects for settlers and settlements across the West Bank. According to the Times of Israel, the  $939 million package was dedicated to funding:

“the installation of security cameras along roads throughout the West Bank; the installation of cell phone towers to improve reception for settlers who may need to call for help; the paving of bypass roads around Palestinian towns and settlements to allow the populations to avoid each other; the bolstering of armored buses that travel through the West Bank; and broad security improvements for each settlement that will include security cameras, “smart fences” and sensors to warn of attempts to sneak into settlements.”

The following year (2018), Israel inaugurated several new bypass roads In partial fulfillment of the 2017 funding commitment to a settler security package.  In 2019, Israel issued permits for the construction of an additional two bypass roads.

Near Nablus, Palestinians Take on IDF & Settlers to Stop Land Theft

On August 6th, Wafa reports that Palestinians clashed with IDF just west of Nablus, at the site of a new outpost that settlers were attempting to establish near a well on privately-owned Palestinian land. The report says Palestinians were attacked by the IDF when they attempted to reach the area where settlers had set up a tent and a caravan. 

Palestinians reportedly planned to continue their struggle to challenge the settlers’ effort to take over the site by staging Friday prayers there.

Israel’s Short-Lived Settlement Affairs Ministry Shipped to London

After serving for around four months as Israel’s first Settlement Affairs Minister, Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) has now moved on to be Israel’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom. There is no word on her replacement.

Hotovely is regarded as a rising star in the Likud Party (which some suggest is why she is being sent abroad, noting that Netayahu has a pattern of using ambassadorship to put some distance between himself and those he sees as posing the greatest challenge to him politically). Hotovely is well known for her radical views — racist, homophobic, and pro-annexation — as well as her denial of the existence of the Palestinian people.

West Bank Realities No Longer Hidden by U.S. Satellite Imagery Prohibition

Al-Shabaka policy fellow Zena Agha writes in Foreign Policy about the repercussions and importance of a recent change in U.S. policy regarding satellite imagery. This change eliminates the longstanding prohibition on American satellite imagery companies producing high-resolution photos of the West Bank. Agha writes:

“Significantly, the reversal empowers humanitarian groups working to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law, including unlawful killings and settlement construction (which, under the fourth Geneva Convention, constitutes a war crime). It is perhaps for this reason that the KBA’s reversal has already caused some disquiet in Israeli military quarters. The reversal also has geopolitical implications. Satellite images of the border areas of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt have thus far been both downsampled and poorly covered (with many operators wary of capturing any Israeli territory). The change in legislation will provide uncensored images of these areas and allow for their monitoring and investigation, particularly around environmental issues such as water extraction. Finally, from the perspective of historical justice and accountability, uncensored, high-resolution images enable Palestinians to accurately catalog the remnants of villages and towns destroyed during the events of 1948 and beyond. The democratizing power of the reform will allow Palestinians to use technology to rediscover an erased past and to imagine an alternative future.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Court override bill dead in the water as Haredim, Liberman rule out support
2. “ (The Times of Israel)
3. “Peace Now asks Gantz, Ashkenazi to halt east Jerusalem Givat Hamatos homes” (Jerusalem Post)
4. “What Comes First, an Israeli Army Firing Zone or Palestinian Villages?” (Haaretz)
5. “Netanyahu’s decline benefits pro-settler Bennett” (Al-Monitor)
6. “Israel Offers Money to Palestinian family for Killing by Settler” (Ynet)

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here.

July 17, 2020

1. Smotrich & Israel Land Caucus Introduce Annexation Bill
2. After Settlers Protest, Netanyahu Delays Vote on Government Bylaws
3. More Rumors on Annexation, But No Announcement
4. Gantz to Issue Tender for Settler Project at Hebron Holy Site
5. IDF Helps Fortify New Outpost on West Bank’s Highest Hilltop
6. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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Smotrich & Israel Land Caucus Introduce Annexation Bill

On July 13th, MKs Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina) and Haim Katz (Likud), co-chairs of the Israel Land Caucus — a pro-Greater Israel body within the Knesset — filed a bill in the Knesset to have Israel both annex all of its settlements in the West Bank and preserve its control over Area C (in anticipation of future annexation). The bill is modeled after a January 2018 resolution passed unanimously by the Likud Party (with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s consent), a fact used by the authors of the new bill as incontrovertible proof that the bill should easily receive backing from the government and be quickly passed by the Knesset. The Israel Land Caucus is calling on Netanyahu to bring the bill up for a vote in the Security Cabinet this Sunday (July 19th), and its co-authors have requested that the legislation be fast-tracked in the Knesset.

A spokesman for the Israel Land Caucus told The Jerusalem Post that the bill calls for Israel to unilaterally annex all settlements, outposts, and roads. Though the bill’s authors do not have a map to show the exact areas the bill will annex, they say their plan does not leave any settlements or outposts as isolated enclaves. Additionally, the bill would bring the entirety of Area C more directly under Israel’s control by requiring Palestinians to gain the approval of the Israeli security cabinet (as opposed to the Israeli Civil Administration) for any construction there. It would also ban international organizations and governments from conducting activities and projects in Area C. Taken together, these changes in the status of Area C, with Israel’s civilian government in effect asserting its direct authority over the area, would functionally amount to a form of formal annexation of the area. [It’s worth noting here that the European Union, Denmark, and the Palestinian Authority just announced $6.63 million in funding for 16 projects for Palestinians in Area C, including new schools, electricity networks, and water reservoirs.

Speaking about the bill, MK Smotrich said: 

“A few years ago, our caucus placed sovereignty laws in front of the Knesset and made the issue one of the central issues on the agenda of the Israeli government. Unfortunately, the government’s promises of sovereignty so far have not been fulfilled and the proposal in Netanyahu’s plan creates a de facto Arab state in the heart of the country. This is not what we had in mind. The bill we have presented today is the long-awaited sovereignty and it will remove the folly of two-states from the agenda. We must have cooperation between all right-wing elements in the coalition and opposition to advance this bill and we act together to advance it for the continuation of the Zionist vision.”

After Settlers Protest, Netanyahu Delays Vote on Government Bylaws

Following public protest by Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council (a settlement municipal body), Netanyahu canceled plans for the Security Cabinet to vote on procedural bylaws which theoretically might have empowered Benny Gantz to block Likud’s annexation plans (bearing in mind that it is by no means certain he would choose to do so). As a reminder, under the existing coalition agreement, Gantz does not have the power to block a vote on annexation; the proposed bylaws would have clarified that consensus between Netanyahu and Gantz is required to advance items on the government’s agenda. 

After Dagan raised the alarm about the issue with Israeli media, the bylaws were quietly removed from the Cabinet’s July 12th agenda.

Dagan argued that the proposed bylaws would have torpedoed:

“the possibility of applying sovereignty in the coming months as promised by the prime minister, because Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz has already stated he would not agree to apply sovereignty without negotiations with the Arab world, and that is not possible at this time.”

Netanyahu is reportedly facing pressure from the Trump Administration to get Gantz on board with annexation, even as settlers demand that Netanyahu moves forward on annexation without Gantz, per the coalition agreement.

More Rumors on Annexation, But No Announcement

Starting before July 1st, Israeli officials have been saying privately that the U.S. is pumping the brakes on Israel’s annexation plans. This week, Yariv Levin – a Likud party leader, Speaker of the Knesset and a member of the Israeli mapping and negotiation team working with the U.S. – reportedly said in private conversations that, at the moment, the Americans are “not listening” when it comes to Israel’s annexation plans. At the same time, reports continue to suggest that the U.S. is pushing Netanyahu to hold off on annexation until Benny Gantz agrees to the plan and its timing. 

 The American side has been notably silent this week, neither rebutting Israeli suggestions that annexation has been delayed nor fulfilling promises of an anonymous U.S. official that Trump would make a decision on the matter this week. David Schenker – the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (formerly at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, one of the Trump Admin’s favorite think-tanks) – told the German Marshall Fund that Netanyahu is facing pressure from his supporters who support annexation but are opposed to the Trump Plan’s vision for a Palestinian non-state entity. Schenker said:”We’re [the U.S] calling on the Israelis not to do anything that would preclude the implementation of the vision.” And further cast doubt on whether annexation will happen on Trump’s watch, saying, “It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t see anything, but I think that the prime minister would like to do something.”

Gantz to Issue Tender for Settler Project at Hebron Holy Site

On July 13th, Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz announced that he will expedite the planning process for a settler-backed project to install accessible infrastructure (including an elevator) at the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. Gantz will reportedly issue a construction tender for the project soon. Emek Shaveh reports that Gantz’s announcement was pressured by settlers, who claimed the Civil Administration was dragging its heels on advancing the project. 

The period during which the public can file objections to the plan closed on July 13th (the same day as Gantz’s announcement). Two objections were filed: One by Emek Shaveh (read more here) and a second by the Palestinian-run Hebron Municipality. Gantz’s objection suggests that neither is being taken seriously.

IDF Helps Fortify New Outpost on West Bank’s Highest Hilltop

+972 Magazine reports that on June 26th settlers established a new outpost on privately owned Palestinian land just north of Nablus. Since then, they have been assisted by the Israeli army in securing the outpost. On July 7th, the IDF brought in bulldozers to construct a dirt barrier in order to prevent Palestinians from accessing the area, which includes terraced agricultural land that Palestinians have cultivated for decades. Palestinians have also reported seeing IDF soldiers escort settlers to and from the outpost. The outpost consists currently of two mobile homes and an animal shed.

The outpost is built on the top of the highest hilltop in the West Bank, Mount Ebal, on land owned by Palestinians from the nearby town of Asira al-Shamaliya. Since the outpost was established, Palestinians have gathered every Friday to protest against the settlers living there – protests which have been met by the IDF with tear gas and stun grenades.  The mayor of Asira al-Shamaliya was injured by a tear gas canister but vowed to continue demonstrating against the outpost every Friday until it is dismantled.

Dror Etkes, founder of the settlement watchdog group Kerem Navot, told +972 Magazine:

“This cannot happen without some kind of coordination with the army, when the outpost is near one of the most central army bases in the West Bank. There is no chance the army is not involved in one way or another.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Jerusalem highway construction aims to modernize traffic flow around historic city” (JNS)
2. “Palestinian Workers Forced to Sleep in Trash-sorting Plant Because Employers Feared Coronavirus Lockdown”(Haaretz)
3. “How I Ended Up Staying at an Isolation Hotel in a ‘Jerusalem Settlement’” (Haaretz) 
4. “United Israel Appeal says won’t invest in projects beyond Green Line” (Israel Hayom)
5. “Tech leaders say West Bank annexation would be catastrophic for Israel” (CTech)
6. “Dutch threaten fine for stores selling Hebron wine with ‘made in Israel’ tag” (The Times of Israel)
7. “EU, Denmark, PA will build 16 projects including schools in Area C” (MEMO)

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.

July 3, 2020

1. The [Purported] Israeli Counter-Proposal to the Trump Annexation Map
2. De Jure Annexation Remains Imminent: Reports Say Trump to Make Final Decision Next Week
3. U.S. Said to Ask for Israeli “Gesture” to Palestinians in Order to Approve Annexation Plan
4. Settlers Continue Opposition to Trump Plan, While Pushing Bibi to Stop Delaying
5. Settler Group Announces New Outpost Near Hebron
6. Israeli Court Issues Ruling to Throw Sumreen Family Out of Their House
7. Settlers Claim to Have Purchased an Illegally Built Palestinian Home in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan
8. Israel Orders Demolition of Illegal Settler Structures Following Reversal of Regulation Law
9. State Admits to High Court that Jerusalem Cable Car Project Will Require Confiscating Private Palestinian Land
10. New Ir Amim Paper Looks at Jerusalem to Underscore the “Truth About Annexation”
11. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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The [Purported] Israeli Counter-Proposal to the Trump Annexation Map 

Israel’s Kan News published what it claims to be the Israeli government’s counter-proposal to the Trump annexation map. The reported counter-proposal adds a significant amount of West Bank land to the area Israel will annex, rendering even more severe the fragmentation of any future Palestinian state the plan is supposedly interested in seeing established. Specifically, the counter-proposal (which is exceptionally well explained by Israeli analyst and mapping expert Dan Rothem) achieves four main goals:

• It expands the channels of land which connect 15 far-flung outposts and settlements to what is today sovereign Israel. The Trump map connects these “enclaves” via narrow land corridors and roads (referred to by settlers as “balloons on a string”). The alleged counter-proposal annexes 2.7% more of the West Bank to enlarge those corridors.
• It provides for Israel’s annexation of about 20 additional settlements/outposts left out of the (initial) annexation provided for under the Trump Plan. These include the radical and violent settlement of Yitzhar and its outposts) located near Nablus, as well as the (relatively) nearby settlements Elon Moreh  (and its outposts), Har Bracha  (and its outposts), and Itamar  (and its outposts). All of these settlements/outposts are, notably, located deep in the West Bank heartland.
• It proposes “compensating” Palestinians by designating an additional 4.6% of the West Bank — areas designated under the Trump Plan for Israeli annexation, comprised of West Bank territory where there are no settlers and some empty areas in the Jordan Valley/Judean desert — to (possibly) be under some degree of Palestinian control (without providing details on what would be the status of the land).  (Reminder: Netanyahu said he will not annex a single Palestinian). 
• The map also appears to propose population transfer, putting parts of the so-called Triangle Area — an area of densely populated towns located within Israel’s sovereign borders, inhabited by Palestinian citizens of Israel — into the area that could theoretically become a Palestinian state (assuming the Palestinians accepted the Trump Plan and satisfied a laundry list of conditions that no Palestinian leadership would ever accept — all to end up with an archipelago of territory that they might be allowed to call a “state” but that would have few if any actual attributes of  sovereignty). Reminder: Forcible population transfer is a flagrant violation of international law (as is annexation of any scope); a government re-drawing its borders to deprive its own citizens of their rights, based on their ethnicity, is antithetical to democracy.

Additionally, while Israeli officials originally indicated that annexation would begin with the Jordan Valley, rampant reports indicate that the focus has now shifted to annexing elsewhere (settlement blocs) as the first stage of annexation. Perhaps responding to criticism over delaying the annexation of the Jordan Valley,  Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) told The Jerusalem Post that “of course” the Jordan Valley is included in Israel’s annexation plans [which should surprise nobody, given that politicians across most of the political spectrum in Israel came out in support of annexation of the Jordan Valley (including Benny Gantz), even before the Trump Plan].

So what is Netanyahu really thinking? According to Haaretz, he has not held discussions with his own Security Cabinet on the annexation plan, and the key Israeli bodies which will be involved in implementing annexation – the Justice Ministry, the Attorney General (whom Bibi is in open war with), the IDF chiefs, and Foreign Ministry – have not begun preparing for implementation.

De Jure Annexation Remains Imminent: Reports Say Trump to Make Final Decision Next Week

July 1st – the first day Netanyahu was permitted to bring annexation up for a vote in the Cabinet or in the Knesset, but by no means a deadline for such an action – came and went without an announcement. Reports almost immediately suggested that the annexation decision – reportedly delayed by U.S. demands and Israeli disunity.

After a week of meetings with Israeli leaders, National Security Council advisor Scott Leith and Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz (who in the meetings were of course joined by US ambassador to Israel David Friedman) headed back to Washington. On Thursday, Berkowitz met with Jared Kushner in preparation for presenting their plan to the President. Despite the palace intrigue surrounding Kushner this week, Kushner plays a critical role in leading Trump a final decision on annexation, expected to come next week..

Though Trump has not been involved in any details of the annexation deliberations, Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Ofer Akunis asserted that Israel will not act without a statement from Trump himself, telling the Jerusalem Post:

 “[annexation] will only happen after a declaration by Trump.”

Following the departure of Leith and Berkowitz (Friedman remained in Israel), an anonymous U.S. official told the Jerusalem Post that the fact that July 1st came and went without an announcement does not mean that annexation is any less likely to happen. That official said:

“The administration is appreciative of the ongoing conversations and serious considerations that have gone into our recent discussions with the Israeli government.July 1 is not and has never been a US deadline, nor do we believe it is an Israeli deadline. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with our Israeli partners and working productively and in earnest towards implementing the president’s Vision for Peace in the Middle East.”

U.S. Said to Ask for Israeli “Gesture” to Palestinians in Order to Approve Annexation Plan

U.S. Amb. David Friedman, National Security Council advisor Scott Leith, and Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz spent the past week in Israel, negotiating with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Gantz over the extent and timing of Israeli annexation of West Bank territory. Israeli press – particularly right-wing outlets – asserted that the Americans were pushing Israel to make a more significant “gesture” to the Palestinians in order to win American support (reminder: the Palestinian leadership has not been involved in negotiations at all). 

Reportedly, the US suggested that such a gesture could consist of granting the Palestinian Authority greater control over the remnants of Area C left to the Palestinians after Israeli annexation — with Israel retaining the ability to “secure” those areas as-needed (essentially transforming a small part of Area C land into Area B). 

The Jerusalem Post goes so far as to suggest that “many” of the conversations this past week focused on what the Palestinians will be given/offered/forced to accept, rather than the details of what/how/when Israel will annex. More than anything else, this suggests that the U.S. is not imposing limits on what Israel can annex.

Settlers Continue Opposition to Trump Plan, While Pushing Bibi to Stop Delaying

Worried both about the details of the Trump Plan and that Bibi will not pull the trigger on annexation at all, settler leaders and their allies continue their criticism of Netanyahu for every move (and non-move) he makes.

Two prominent settler leaders who oppose the Trump Plan – Yesha Council chairman David Elhayani and Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan – continued lashing out at Netanyahu for his posture on issues of key concern to settlers (the creation of settlement enclaves, a settlement construction freeze, and the possibility of future Palestinian statehood) and for failing to act on July 1st. Dagan called the July 1st date “one big farce.”

Elhayani – who estimated that there is an 80% chance that there will be no annexation – told Walla News:

“Tying the lack of sovereignty [announcement] to Benny Gantz is a pathetic excuse..In reality, it is in the hands of the prime minister, who must accept responsibility for the decision, demonstrate leadership and say: ‘I have made this commitment to the electorate in two election campaigns, and I will stand by it’.”

Another group of settlers who are adamantly against the Trump Plan launched a new campaign targeting Netanyahu. The campaign, which was covered in the front page of the Israel Hayom paper, features photos of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Joint List Parliamentary head MK Ahmed Tibi, and Netanyahu, and alongside the photos uses the slogan:

“They [Abbas and Tibi] will not decide. You’ve [Netanayhu] decided – Keep your promise.”

Another settler group – the Sovereignty Movement – put up billboards all over the country calling on Netanyahu to annex and to say “no” to a Palestinian state.

Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) put on a public display of his pointed displeasure with Netanyahu’s failure to advance annexation on July 1st. Visiting a vista overlooking the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank – which Netanyahu has long promised to demolish – Lieberman told the press:

“We’re meeting here at Khan al-Akhmar because this is part of the same pattern of behavior. For fourteen months, Netanyahu has been yelling about ‘sovereignty’, and the whole time he’s cheated his voters…Netanyahu has tricked everyone. He has no intention of applying sovereignty: not over Maale Adumim and not even in the Jordan Valley. He always manages to trick everyone, but it was clear to me that he is lying, just as he lied about Khan al-Akhmar.”

Former Justice Minister and Yamina party leader MK Ayelet Shaked told the Jerusalem Post that she believes Bibi has “given up on the Jordan Valley.”

Haaretz reports that settlers – both those who support the Trump Plan and those who want more than what the plan is offering – have been successfully working with U.S. evangelicals to pressure Trump to OK annexation. Netanyahu himself spoke at a high profile online event for Christians United for Israel, and Yossi Dagan was interviewed by the Christian Broadcasting Network. Efrat settlement Mayor Oded Revivi has been in private conversation with U.S. evangelical leaders.

A recent poll by the radical settler group Regavim found that only 30% of settlers supported the Trump Plan after they were told that it will require Israel to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Additionally, 53% of settlers said they believe that Netanyahu will give in to pressure from Trump rather than stand his ground on issues under negotiation.

Settler Group Announces New Outpost Near Hebron

On July 1st, a group of about 500 settlers held a protest against the Trump Plan and announced their plans to establish a new outpost. The protest was held on a hilltop belonging to the Palestinian village of Halhul, near Hebron in the southern West Bank. One of the protests leaders, veteran settler activist Daniella Weiss, told Ynet:

“The Trump plan needs to be thrown in the trash. We came here to establish a settlement. Today everyone understands that the purpose of the plan is to establish a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel.”

Israeli Court Issues Ruling to Throw Sumreen Family Out of Their House

On June 30th, the Jerusalem District Court rejected an appeal by the Palestinian Sumreen family to stop the Jewish National Fund (JNF) from evicting them from the home of 60 years in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The Court gave the 18-member family until August 16th to vacate the property and ordered them to pay 20,000 shekels (about $5,800) to the JNF for legal costs. The Sumreen family is considering taking their case to the Israeli Supreme Court.

The Coalition for the Sumarin Family said in a statement: 

“In the ruling, the court did not address the most important, fundamental point, which is that the house was taken in plunder. The JNF’s legal woes did not change the fundamental fact that the use of the Absentees’ Property Law to take over the house was done without good faith, as two government legal advisers and a government inquiry commission, determined”.

The Sumreen family home is located in the middle of what today has been designed by Israel “the City of David National Park.” The area is managed by the radical Elad settler organization, which for years has also been pursuing the eviction of Palestinians from the homes in Silwan. For nearly three decades, the Sumreen family has been forced to battle for legal ownership of their home, after the state of Israel, prompted repeatedly by the JNF, declared the Sumreen’s home to be “absentee” property. After that designation – which was not communicated to the Sumreen family – Israeli law permitted the state to take over the rights to the building. The state then sold the rights to the home to the JNF in 1991. The JNF has pursued the eviction of the Sumreen family ever since. Israeli courts ruled in favor of the Sumreen family’s ownership claims to the home for years, until a September 2019 ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court granted ownership of the family’s home to the JNF, a decision the family immediately appealed to the Jerusalem District Court. 

A full history of the saga involving the Sumreen family – which is similar to dozens of other Palestinian homes in Silwan that were declared Absentee Property in the 1990s – can be found on the Peace Now website here.

In a recent letter organized by Israeli academics, thirty-four Israel Prize laureates pleaded to the head of the JNF to stop eviction proceedings against the Sumreen family. The letter reads: 

“The expulsion of the family, as part of a campaign to Judaize Silwan which has been going on for many years, will stain the reputation of the KKL … we beg of you to desist from taking actions that would be clearly immoral.”

This week, +972 Magazine published an illuminating article by a former staff member of the JNF, looking at the role the organization has played in advancing annexation policies on the ground for decades with evictions like the Sumreen case. IMEU also just published an excellent fact sheet about the Jewish National Fund.

Settlers Claim to Have Purchased an Illegally Built Palestinian Home in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan 

On June 30th, a group of settlers invaded a vacant building in the Wadi Hilweh section of the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem, saying that they had purchased the house from its Palestinian owners. Peace Now reports that the home was built by Palestinians years ago without an Israeli-issued permit (Palestinians in East Jerusalem are systematically denied permits to build on their own land). The family that had been living in the house left about four months ago after a demolition order was issued by the Jerusalem Municipality.

The house is located in the Ben Himmon Valley and very close to a Jewish cemetery that is currently being rehabilitated by the radical Elad settler organization. Elad has been involved in the systematic displacement of Palestinians from the Silwan neighborhood and has been weaponizing tourism and archaeology as a means by which to do so.

Peace Now explains: 

“In recent years, the Elad Association, together with the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Nature and Parks Authority, has been intensively developing the Ben Hinnom Valley area leading to the Sambusky Cemetery in an attempt to produce Israeli territorial contiguity from the Sultan’s Pool area and Ben Hinnom Valley area through the cemetery toward Wadi Hilweh and the ‘City of David’ visitors’ center…The takeover of this house extends the settlers’ control in the southwest corner of Wadi Hilweh: In September 2014, the settlers entered a nearby house, and in January 2016 another house adjacent to it…All of these projects, along with the settlers entering the house yesterday, are intended to strengthen Israeli presence in this contested and occupied area, and thus make it more difficult for the territorial compromise in Jerusalem needed for a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and therefore the two-state solution itself. Tourism development projects in Jerusalem are one of the most significant ways of settlement, leading to both a change on the ground and in the public domain, as well as a change in Israeli attitudes by hardening them to the idea of this necessary territorial compromise.”

Israel Orders Demolition of Illegal Settler Structures Following Reversal of Regulation Law

In response to a petition filed by Yesh Din and Emek Shaveh, Israel has said it will demolish illegally built settlement structures on privately owned Palestinian land belonging to the villages of Dir Amar and Ras Karakar. Years ago settlers illegally installed tourist accommodations – benches, terraces, paths, picnic benches and a pergola – at the site of an ancient spring in this area, in an attempt to take control of the site known as Nabi Aner. Nabi Aner is part of an historic Muslim pilgrimage route between Hebron and Bethlehem. The entire area is located in Area C of the West Bank.

Israel’s announcement that it will demolish the structures (and, ostensibly, agree to return the site to Palestinian control), comes two weeks after the Israeli High Court of Justice overturned the Regulation Law, which sought to provide a basis for legalizing settlement structures built on land that even Israeli acknowledges is owned by Palestinians (as is the case with the site in question). The petition to demolish the settlers’ construction was filed in 2017, but was not considered by the Court until now, based on the argument that the Regulation Law – if it withstood Court scrutiny — might have provided the State a basis for retroactively legalizing the structures.

Emek Shaveh said in a statement:

“Over the years, the authorities in the area have refrained from enforcing the law with respect to illegal construction that was carried out on private land and around the archaeological site.  In recent years, the State used the pretext of the Regularization Law as an excuse for continuing the policy of non-enforcement. This is an example of the importance of the nullification of the Regularization Law, which enabled settlers to take over private lands. But regardless of the Regularization Law and its nullification, we find it regrettable that we were forced to petition the court to instruct the State’s enforcement authorities to simply carry out their duties and prevent the settlers from illegally building on private Palestinian land. We regret that the State does not of its own accord enforce the law and stop the damage to archaeological sites and the process of severing Palestinians from access to their cultural and religious roots.”

State Admits to High Court that Jerusalem Cable Car Project Will Require Confiscating Private Palestinian Land

On June 29th, the Israeli High Court of Justice heard arguments concerning the Jerusalem cable car project, an initiative backed by the Elad settler group and advanced by the Israeli Tourism Ministry. During the hearing, the State admitted the implementation of the cable car project will require the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The cable car line is slated to terminate at the settler-run Kedem Center compound (Elad’s large tourism center currently under construction at the entrance of the Silwan neighborhood, in the shadows of the Old City’s walls and Al-Aqsa Mosque).

The cable car plan, touted by Elad and other supporters as a vital transportation project, is in reality intended to further entrench settler control in Silwan, via archeology and tourism sites, while simultaneously delegitimizing, dispossessing, and erasing the Palestinian presence there. Emek Shaveh and other non-governmental organizations, including  Who Profits and Terrestrial Jerusalem, have repeatedly challenged (and provided evidence to discredit) the government’s contention that the cable car will serve a legitimate transportation need in Jerusalem, and have clearly enumerated the obvious political drivers behind the plan, the archeological heresies it validates, and the severe negative impacts the cable car project will have on Palestinian residents of Silwan.

New Ir Amim Paper Looks at Jerusalem to Underscore the “Truth About Annexation”

In a new policy paper, Ir Amim looks at how Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem has played out since 1967. Ir Amim’s main points – and warnings regarding Israel’s imminent annexation of more West Bank land – are:

1. Israel annexing Palestinian land, but not Palestinian people, who since 1967 have been classified as “permanent residents,” rather than being made citizens, like the Palestinians who remained inside the Green Line after 1948.;
2. Since the moment of annexation of East Jerusalem, Israel has pursued policies meant limit the number of Palestinains in the area, including by driving Palestinians from East Jerusalem;
3. Since the moment of annexation, Israel has attempted to take control of more and more land in East Jerusalem;
4. The Absentees’ Property Law (1950) and The Law and Administration Ordinance (1970) have been Israel’s tools of choice to evict Palestinians from their homes and take their property in East Jerusalem, under the guise of legality;
5. Israel has repeatedly attempted to expand the borders of the area it annexed to include nearby settlements.

Ir Amim writes:

“In order to understand the consequences of annexation it is pertinent to learn from the case of East Jerusalem which Israel unilaterally – and in contravention of international law – annexed. Since 1967 East Jerusalem has been subject to the Jerusalem municipality and to Israeli law. In the decades since 1967, Israeli policy in the city has been driven by massive settlement construction and consistent steps to reduce the city’s Palestinian population. The combination of these two methods is considered by Israel the key to solidifying its control over the annexed territory and to asserting its sovereignty. Examining Israeli policies in East Jerusalem can therefore teach us the dangers of what can take place if the current annexation plan of the Israeli government actually takes place.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Annexation is Already Here” (Jessica Montell // The Times of Israel)
2. “Fight Annexation on Moral Grounds” (Yehuda Shaul // Haaretz)
3. “Quick Facts: Israel’s West Bank Settlement Enterprise” (IMEU)
4. “Despite Talk of Annexation, Fewer Immigrants to Israel Moving to West Bank Settlements” (Haaretz)
5. “Quick Facts: What is the Jewish National Fund”  (IMEU) 

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.

June 26, 2020

1. Netanyahu Talks to Jordan, Gantz (Finally) Lays Out a Position
2. Trump Advisors Meeting in Washington on Annexation Ends Without Decision
3. Bibi Provides Likud With Talking Points on Annexation, Says Settlements Cannot Ever Be Evacuated
4. Court Approves Sale of Church Properties in Old City of Jerusalem to Radical Settler Org
5. Israel Delivers Eviction Orders to Palestinian Businessowners Despite Claims Palestinians Have Consented to the “Silicon Wadi” Project
6. Israel is Expanding Settler-Only Bypass Road Near Bethlehem, Cutting Palestinians Off from Land
7. Plans for Controversial New Settlement Industrial Zone Near Beitar Illit Are Poised for Final Approval
8. High Court Set to Hear Petition Against Cable Car
9. Emek Shaveh Submits Petition Against Settler-Backed “Accessibility” Project for the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs
10. Weaponizing Archaeology as a Means of Dispossessing Palestinians
11. Democrats Oppose Annexation But Don’t Threaten Consequences; Republicans Lawmakers Offer Support for Annexation
12. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Contact Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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Netanyahu Talks to Jordan, Gantz (Finally) Lays Out a Position

According to an anonymous Palestinian official, Israel delivered a message to Jordan’s King Abdullah (who then passed it on to Abbas) that Netanyahu is planning to announce annexation of two or three “settlement blocs” as Israel’s initial annexation move, and this announcement will not include annexation of the Jordan Valley. The report provided no details about which “blocs” will be annexed, or how they will be defined. As a reminder, “blocs” is an informal and elastic term that Israel has used to define ever- expanding areas of the West Bank as territory that it will keep.

The reports come after days of suggestions that the U.S. and Netanyahu are favoring a phased annexation plan, meaning that whatever “limited” annexation Israel announces on July 1st (or, more likely, after July 1st), it will be just the first in a wave of annexation announcements, and the fact that it may be “limited” (compared to other options) in no way will signal that Netanyahu has changed his grander ambition to annex every inch of land allowed under Trump Plan. The Trump Plan green lights annexation of around 30% of the West Bank as a starting point, with an implicit green light for further annexation if the Palestinians refuse to negotiate with Israel over the fate of the remaining West Bank territory.

Gantz posted a message on his Facebook page on Friday, June 26th in what some are viewing as an effort to clarify his own position on annexation, which so far has been inconsistent, ambiguous, and confusing. Gantz’s five key positions on annexation according to the new Facebook post are:

1. No annexation of areas where there is a “significant” Palestinian population; 
2. No annexation of land that will impair Palestinians’ freedom of movement;
3. Palestinian living in areas annexed by Israel will be given equal rights;
4. Israel’s security as well as its existing peace agreements will be safeguarded;
5. Israel will initiate “bilateral moves with the Palestinians.”

It was reported earlier this week that Prime Minister Netanyahu presented an ultimatum to Gantz in private deliberations, seeking to force Gantz to choose between supporting annexation or a new round of elections (recent polls suggest new elections would deliver a landslide victory for Netanyahu — no surprise given the fact that in joining the Netanyahu government, Gantz eviscerated Netanyahu’s main opposition party). 

Up to this point, Blue & White party leaders Gantz and Ashkenazi have opposed wide-scale, unilateral annexation on July 1st – instead offering a vision for a phased annexation plan, starting with large settlement blocs, that is coordinated with key international players. Perhaps fulfilling Gantz’s demands, the reports regarding Israel’s message to Jordan propose a more limited initial annexation plan, suggesting perhaps that Netanyahu has adopted two of Gantz’s main positions. It’s also worth recalling that last week Gantz and his party mate Ashkenazi were pushing a phased annexation plan and specified that the Ma’ale Adumim and the Etzion settlement blocs (east and south of Jerusalem) are the place to start.

Even before word of the Jordan communique and Gantz’s Facebook message hit the press on June 26th, it was a near consensus position amongst Israeli news outlets and analysts that Gantz was not going to stand in the way of annexation. On June 22nd, Gantz reportedly told a group of defense officials that Israel “won’t keep waiting for the Palestinians” to engage in negotiations on the basis of the Trump Plan. Those remarks were interpreted as a signal of Gantz’s acquiescence to Netanyahu’s annexation plan (or at least of his growing disinterest in even appearing to oppose it). In the same set of remarks, Gantz went on to blame the Palestinians in even more harsh language, saying they are attempting to drag Israel into “deep shit.” Haaretz suggests, “…Gantz’s tone and his actual comments confirm the assumption that there will be no life-and-death battle here. Gantz knows that the final decision is not up to him, but rather up to Netanyahu.” In a separate article, Haaretz columnist Noa Landau put it this way: “[Gantz’s] remarks [on June 22nd] sounded more like a threat against the Palestinians for refusing to extricate him from this mess.”

Trump Advisors Meeting in Washington on Annexation Ends Without Decision 

Internal Israeli negotiations set a dramatic stage for 3 days of discussions this week in Washington between the Trump Administration officials who are the architects and managers of the Trump Plan, as the reportedly sought to come to agreement over what form of annexation the Trump Administration will green light for July 1. Multiple reports in the days leading up to the U.S. deliberations suggested that the group was considering options ranging from  a “gradual” annexation plan starting with large settlements around Jerusalem, to a more large-scale and immediate plan. At the end of the week, the Americans reportedly failed to reach a decision on how they would want to see Israel’s annexation of West Bank land to proceed. Three members of the team, Avi Berkowitz and NSA Advisor Scott Leith, and Amb. Friedman – are reportedly en route back to Israel and will continue discussions with Netanyahu. Notably, in parallel to the Washington meetings, reports emerged suggesting that Netanyahu’s annexation announcement may be delayed and that July 1st might mark the start of Israeli security cabinet deliberations over annexation (to this point deliberations have been between Netanyahu and Gantz without wider input from cabinet members). 

Amb. David Friedman (who flew to back to DC for the meeting) was joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, senior advisor Jared Kushner, Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz, and national security advisor Robert O’Brien for deliberations starting on June 23rd. 

Bibi Provides Likud With Talking Points on Annexation, Says Settlements Cannot Ever Be Evacuated

Netanyahu sent a memo to Likud lawmakers this week laying out key talking points in the ongoing effort to defend annexation, in which he argues that evacuating settlement poses an “immediate existential threat” to Israel. The memo says:

“Relinquishing these territories would not only constitute a historic injustice; such a move would create an immediate existential threat to the Jewish state since Judea and Samaria border central Israeli cities.”

The memo also adopts a U.S. talking point that annexation in fact advances the cause of peace, but instead of giving any nod to a future Palestinian state or two state solution, Bibi’s memo claims that annexing West Bank settlements can provide for “to a realistic regional peace based upon facts on the ground.” This double speak (annexation is peace) was prominently articulated by Ron Dermer in a recent Washington Post op-ed.

Court Approves Sale of Church Properties in Old City of Jerusalem to Radical Settler Org

On June 24th, the Jerusalem District Court rejected a final request filed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to block the sale of its historic church properties to the radical settler group Ateret Cohanim. The Court’s ruling brings an end to 16 years of litigation and paves the way for Ateret Cohanim to evict Palestinian tenants and businessowners from three coveted church properties in the Old City including the Petra Hotel and the Imperial Hotel (together, the buildings flank the Jaffa Gate entrance into the Old City – meaning that Ateret Cohanim now controls a substantial amount of land at a key entrance to the Old City). The third building – known to Palestinians as Beit Amziya – is located in the Muslim Quarter.

The ruling comes just four months after the Jerusalem District Court appointed a lawyer associated with Ateret Cohanim as the legal custodian of the Petra Hotel for the duration of a bankruptcy case against the Palestinians currently operating the hotel.

The legal battle over the properties dates back to 2004, when the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate agreed to sell the three properties to a foreign real estate company under three separate contracts. It did so not knowing that the radical settler group Ateret Cohanim was behind the transaction. News of the sales made headlines in early 2005.

Upon the revelation that Ateret Cohanim was the real buyer, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate was deeply embarrassed and immediately sought to retain control of the properties. The Patriarchate alleged that the transactions involved corruption and bribery, arguing that the legal documents had been signed without permission by a finance employee. Dismissing the church’s arguments, this week the Supreme Court upheld prior rulings that the signatures on the legal documents were valid, with the finance employee acting as a legal proxy of the Patriarchate.

The Greek Orthodox Church has received significant blowback from the sale of these properties. In January 2018, Palestinians protested in Bethlehem in an attempt to block the arrival of Patriarch Theophilos III for Christmas celebrations.

Israel Delivers Eviction Orders to Palestinian Businessowners Despite Claims Palestinians Have Consented to the “Silicon Wadi” Project

Middle East Eye reports that the “Silicon Wadi” project (as reported on by FMEP on June 5th) is being discussed by the Jerusalem District Committee but has not yet reached the stage of being deposited for public review. According to one Palestinian business owner who faces eviction under the plan, the District Committee required the Jerusalem Municipality to notify the owners and renters of the buildings that will be demolished to make way for the new construction. Last week, the Municipality delivered that notification to renters in the form of eviction orders, saying that the businesses were operating in violation of Israeli regulations (i.e., illegally, even though the businesses have been there – and paying taxes to Israel – for decades). The orders give businesses 6 months to vacate.

One Palestinian businessowner, Mahmoud al-Kurd, told Middle East Eye:

“I will stay here to the last moment. This profession is my passion. In this old space I managed to achieve my successes. It is enough that the soul of my deceased father roams around me here – he is the one who rented this store decades ago and passed on his means of sustenance to us. I refuse to be an employee of a Jewish broker if we were transferred to work in the Israeli industrial areas.”

The Jerusalem Municipality – which claims that this project has the support and consent of Palestinians  – also claims that it is looking into options for compensating business owners (mostly auto mechanics) who will lose their garages.

Israel is Expanding Settler-Only Bypass Road Near Bethlehem, Cutting Palestinians Off from Land

The Palestinian news outlet Wafa reports that Israel has begun work on expanding a settler-only bypass road just west of Bethlehem.The road is reportedly being expanded and widened on Palestinian land belonging to the Nahalin village; construction of the new road segment and widening the existing road will cut off Palestinians from 741 acres (3,000 dunams) of their land.

The road serves to directly connect the Beitar Illit settlement to the Modiin Illit settlement,  both of which are a part of the so-called “Etzion Bloc.” The construction goes to show that the settlement “Blocs” – around which some suggest there is a “consensus” that Israel will retain them in any future deal with the Palestinians, and others suggest Israel can annex without controvery – are a pretext for a continuing campaign of dispossession, discrimination, and human rights abuses against neighboring Palestinians. For a deep dive into the highly consequential acceptance/normalization of the “settlement bloc” framing, see here.

Plans for Controversial New Settlement Industrial Zone Near Beitar Illit Are Poised for Final Approval

Al Monitor reports that plans for the construction of a new settlement industrial zone near the Beitar Illit settlement in the southern West Bank are ready to be submitted for final approval from the Civil Administration. Environmental activists say the new zone will pollute and possibly destroy the underground water sources feeding the terraced hills of Battir, a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The plan for the new zone – which will include offices, shops, sports facilities, public buildings, and a cemetery – was initiated in 2018 at the insistence of Israel’s former Interior Minister Aryeh Deri. Palestinians claim that plans for the zone include construction on privately owned Palestinian land.

Gidon Bromberg, Executive Director of EcoPeace, told Al-Monitor:

“Planning maps clearly show that the industrial estate would indeed cover much of the buffer zone of the World Heritage site as well as touch the core area itself.”

High Court Set to Hear Petition Against Cable Car

The Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh reports that the Israeli High Court of Justice will take up the case of the Jerusalem cable car project on June 29th. The court will consider three arguments made in a petition filed against the plan submitted by Emek Shaveh and leading experts. Those arguments are:

1. “A transitional government is not authorized to make an irreversible decision such as approval of the cable car project:  The cable car project will cost the public hundreds of millions of shekels.  During a period when the government is carrying out a broad cut in the budget of billions of shekels and is reducing the budgets for health and welfare, it is inappropriate that a transitional government leaves a bequest of this magnitude for the next government to inherit.  In the response of the Deputy Attorney General, Att. Othman Roslan, to the petition, while arguing that the process was not in conflict with the law, he did not conceal the fact that the it was problematic. [See FMEP’s coverage of the Israeli government’s approval of the plan in November 2019]
2. “There was a serious flaw in the planning process in that the Ministry of Transportation was not included in the project that purports to be a transportation project:  While the project is represented  as a transport project, the Ministry of Transportation was not included in the process and the project was not required to meet the standards set forth for transportation projects in the State of Israel. Instead it was approved on the basis of reports and data less comprehensive than those required for every other transportation project.
3. “The decision was made on the basis of misleading simulations:  The backers of the plan did not present complete simulations that accurately illustrate the cable cars in motion and the resulting damage to the historic landscape.  The National Infrastructure Committee should have demanded that the backers present simulations that illustrate the actual cars in motion.”

The Jerusalem cable car project is an initiative of the Elad settler organization (which is building a massive tourism center – the Kedem Center – in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, slated to be a stop along the cable car’s route). The scheme is intended to further entrench settler control in Silwan, via archeology and tourism sites, while simultaneously delegitimizing, dispossessing, and erasing the Palestinian presence there. Non-governmental organizations including Emek Shaveh,  Who Profits, and Terrestrial Jerusalem have repeatedly challenged (and provided evidence to discredit) the government’s contention that the cable car will serve a legitimate transportation need in Jerusalem, and have clearly enumerated the obvious political drivers behind the plan, the archeological heresies it validates, and the severe impacts the cable car project will have on Palestinian residents of Silwan.

Emek Shaveh Submits Petition Against Settler-Backed “Accessibility” Project for the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs

On June 18th, Emek Shaveh and Palestinian residents of Hebron jointly submitted a petition challenging Israel’s issuance of a permit to build an elevator to the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs, arguing that:

1. “The plan was illegally approved  by a transitional government; 
2. “The plan is in contravention of international agreements to which Israel is a signatory; 
3. “[The plan] is an unprecedented injury to the character of the ancient structure;  No documentation and preservation file has been submitted.”

One signatory on the petition is a disabled Palestinian, Kamal Abadin, who makes the salient point that Israel’s policies in Hebron do not indicate it has concern for accessibility, saying:

“I almost do not come to pray at the mosque because as a Palestinian, I am not permitted to drive in my car from my house to the site, because the road is closed to Palestinian vehicles.  If Israel asserts that it wants to make the site accessible to the disabled, let it start with allowing disabled Palestinians to access it by car.”

Emek Shaveh explained  in a statement:

“Unfortunately, even at the price of damage to a structure more than 2,000 years old that is holy to Judaism and Islam, Israel is prepared to be led by the settlers and their plans, and on the way, to violate international agreements to which it is a signatory.  The settlers have succeeded in turning the needs of persons with disabilities into a political issue and a means for deepening the dispute with the Palestinians.  We all know that what begins in Hebron does not stay only in Hebron and the unilateral steps at the Tomb of the Patriarchs could serve as a precedent for unilateral actions at another site which is holy to both Judaism and Islam.”

Weaponizing Archaeology as a Means of Dispossessing Palestinians

A settler group which sprung from the radical Regavim organization has sharpened a new bureaucratic weapon by which to advance the dispossession of Palestinians. The settler group – called Shomrim Al Hanetzach (“Guarding Eternity”) – has been surveying areas in the West Bank that Israel has designated as archeaological sites in order to call in Israeli authorities to demolish Palestinian construction in these areas. In 2017, it should be noted, Israel declared 1,000 new archaeological sites in Area C of the West Bank. The group communicates its findings to the Archaeology Unit in the Israeli Civil Administration (the military body by which the government of Israel regulates all planning and building in the West Bank). The Archaeology Unit, playing its part, then delivers eviction and demolition orders against Palestinians, claiming that the structures damage antiquities in the area. 

In addition, in 2019  the Israeli government increased the size of the Archaeology Unit’s staff and granted the unit new authority to carry out investigations into cases of construction on archaeological sites. Moreover, using new powers the Civil Administration gave itself (via a military order) in June 2017, the Israeli goverment has accelerated the demolition of Palestinian buildings by drastically  limiting the time period during which Palestinians are permitted to challenge demolition orders. Palestinians have a mere 96 hours after receiving the notice to file a legal challenge.

As a result, there has been a sharp rise in the number of archaeology-related demolition orders over the past year: Israel issued 118 demolition order and warnings against Palestinian structures built on West Bank archaeological sites in 2019, compared to 61 orders in 2018 and 45 orders in 2017. 

The Director of Shomrim Al Hanetzach told Haaretz: 

“We took it upon ourselves to make the supervision process more efficient – hiking guides and archaeologists turn to us and tell us about the destruction of antiquities, and we report them further to the necessary people.”

In the case of one Palestinian, Mahmoud Bisharat, he says that Israel conducted an archaeological survey of the area in 1972 but never complained about Palestinian construction in the area until now. The Civil Administration ordered Bisharat to demolish his home, olive trees, well, and concrete structures around a well.

In addition to hiking and surveying Palestinian land, Palestinians have reported that Regavim activists also use drones to photograph their land and buildings, and have made the connection between those activities to demolition orders from the Civil Administration.

Democrats Oppose Annexation But Don’t Threaten Consequences; Republicans Lawmakers Offer Support for Annexation

In warring moves this week, Republicans and Democrats staked out positions on Israel’s forthcoming annexation of land in the West Bank.

189 of 233 Democrats in the House signed a letter sent to Netanyahu and Gantz expressing deep concern about annexation, saying it does not serve Israeli security interests nor the peace process. The letter, notably, does not contain any threat of consequences should Israel implement annexation.  J Street is reportedly behind drafting and circulating the letters for signatures.

116 out of 198 Republicans in the House signed a letter sent  to Prime Minister Nentanyahu expressing support for Israel’s “right to sovereignty and defensible borders.” The letter also praises the Trump Plan. The Republic Jewish Committee is reportedly behind drafting and circulating the letter for signatures.

7 out of 53 Republicans in the Senate signed a letter to President Trump led by Senators Cotton (R-AR) and Cruz (R-TX) that is not only supportive of annexation, but actually encourage Israel to implement annexation.

Back in May, 18 out of 47 Democrats/Independents in the Senate sent a letter to Netanyahu and Gantz cautioning them against annexation.

Bonus Reads

1. “How settler groups could use annexation to deepen Palestinian dispossession” (+972 Magazine)
2. “Israel’s High Court Is Willfully Blind to Theft of Palestinian Land” (Haaretz)
3. “Israel’s ‘strangling’ of Bethlehem tightens as world debates annexation” (+972 Magazine)
4. “Settlers Assault Palestinians on Their Own Land, as Israeli Soldiers Watch” (Haaretz)
5. “For Netanyahu, Annexation May Spell Little Gain, and Lots of Pain“ (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.

May 22, 2020

1. New Israeli Government Sworn In: Gantz & Netanyahu Continue to Back Annexation & the Trump Plan
2. New Israeli Government Sworn In: The Cast of Ministers Relevant to Settlements/Annexation
3. Settler Groups in Public Disagreement Over Trump Plan
4. ICYMI: Sec. State Pompeo Went to Israel Last Week
5. Israel Expropriates Land, Green Lights Building Permits for “Humanitarian Access” to Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque
6. Israeli Demolitions in al-Walajah, Displacing Palestinians to Make Way for New Israeli Park
7. High Court Rejects Regulation Incentivizing Artists Performing in Settlements
8. Violence on the Rise
9. Breaking the Silence Breaks Down What Annexation Will Mean on the Ground
10. Al-Haq Report: Israeli Annexation of Jerusalem Since 1948
11. B’Tselem Report: Jewish Supremacy on Display in Issawiya
12. Human Rights Watch Report: Israeli Land Policies Strangle Palestinian Communities in Israel
13. Bonus Reads

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

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New Israeli Government Sworn In: Gantz & Netanyahu Continue to Back Annexation & the Trump Plan

The new Israeli government was sworn in on Sunday, May 17th. The message from the government’s leaders – Netanyahu and Gantz – remains that they are firmly and unequivocally behind the plan to advance annexation, in accordance with the Trump Plan.

In his inaugural address, Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

“The time has come to apply sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. This won’t distance peace, it will bring it closer. The truth is — and everybody knows it — that the hundreds of thousands of settlers living in Judea and Samaria will remain there, no matter what arrangement is reached. The only reason the whole issue of sovereignty is on the agenda is because I promoted it personally for the last three years, both overtly and covertly.”

In his inaugural address, Alternate (and, theoretically, future) Prime Minister Benny Gantz said:

“Alongside this and for its sake, we will maintain our strength, to seize regional opportunities in general, and to advance the US government and US President Trump’s peace plan and everything it contains.”

New Israeli Government Sworn In: The Cast of Ministers Relevant to Settlements/Annexation

In addition to Netanyahu and Gantz, key figures in the new government’s drive for annexation will likely be:

• Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), who is Israel’s “Settlements Minister.” This is a new cabinet position invented by Netanyahu and Gantz. Hotovely will serve in this role for the first nine months of the government and then be replaced by Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) for the second nine months (of course, if Israel annexes all the settlements, this role either won’t need to exist anymore or its mandate will have to change). It is unclear if this ministry will take power away from the Defense Ministry (and its Civil Administration), which has typically been the central address for managing most issues related to the settlements.
• Gilad Erdan (Likud), who is Israel’s new Ambassador to both the United Nations and the United States. Erdan will hold both offices simultaneously for the first nine months of the government. Shortly following his swearing in, Erdan reiterated his well-established support for annexation, saying he believes Israel has a “biblical right” to the land. 
• Avi Nissenkorn (Blue & White) who is Israel’s new Justice Minister. Israel’s Justice Minister has historically played an important role in issuing legal opinions which provide Israel a domestic legal rationale for land seizures and settlement activities. The Justice Ministry is also a key because it has been (at least in recent years) increasingly oppositional to the role of the Israeli Supreme Court. Netanyahu has directly confronted the Supreme Court, and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked accused the Court of (among other things) being “overly concerned” with Palestinian rights.
• Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue & White), who is Israel’s new Foreign Minister, and who will theoretically take over the job of Defense Minister during the second nine months of the government (assuming Gantz rotates over to become Prime Minister). Ashkenazi has made clear his support for annexation, even while giving lip service to concerns about relations with allies and in the region. On May 18th he, said: “We’re facing significant regional opportunities, primarily President [Donald] Trump’s peace initiative. I consider this plan a significant milestone. President Trump presented us with a historic opportunity to shape the future of the State of Israel and its boundaries for decades to come…The plan will be advanced responsibly, with full coordination with the United States and maintaining all of the State of Israel’s peace agreements and strategic interests.” 

Key Government Figures Outside of the Coalition

• Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina Party). Relegated to the opposition, Bennett and company have come out swinging – taking shots at Netanyahu for allegedly betraying right wing values and vowing to fight tooth and nail against the Trump Plan. Bennett has charged that Netanyahu is making a fatal mistake by supporting the Trump Plan because it would mean that Israel has acknowledged and accepted the concept of a Palestinian state (notwithstanding that, under the Trump Plan, what is available to the Palestinians does not meet even the most modest definition of a state). Bennett said that recognition “is a point of no return. One can’t recognize and then un-recognize Palestinian statehood. It’s like un-cooking scrambled eggs…I will oppose anything that allows for acceptance or recognition of a Palestinian state.”

Settler Groups in Public Disagreement Over Trump Plan

Settler leaders form a key interest group outside of the central government (though many settler leaders serve on municipal councils) — a group that will play a key role in the deliberations around annexation. And with the swearing in of the new government that embraces the Trump Plan, disagreements among settler leaders are beginning to become more clear.

Like the Yamina Party, the official settler leadership body – known as the Yesha Council – passed a resolution on May 21st criticizing several aspects of the Trump Plan, without stating its outright opposition to it. While acknowledging it as a “positive change in U.S. policy towards settlements,” the resolution goes on to:

• Assert that annexation does not require American approval;
• Reject recognition of – or agreement to recognize in the future – a Palestinian state;
• Reject any construction freeze in any of the settlements and outposts;
• Reject the creation of enclaves.

Following the passage of the resolution, Yesha Council chairman David Elhayani said:

“For years, the Yesha Council has been working to apply sovereignty [in the West Bank], and we’ve gone from a situation in which almost no one talked about the subject or was aware of it to the unprecedented situation where the prime minister and the US president discuss an agreement that includes sovereignty. However, we will not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel. If the result of the [Trump] agreement is to establish a terror state in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), include the creation of isolated enclaves and a freeze on construction, we are ready to give up sovereignty, despite all the hard work and resources we have invested in the issue in recent years.”

In opposition to the Yesha council’s statement, a group of settler mayors – representing major settlements like Efrat and Ariel, as well as settlements that, due to their population, have extra weight politically (like Alfei Menashe, which is home to many retired senior IDF officers) — organized their own statement calling for support of the Trump Plan. The statement – led by Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi – was signed by the mayor/chairmen of Ariel, Megilot, Oranit, Alfei Menashe, Elkana, and Har Adar.

ICYMI: Sec. State Pompeo Went to Israel Last Week 

On Wednesday, May 13th, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to Israel for an 8-hour visit to meet with leaders of the new Israeli government (which was set to be sworn in the next day, though that was delayed until Sunday the 17th). In response to an unconvincing statement by the State Department concerning the trip’s purpose – which was officially about coordination on fighting COVID-19 and Iran –  an avalanche of speculative media coverage preceded and trailed Pompeo’s trip, trying to suss out what the trip was truly about, with many focusing on annexation or confronting Israel’s growing ties to China. In response, a State Department official who travelled with Pompeo told the press after Pompeo departed: “[we can] dispel the notion that we flew halfway around the world to talk about annexation…that was not the purpose of the trip…This wasn’t the top line.”

Media speculation that annexation was on Pompeo’s agenda was fueled by an interview Pompeo gave to Israel Hayom one day prior to his trip. When asked directly by a reporter if he planned to ask Israel to delay annexation, Pompeo declined to answer but reiterated his prior comments stressing that annexation is an Israeli decision. And then, on the day that Pompeo arrived in Israel, an anonymous “senior U.S. official” told Israel’s Channel 13 news that the U.S. had passed a message to Israeli leaders that annexation does not have to happen on July 1st.

In a press conference following their meeting, Pompeo appeared to again suggesting that Israel could (or should) delay annexation. Appearing alongside Netanyahu, Pompeo said (to Bibi):

“We’re now some months on from the day that you came to Washington when President Trump announced that Vision for Peace when you were there. There remains work yet to do, and we need to make progress on that. I’m looking forward to it.”

Not long after, Pompeo told the press:

“We spoke of ways to advance the peace plan, Trump’s peace plan.”

Reading into these comments, the New York Times ran pieces suggesting that Pompeo told Netanyahu that the U.S. wants him to delay annexation. In the article, Crisis Group analyst Ofer Zalzberg suggested that Pompeo sought to re-establish a role for Benny Gantz in the government’s consideration of annexation (after Gantz forfeit such a role as part of the coalition deal). Adding to the chatter around delay, Channel 13 News in Israel even reported that Gantz and Ashkenazi voiced concerns about annexation during their meeting with Pompeo, though both Gantz and Ashkenzi have continued to publicly promote the plan (see section above).

Israel Expropriates Land, Green Lights Building Permits for “Humanitarian Access” to Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque

On May 13th, the IDF Commander issued an expropriation order to take control of an area outside of Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in order to build an elevator and wheelchair ramp leading to the site. The land is owned by the Islamic Waqf and is under the municipal jurisdiction of the Palestinian-run Hebron Municipality, according to multiple agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinians concerning the governance of the site. Israel’s expropriation order violates the terms of the Hebron Protocols.

Four days later, on May 17th, the Israeli Civil Administration deposited for public review plans for the project, starting the clock on a 60-day period during which the public can submit objections to the plan.

Emek Shaveh writes:

“The project is presented as a response to a humanitarian need but the settlers and the government are in fact creating a precedent of expropriation from the Waqf and construction at a shared holy site. Moreover, according to the Oslo Accords, the tomb comes under the auspices of the Hebron Municipality who have not consented to the plan.”

Palestinian Authority Minister for the Civilian Affairs Hussein al-Shiekh tweeted in response:

“today the so-called Israeli Minister of Defense signed a decision to confiscate [and] annex parts of the Ibrahimi campus in Hebron, which is a violation of the Hebron protocol, an end of the agreement signed between the PLO and Israel [and] a continuation of the #annexation project in the [West Bank and] #Jerusalem”

Israeli Demolitions in al-Walajah, Displacing Palestinians to Make Way for New Israeli Park

On May 18, Israeli forces demolished six structures (three homes and three agricultural buildings) in the Palestinian village of al-Walajah, in an area of the village that is within the expanded Israeli municipal borders of Jerusalem and also inside ofthe Nahal Rephaim National Park. Israel established the park in 2013 on al-Walajah’s land. Ir Amim reports that the demolitions are part of the Israeli government’s plans to open a new visitors center in the park for Israelis in the near future.

The demolitions were carried out by Israeli authorities, despite circumstances that should have required them to be delayed — including the fact that the Palestinian homeowners were unaware that demolition orders had been issued against their property. Moreover, on March 18th the Israeli Justice Ministry declared that residential demolitions would be suspended during the coronavirus crisis (and such has been the case for the past 2 months in East Jerusalem). Further, Israel customarily pauses demolition orders during the month of Ramadan (which is about to end). 

For decades, the Israeli government has carried out a multi-prong effort to push Palestinians off of their land in al-Walajah. This has included demolition campaigns, construction of the separation barrier along a route that encircles the village and cuts residents off from their land, refusal to grant building permits, and the declaration of state parks over lands on which Palestinians have lived for generations. 

High Court Rejects Regulation Incentivizing Artists Performing in Settlements

On May 13th, the Israeli High Court of Justice overturned a controversial government regulation which conditioned the amount of federal funding for arts and cultural institutions (orchestras, theaters, choirs, etc) on their willingness to perform in West Bank settlements. The program was put in place by former Culture Minister Miri Regev. It incentivized arts institutions to perform in the settlements (an act of normalization and de facto annexation) by offering a 10% bonus to cultural groups which perform in the settlements, while reducing grants by 33% for groups unwilling to perform in the settlements.

The Court’s ruling came in response to a 2016 petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI); the petition claimed the regulation violated the right to freedom of expression and conscience.

Justice Hanan Melcer said:

“Refraining from appearing in a controversial region constitutes an expression of opinion and such an expression merits protection. The right to freedom of expression obligates the authorities not to discriminate between people or institutions on the basis of their views and requires them to remain neutral.”

For a fantastic re-telling of Miri Regev’s controversial and dramatic tenure as Culture Minister, see this article by Al-Monitor. In the new unity government, Regev was sworn in to serve as Israel’s Minister of Transportation for the first nine months, and will then serve as Israel Foreign Minister. Regev will be a member of the Israeli security cabinet for the entire duration of the government (18 months).

Violence on the Rise

On the evening of May 21st, settlers from the radical Yitzhar settlement – homebase of the violent “Hilltop Youth” – instigated clashes with Palestinians from the nearby village of Hawwara. The settlers were throwing rocks at Palestinian vehicles along the main road to the village, and Palestinians then gathered and responded by throwing rocks at the settlers. Israeli police arrived to disperse the crowd, directing stun gun fire at the Palestinians.

The head of the Hawwara village council told Haaretz that Palestinian property, including cars and store fronts, were damaged by the settlers.

The incident follows an apparent Palestinian-perpetrated attack (or attempted attack) on Israeli forces near Hawwara earlier this week. Many analysts are now noting the persistent occurrence of violent clashes throughout the WEst Bank, including the death of an Israeli soldier during an IDF night raid in Jenin, the death of a Palestinian youth in Hebron also during a nighttime raid by the IDF, an apparent car-ramming attack, and now the events this week.

Breaking the Silence Breaks Down What Annexation Will Mean on the Ground

In a policy paper, Breaking the Silence co-founder Yehuda Shaul answers several key questions about what annexation might look like, and how the legal structure of Israel’s control over Palestinian life in the West Bank will be transformed. Read the full paper here.

Shaul explains that following annexation:

• Planning and construction for the settlements will no longer be regulated by the Defense Ministry, where political considerations at times intervened to stop controversial settlement plans. When settlement construction comes under Israel’s domestic bureaucratic procedures, plans for expansion of settlements are expected to move more quickly.
• The state of Israel will no longer have an existing legal basis for removing settlers from the West Bank (in the hypothetical scenario in which the state should choose to do so). Since 1948, the state has said (at least formally) that the settlements are “temporary” and that they fulfill a “military need.” When Israel evacuated its Gaza settlements, it did so pursuant to a military order saying that the settlements no longer serve a military need, and can be removed. The Court was then able to violate the civil rights Israel affords to its settlers in order to carry out the evacuation. Following annexation, the settlements will no longer be connected to any “military need” and will certainly no longer be held as a “temporary” endeavor, removing power from the government to carry out evacuations should it so choose.
• Settler municipal bodies will enjoy increased autonomy and power over Palestinians living in annexed land. This means that Palestinians could be paying taxes to the settler bodies, and relying on their benevolence for construction planning, building permits, and other services, etc. Palestinians would likely enjoy no representation in those municipal bodies, which would also have the authority to enforce demolition orders against Palestinians.
• The bureaucratic process of combining two regimes (the Israeli government and the Israeli military command) to govern the newly annexed territory will take a lot of legislation and it will require Israel to form a complex and massive structure to police the borders of Israeli territory. 
• The Absentee Property’s Law and declarations of newly annexed land for “public use” will be the key legal tools Israel uses to take privately owned Palestinian land on a massive scale.

The paper also establishes that annexation of West Bank land will mean apartheid. Annexation under the Trump Plan would leave Palestinians living in fragmented enclaves within the Israeli state, without any rights in Israel (i.e. Apartheid). Even if Israel grants some rights to the subset of Palestinians living in the territory annexed to Israel (the report details 5 scenarios Israel might consider), that does not change the overall legal status of the new regime as an apartheid system, where people are granted or not granted rights primarily based on ethnicity.  

Al-Haq Report: Israeli Annexation of Jerusalem Since 1948

In a new report, entitled “Annexing A City: Israel’s Illegal Measures to Annex Jerusalem Since 1948,” Al-Haq examines Israel’s annexation of West Jerusalem in 1948 and East Jerusalem in 1967, and the many Israeli policies which have sought to shore up those annexations in the intervening years.

Al-Haq writes:

“Indeed, Israel’s actions towards the city, from beginning to move its Government ministries to West Jerusalem in 1949, to redrawing the municipal boundaries of the city in 1967, have all been aimed at establishing irreversible facts on the ground before concrete action is taken by the international community. Accordingly, Israel’s policies and practices imposed today in occupied East Jerusalem, ranging from residency revocations to house demolitions, form part of a continuing effort to displace and dispossess Palestinians in Jerusalem, thereby feeding into Israel’s calculated efforts to alter the legal status, character, and demographic composition of the city, in violation of its protected status under international law.”

B’Tselem Report: Jewish Supremacy on Display in Issawiya

In a new report, entitled “This is Jerusalem: Violence and Dispossession in al- ‘Esawiyah,” B’Tselem describes life in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya (aka al-‘Esawiyah). In it, B’Tselem analyzes how Israeli policies have aimed and succeeded at dispossessing Palestinians in Issawiya through deliberate neglect, lack of planning, and an ongoing police campaign in the neighborhood aimed at harassing residents. 

B’Tselem writes:

“Since annexing East Jerusalem, Israel has viewed the Palestinians who live there as an unwanted addition. The policy it implements in these neighborhoods – which is particularly blatant in al-‘Esawiyah – is aimed at incessantly pressuring the residents. In the short term, this is meant to oppress Palestinians in the city, control them and keep them poor, underprivileged and in a state of constant anxiety. Given Israel’s declared intention to ensure a Jewish demographic supremacy in Jerusalem, the long-term goal of this cruel policy appears to be to drive Palestinians to breaking point, so that they “choose” to desert their homes and leave the city. This conduct clearly demonstrates the demographic considerations that guide Israel’s actions: preferring Jewish citizens over unwanted Palestinian residents. Accordingly, the Israeli authorities incessantly harass the entire Palestinian population of Jerusalem, including the blatant example reviewed in this report: the 22,000 people who live in al-‘Esawiyah. This abuse, which is the result of an ongoing policy led by all Israeli governments since 1967, lays bare Israel’s priorities in the only part of the West Bank it has – as yet – taken the trouble to formally annex: no equality, no rights, and not even reasonable municipal services. Instead, state authorities use their power in the annexed territory to cement the superiority of one group over another.”

Human Rights Watch Report: Israeli Land Policies Strangle Palestinian Communities in Israel

In a new report – entitled “Israel: Discriminatory Land Policies Hem in Palestinians” Human Rights Watch documents how policies which have Israel’s occupation policy extened beyond the occupied territories – and also serve to tighly constrict the growth and development of Palestinian cities inside of Israeli borders. 

Eric Goldstein, acting Middle East executive director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement:

“Israeli policy on both sides of the Green Line restricts Palestinians to dense population centers while maximizing the land available for Jewish communities. These practices are well-known when it comes to the occupied West Bank, but Israeli authorities are also enforcing discriminatory land practices inside Israel.”

Bonus Reads

1. “Annexation is not just about stealing land — it’s about expelling Palestinians“ (+972 Magazine)
2. “Land grab and deportation: A leading Israeli lawyer’s annexation prediction” (Middle East Eye)
3. “Jerusalem Day Obscures The Reality of Modern Jerusalem” (Daniel Seidemann for T’ruah)
4. “What’s the Real Purpose of Israel’s Annexation Plan?” (Hagai El-Ad in Haaretz)
5. “For Medicinal Purposes The Israeli Military Sector and the Coronavirus Crisis” (Who Profits)
6. “EU Countries Mull Slapping Sanctions on Israel to Deter West Bank Annexation” (Haaretz)
7. “Israel expands settlement projects around Hebron’s mosque” (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.

May 8, 2020

1. Israel Green Lights Givat Eitam/E-2 Settlement
2. Givat Hamatos Tender is Delayed, as Settlers Agitate for Action
3. Israel Exploits “Humanitarian” Access Issue to Flex its Muscles at Key Hebron Site
4. HaMoked Continues Battle on Behalf of Palestinians Landowners Who Cannot Reach Their Land
5. Amb. Friedman Gives Two Interviews Clarifying (Once Again) Total Support for Annexation; Pompeo To Visit Israel Soon
6. Yesha Settlement Council Head Pushes For Annexation Vote Immediately, As Settlers Continue to Be Wary of Bibi’s Plans & Critical of the Trump Plan
7. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

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Israel Green Lights Givat Eitam/E-2 Settlement

On May 6th, Israel’s outgoing Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced the approval of plans for the  construction of 7,000 new units in the Efrat settlement, in what is, in effect, approval of a brand-new settlement adjacent to Efrat (both Efrat and the planned new settlement are located east of Israel’s separation barrier). 

The Givat Eitam settlement site  – known to Palestinians as A-Nahle – is located on a strategic hilltop south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. The construction of Givat Eitam would significantly expand Efrat in the direction of Bethlehem, effectively cutting off Bethlehem off from the southern West Bank, completing the city’s encirclement by Israeli settlement construction. The Givat Eitam settlement plan has long been nicknamed “E-2” by settlement watchdogs, for its dire geopolitical implications for any future Palestinian state (similar to those of the E-1 settlement on Jerusalem’s eastern flank). 

Earlier, on May 3rd, the Israeli Civil Administration dismissed Palestinian petitions challenging the allocation of an additional 1,100 dunams (225 acres) of land to the Efrat settlement – a decision that paved the way for Bennett’s announcement. That land allocation doubles the size of the Efrat settlement, and, more significantly, it allows for the construction of what will effectively be a new settlement to be called “Givat Eitam” — to be built within Efrat’s (expanded) borders but at a site that is not contiguous with the built-up area of Efrat. In its May 3rd ruling, the Civil Administration ruled that additional land was necessary for Efrat’s growth and development, and that the Givat Eitam site is the only land available (disregarding Palestinian needs for land for Bethlehem’s growth and development). 

In 2004, the Israeli government designated the land to be used to build Givat Eitam as “state land,” despite the fact that Palestinians claim to have been actively cultivating the land for generations. Palestinians land owners assisted by the Israeli NGO Peace Now waged a 16-year legal battle to challenge the declaration of state land (which they lost), followed by a legal battle challenging the decision to allocate this “state land” for settlement purposes (which culminated with the May 3rd ruling).

Peace Now has declared its intention to escalate its petition against the land allocation to the High Court of Justice, and laid out its three-part legal argument:

1. Allocating “state land” to build a settlement contravenes Israel’s duty to protect the land for the local Palestinian population according to international law; 
2. Allocating “state land” for the needs of Israelis (over those of Palestinians) is tainted by discrimination, as is clear from the fact that since 1967, Israel has allocated 99.8% of “state land” in the West Bank land primarily for the benefit of Israel/Israelis; and 
3. The Palestinian need for the land in question is far greater than that of the Efrat settlement, as a Peace Now spatial planning analysis confirms. 

Addressing Bennett’s announcement of approval of the Givat Eitam plan, Peace Now said in a statement:

“This is a cynical move by a caretaker defense minister at the end of his mandate while the nation is still reeling from the corona crisis to advance a dangerous plan aimed at entrenching permanent Israeli domination in the southern West Bank and harming the prospect of a two-state solution. The right thing to do is to allocate the land for Palestinian construction, but the Ministry of Defense is currently run by an irresponsible politician willing to cross any red line in the name of his anti-democratic ideology.”

Following his announcement, Defense Minister Bennett tweeted:

“The building momentum in the country must not be stopped, even for a second.”

In September 2018, FMEP reported that the local council of the Efrat settlement, in response to a Palestinian terror attack,  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). Since then, the Civil Administration has allowed the settlers to build and maintain an agricultural farm there.

Givat Hamatos Tender is Delayed, as Settlers Agitate for Action

Ir Amim reports that the Israeli Land Authority did not open bidding on a tender for the construction of 1,077 units in the Givat Hamatos settlement, as it was scheduled to do on May 3rd. The ILA has proactively announced the postponement of several tenders that were scheduled for publication and/opening, but made no such announcement with regards to the highly sensitive and controversial Givat Hamatos tender. The delay has not pleased East Jerusalem settlement empresario Aryeh King (who is poised to become the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem), who posted a message on Facebook pressing for action.

Ir Amim speculates that the Israeli government may be exercising caution on sensitive East Jerusalem plans like Givat Hamatos and Har Homa (plans for which were taken off of the agenda of the Jerusalem District Committee’s April 27th meeting), in light of international criticism of those plans specifically.

Ir Amim writes:

“Israeli right-wing groups are likely to demand that the tender must not be postponed regardless of any economic considerations. For example, Jerusalem right-wing council member Arye King who works to promote settlements in East Jerusalem has already posted on Facebook a reminder that the tender is due to open today.”

As a reminder, the Givat Hamatos settlement has been fully approved but not constructed. Located in the southern part of East Jerusalem, plans for the Givat Hamatos settlement have long been called a doomsday settlement by parties interested in preserving the possibility of a two-state solution. If the Givat Hamatos settlement is built, the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa in East Jerusalem will be completely surrounded by Israeli construction, severing its connection to the West Bank. 

Over the past year of seemingly endless campaigning, Netanyahu faced intense and prolonged pressure from settler leaders and his political rivals to move ahead with plans for Givat Hamatos, a pressure point he alleviated in February 2020 when he announced that he had lifted the freeze on those plans. 

Israel Exploits “Humanitarian” Access Issue to Flex its Muscles at Key Hebron Site

Outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has granted approval for a plan to expropriate land from the Islamic Waqf, ostensibly in order to make the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque wheelchair accessible. The decision sparked anger and controversy — it was slammed by the Palestinian Authority — both because it involves the expropriation of Waqf-held land, and because it directly violates arrangements Israel agreed to in the Oslo Accords, which give the Palestinian-run Municipality of Hebron planning authority over the site. The plan still needs to receive final approval from the Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Council, but it already enjoys the support of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Justice Ministry. In addition, the Israeli Attorney General issued an opinion holding that Israel is legally permitted to expropriate the land for this humanitarian cause.

Providing critical context for why this plan is not really, or not fully, being advanced out of humanitarian concerns, the Israeli nonprofit Emek Shaveh – which is composed of archeological professionals – explains:

“Israel’s decision to seize responsibility for the site from the Hebron municipality and the Palestinians sends a clear political message that Israel is reneging on agreements that were signed with the Palestinians in Hebron.  Beyond the precedent that will enable the settlers in the future to demand additional changes at the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque, this is also a precedent that could play out at other sites under the responsibility of the Islamic Waqf. Experience has shown us that what begins in Hebron percolates into other places including Jerusalem.  It begins with a seemingly rational demand to benefit the disabled or the general public and evolves into a new status quo.  The expected change in Hebron has not escaped the attention of members of the Temple movement and they will know how to present their demands to the government.  If Israel can repudiate agreements with the Palestinians in Hebron and expropriate land from the Waqf, it would seem that accepting what appears to be the far more modest demands by the Temple movement to pray or to walk about the Temple Mount complex freely is not so far-fetched. In the reality of Hebron and East Jerusalem, a change involving only several meters at a historic or holy place is not free of political considerations and often it is part of long-term strategy.  While it is necessary to tend to the needs and interests of persons with disabilities, the extremists who presume to speak on their behalf must be prevented from forging Israeli policy, even if it is only a matter of a lift and an access path.”

Read Emek Shaveh’s full analysis here: “Humanitarianism Hebron Style.”

HaMoked Continues Battle on Behalf of Palestinians Landowners Who Cannot Reach Their Land

Since March 2020, HaMoked has been fighting for the rights of Palestinian landowners to access their land located in the “seam zone” (i.e., in the West Bank but on the Israeli side of the separation barrier). Israel requires these landowners to coordinate with the Israeli military in order to obtain permits to go beyond the barrier. With the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, the IDF began severely limiting the issuance of permits, and has now reportedly suspended all entry permits indefinitely. The IDF claims that the restrictions are meant to stop the spread of the virus.

These restrictions have severe implications for Palestinians, in addition to violating their property rights. For instance, HaMoked reports that the closure affects commercial activity and has shuttered businesses for several weeks. There are also about 100 Palestinians in the northern West Bank who are literally trapped, since their homes are located within the seam zone (in a section of the village of Nazlat ‘Isa, in the Tulkarm District, that lies beyond the separation barrier).

On May 4th HaMoked sent a new letter to the military demanding that access be reinstated in accordance with existing regulations.

Amb. Friedman Gives Two Interviews Clarifying (Once Against) Total Support for Annexation; Pompeo To Visit Israel Soon

In two separate interviews with Israeli outlets this week in commemoration of the two year anniversary of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman again clarified that the Trump Administration is prepared to recognize annexation as soon as Israel moves forward, which Friedman says can happen in the coming weeks.

In a May 6th interview with Israel Hayom – the free, right-wing Israeli daily newspaper financed by Sheldon Adelson – Friedman stressed that the U.S. has not conditioned its support for Israeli annexation. The only “requirement” – which cannot be fairly described as such – of the Israeli government is that Netanyahu commits to the principle of negotiating with the Palestinians “in good faith” on the basis of the Trump Plan, if the Palestinian leadership first accepts that and decides to come to the table within the next four years. Friedman told Israel Hayom that Netanyahu has already met this “requirement.”  Setting aside the fact that no Palestinian leader will agree to negotiate with Israel on the basis of a plan that, in advance, gives Israel almost everything that was supposed to be on the table in negotiations, the “requirement” is still entirely hollow. Even if Netanyahu were to commit to negotiate with the Palestinians on this basis, there is no way to compel a future Israeli leader to honor that commitment. 

Friedman made this even clearer in a second interview with the Jerusalem Post:

“The expectation is that the prime minister will agree to negotiate — and if the Palestinians show up, he will negotiate in good faith based on this plan…I don’t see this as anything more than a commitment by the prime minister…[and] I’m not going to prejudge what good faith means.”

Friedman also sought to clarify that any notion that the Trump Plan calls for a “construction freeze” outside annexed areas is incorrect. Rather, all Israeli settlements and outposts outside the annexed areas will become part of enclaves – connected to Israel by access roads. Construction in these areas can continue but but should not expand beyond a given enclave’s “territorial footprint.” That condition will apply only to 10,000-15,000 settlers, according to Friedman, living in the enclaves.

Friedman repeatedly stressed that the U.S. is a passive actor when it comes to annexation: i.e., that annexation is Israel’s move to make, and the U.S. stands ready to recognize Israel’s decision. In his interview with the Jerusalem Post, he again used the phrase “Israel’s decision” and made a point of giving credit to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with that turn of phrase. Pompeo is reportedly due to travel to Israel in the coming week.

Yesha Settlement Council Head Pushes For Annexation Vote Immediately, As Settlers Continue to Be Wary of Bibi’s Plans & Critical of the Trump Plan

On May 3rd, David Elhayani, chairman of the settler Yesha Council (an umbrella group representing all Israeli settlements), demanded that the Knesset take its first vote on annexation immediately. Elhayani threw his support behind a bill that will extend Israeli sovereignty (an act of de facto annexation) over the entire Jordan Valley and all settlements and outposts. The bill was introduced in March 2020 by Likud Knesset Member May Golan, with backing from the senior figures in the Likud Party. 

Elhayani explains his support for the bill, which he believes would enjoy broad backing:  

“The bill will apply sovereignty to Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley without recognition of a Palestinian state that would endanger the future of the state of Israel.”

Elhayani remark is an implicit attack on the Trump Plan (and the new unity government which appears set to implement that plan as soon as July 1st), as well as a challenge to Netanyahu’s public commitment to enacting annexation – a commitment about which settlers continue to be skeptical. As Elhayani sees it, Netanyahu’s approach hold out the possibility of the establishment of a Palestinian state, which he thinks is an existential threat to the security of the Israeli state. Elhayani has also publicly (and repeatedly) criticized the Trump Plan, saying just this week that the plan is a “scam.” Elhayani said: 

“Representatives of the US government are [trying to] sell Plan A under the guise of Plan B. There is no greater scam than this…While the county is preoccupied with the coronavirus, the U.S. government is preparing the ground for the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state and the well-oiled American public information machine will not stop for a moment as it tries to advance Trump’s peace plan in any way possible. There is a lot of text in the plan meant to confuse the public.”

Yossi Dagan – the head of the settlement Samaria Regional Council – joined Elhayani in his public opposition to the Trump Plan, saying:

“We will not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the process of [enacting Israeli] sovereignty [in the West Bank]. Sovereignty is important to Israel’s security, but it is not worth damaging even a centimeter of the State of Israel and establishing a terror state in the heartland of the country. David Friedman [the United States Ambassador to Israel] is a warm and loving Jew. I know him, and I understand that he is doing everything possible to safeguard Israel’s interests. But with all the appreciation I have for Friedman, no American ambassador should worry about us. We chose Netanyahu, not the Americans.”

In response to remarks made by Amb. David Friedman this week (detailed above), the head of the Mount Hevron Regional Council, Yochai Damari, voiced support for the Plan, as well as his concern:

“Under Ambassador Friedman’s leadership, the sovereignty plan is progressing and we welcome it. We support the ambassador who, together with the prime minister and President Trump, are pushing for sovereignty and recognition of settlements as part of the State of Israel, thus bringing forth historical justice. The plan does, however, have red lines. We are concerned about the enclave provisions and unfortunately, we have not received clarifications about it. We will not allow thousands of families to be abandoned to the mercy of the terrorists.”

The mayor of the Efrat settlement, Oded Ravivi, urged the new unity government to act quickly on annexation, saying:

“this is a test not only for the new government, which is supposed to include applying sovereignty [to the area] by July, but also a test for the Israeli Right and the settlers’ leadership. Do they prefer having one bird in their hand or two in a tree? I believe we are facing a formative period and if we miss [this chance] we may lose the opportunity to change the future of a generation. I say yes to the plan!”

The mayor of the Beit El settlement, Shai Alon, said:

 

“Washington already understands the historical significance of Beit El and Judea and Samaria have for the people of Israel. It’s unthinkable that Jerusalem not do the same. It’s time to apply sovereignty. It’s time to leave this debate behind us and make Israel control over Judea and Samaria a fact.”

Bonus Reads

1. “The day after annexation: Israel, Palestine and the one-state reality” (The New Arab)
2. “The Dark Side of Annexing the Jordan Valley (Haaretz)
3. “Palestinian Stiffen Battle Against Annexation at UN Security Council” (Jerusalem Post)
4. “UK lawmakers urge Johnson to sanction Israel if West Bank annexation goes ahead“ (The Times for Israel)
5. “Palestinians in Israeli-controlled West Bank Fall Through Cracks of Coronavirus Response” (Haaretz)
6. “Israeli annexation plans would lead to ‘cascade of bad human rights consequences’, says UN expert” (OHCHR)
7. “Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians increase under coronavirus lockdown” (Middle East Eye)

 

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 10, 2020

1. ICC Opens Formal Investigation into Israeli War Crimes, Including Israeli Settlements
2. Israel to ICC: You Do Not Have Jurisdiction & You Will Not Stop Us from Advancing Settlements and Annexation
3. Following ICC Announcement, Israel Advances Plans for Nearly 2,000 Settlement Units
4. Following ICC Announcement, Israel Begins Planning Jordan Valley Annexation
5. Plans Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 1: New Settlement Enclave in Palestinian Neighborhood
6. Plans Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 2: Reports on Har Homa & Rumors on Givat Hamatos
7. Plan Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 3: Israel Approves Plans for Two More Settler-Run Tourist Sites in East Jerusalem
8. Plans Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 4:  Tenders for Pisgat Zeev and Gilo
9. For Second Time, Israeli Court Rules Against Settler Claim to Bakri House in Hebron
10. Peace Now Wins Interim Decision Against Secretive Public Funding to Amana
11. Israeli Court Dismisses Palestinian Landowners’ Petition Against the Ofra Settlement
12. Bennett Launches Initiative to More Aggressively Police Palestinians in Area C
13. Bennett Appoints Key Settler Ally to Lead New Government Task Force on Area C Annexation Plans, Immediately Announces Plan to Legalize Settlements
14. Following ICC Announcement, Pompeo Says Israel Has “Fundamental Rights” to Land
15. Pro-Settlement Legal Forum Conference Draws Big Names, Big Promises
16. Bonus Reads

Comments/questions? Email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org)

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ICC Opens Formal Investigation into Israeli War Crimes, Including Israeli Settlements

On December 20, 2019 the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda announced that the court has found a reasonable basis upon which to open an investigation into Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Bensouda said that the preliminary investigation, launched five years ago, established sufficient evidence of war crimes, citing Israeli settlements and Israel’s conduct during its 2014 incursion into the Gaza Strip, which Israel gave the title “Operation Protective Edge”. The statement said that the Court found evidence that Hamas and armed Palestinian groups also committed war crimes during the 50 days of hostilities in 2014.

Before proceeding with a formal investigation, Bensouda requested a pre-trial chamber to rule on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction, as outlined in the Rome Statute, over the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. Bensouda requested a ruling on the matter within 120 days. Bensouda has previously articulated her opinion on the matter, suggesting that questions regarding Palestinian statehood do not necessarily need to be resolved because Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute and formally became a “State Party” to the court. 

Israel to ICC: You Do Not Have Jurisdiction & You Will Not Stop Us from Advancing Settlements and Annexation

Prior to Bensouda’s announcement on December 20th that the ICC will proceed with an investigation into Israeli war crimes in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit published a 34-page legal opinion arguing that the Court does not have jurisdiction over those territories because Palestine does not meet the criteria for statehood, and non-sovereign entities cannot confer jurisdiction to the Court. Notably, that opinion doesn’t address (let alone dispute or challenge) the assertion that Israeli actions might constitute war crimes.

Going beyond Mandleblit’s legal arguments, Netanyahu launched a disingenuous attack on Bensouda’s criticism of Israeli settlements, saying:

“[Bensouda] says it is a crime, a war crime, for Jews to live in their homeland, the land of the Bible, the land of our forefathers.”

Netanyahu later said:

“This will not deter us — not in the slightest”

Netanyahu is riding a wave of defiant, ultra-confident language following his Dec. 27th victory in the Likud primaries, after which he promised to secure U.S. recognition for Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and all settlements in the West Bank. In his victory speech, Netanyahu laid out a 6-point plan he will implement if he goes on to win the March 2020 elections:

“First, we will finalize our borders; second, we will push the US to recognize our sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea; third, we will push for US recognition of our extension of sovereignty over all the communities in Judea and Samaria, all of them without exception; fourth, we will push for a historic defense alliance with the US that will preserve Israeli freedom of action; fifth, stop Iran and its allies decisively; and sixth, push for normalization and agreements that will lead to peace accords with Arab countries. The opportunities are within reach.”

Demonstrating that Netanyahu means what he says, shortly following the ICC’s announcement his government advanced plans for nearly 2,000 settlement units and launched the planning process for annexing the Jordan Valley. Both of these items – in addition to several other significant settlement advancements which were not explicitly linked to the ICC’s announcement – are covered in detail below.

Following ICC Announcement, Israel Advances Plans for Nearly 2,000 Settlement Units 

Over the course of a two-day meeting Jan 5-6, 2020, the Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee approved plans for 1,936 settlement units, of which 786 units received final approval for construction. The Israeli Civil Administration is the body of the Defense Ministry which regulates all construction in the West Bank, both Palestinian and Israeli settler.

 The Civil Administration granted final approval to the following plans:

• A plan for 258 units in the unauthorized Haresha outpost, located east of Ramallah, to take them to the final stage of the approval process. If granted final approval, the plan will have the effect of retroactively legalizing the Haresha outpost. This outpost has been one of several test cases for the Israel government’s evolving legal justifications for granting retroactive approval to unauthorized outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land. In the case of Haresha, an outpost built on an island of “state land” surrounded by privately owned Palestinian land, then-Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked issued a new legal opinion in December 2018 outlining a legal basis for temporarily seizing the private Palestinian land for the construction of a tunnel road underneath it (essentially holding that Palestinian land rights – which can be temporarily infringed upon at any time for the sake of the settlements – do not extend below the ground’s surface). The tunnel road has not yet been constructed, an important qualification that Israel, to this point, has generally required outposts to meet prior to legalization. 
• 147 units in the Mitzpe Yericho settlement, located just west of the Palestinian city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley. The plan will have the effect of retroactively legalizing existing illegal construction in the settlement.
• 120 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.
• 107 units in the Elon Moreh settlement, located east of Nablus.
• 100 units in the Halamish settlement, (where settlers have built a strategic outpost, with the protection of the IDF, in order to further restrict Palestinian access to the area);
• 25 units in the Peduel settlement, located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley.
• 12 units in the Ariel settlement, located in the central West Bank.
• 10 units in the Etz Efraim settlement, located in the northern West Bank, one of several settlements slated to become a “super settlement” area.
• 7 units in the Rechelim settlement, located east of the Ariel settlement and south of Nablus, in the heart of the West Bank.

The Civil Administration advanced the following plans:

• 224 units in the Talmon settlement, located west of Ramallah.
• 204 units in the Shilo settlement, located in the central West Bank.
• A plan for 180 units in the unauthorized Mitzpe Danny outpost, located east of Ramallah. If approved, the plan will have the effect of retroactively legalizing the outpost, which was built without Israeli permission in 1999 in an area that includes privately owned Palestinian land. The Binyamin Regional Council – a settler body acting as the municipal government for settlements in the central West Bank – has been angling to retroactively legalize Mitzpe Danny for some time. As part of that effort, the regional council successfully lobbied for approval of a plan to build an educational campus for settlers that will create a territorial link between the Maale Mikhmash settlement (which has official recognition from the government) and the outpost. That plan received final approval in January 2019.
• 160 units in the Kochav Yaakov settlement, located between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
• 92 units in the Tzofim settlement, one of the settlements that flank the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.
• 91 units in the Almon settlement, located northeast of Jerusalem.
• 136 units in the Givat Zeev settlement, located south of Ramallah.
• 63 units in the Maale Adumim settlement, located just east of Jerusalem.
• A plan for 204 new units in the Shvut Rachel settlement, which only recently became an authorized settlement area when Israel extended the jurisdiction of the Shiloh settlement to include it as a “neighborhood” (along with three other outposts). 

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“Despite lacking a clear mandate, for this caretaker government it’s business as usual – Continue the massive promotion of harmful and unnecessary construction in occupied territory and in places that Israel will have to evacuate. Netanyahu continues to sabotage the prospects of peace, dragging Israel into an anti-democratic one-state reality resembling apartheid.”

The Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing all the settlements, celebrated the approvals, saying in a statement:

“To our delight, construction in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley is commonplace and we are pleased to see that every few months plans are up in the Supreme Planning Council. The time has come for extremist Leftist organizations to accept that the U.S. has also declared that settling in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley is not contrary to international law and that applying Israeli sovereignty is a consensus in the State of Israel. After eight years of unprecedented construction freeze, the government regularly approves construction and we strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister and Defense Minister on their blessed work. We need more and more construction to promote the prosperity and growth of settlement.”

The head of the Binyamin Regional Council, Yisrael Gantz, spoke happily about the settlement advancements but also kept focused on the settlement movement’s ultimate demand: annexation.  Gantz told Arutz Sheva:

“This is undoubtedly an important and significant step. I hope we will soon be able to applaud the application of full Israeli sovereignty and the closure of the Civil Administration in order to truly develop the regions of our amazing country, in the same way that it is possible in the entire State of Israel.”

Despite the celebratory remarks, settlers were disappointed with the final number of settlement units, which fell short of the 3,000 units Netanyahu promised to advance on the eve of the Likud primary leadership vote (which went in Netanyahu’s favor). When promising the 3,000 units, Netanyahu also promised:

“We are going to bring [secure] US recognition for our sovereignty in the Jordan Valley [and] in all the settlements, those in the blocs and those that are beyond it.”

Following ICC Announcement, Israel Begins Planning Jordan Valley Annexation

On January 5th, the inter-ministerial committee created to plan the annexation of the Jordan Valley held its first meeting, in an effort to prepare an official proposal for how Israel can annex the Jordan Valley. The committee – dubbed the “Sovereignty Committee” – is headed by the Prime Minister’s Office Director General Ronen Peretz and includes representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Israel Defense Forces, and the National Security Council. 

The meeting took place despite (or perhaps because of) reports that Netanayhu put Jordan Valley annexation plans in a “deep freeze” following ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s announcement on Dec. 20th that the Court will open an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Following those reports, the head of the Yesha Council, the settler umbrella group, David ElHayani spoke to Netanyahu on the phone to gain reassurance that the annexation plan was not frozen, which Netanyahu reportedly gave him. 

Haaretz reports:

“Sources familiar with the establishment of the inter-ministerial committee told Haaretz that the insistence on moving forward with the discussions are mainly to show that the idea has not been abandoned due to international pressure.”

Plans Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 1: New Settlement Enclave in Palestinian Neighborhood

On January 8th the Jerusalem District Planning Committee granted final approval to a new 75-unit settlement compound to be built in the heart of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. If built, it will be the first-ever authorized settlement project in Beit Hanina, located north of the Old City. 

The Beit Hanina settlement plan – as FMEP has previously reported – is backed and promoted by settlement impresario Aryeh King, and it provides for the construction of a total of 150 new units in the southern end of the Beit Hanina neighborhood. The land slated for the 150 units is privately owned,  53% of the land is owned by an Israeli who is supportive of the plan, and 47% by a Palestinian company who objects to the plan and has fought against it. Because the land has not been surveyed to demarcate the split ownership, Israeli planning authorities decided that the settlement plan is designated for the entire property, with construction rights split evenly between the parties, meaning the 75 units granted final approval on January 8th represent the Israeli-controlled half of the project. 

Ir Amim notes the larger picture of Isreali settlement activity north of the Old City:

“In close proximity to Ramat Shlomo to the southwest and Pisgat Zeev to the northeast, construction of this new compound may signal the beginning of a move to create contiguity between the two settlements, while fracturing the contiguous space between Bet Hanina and Shuafat. As exemplified by the ring of state-sponsored settlement strongholds throughout the Old City Basin, the establishment of a settler enclave in the midst of Beit Hanina will not only impact the fabric of this community, but will further erode opening conditions for a political solution to the conflict based on two capitals in Jerusalem.”

Ir Amim explains essential context:

“the plan will enable an ideologically driven settler outpost in the heart of Beit Hanina, a neighborhood located on the northern perimeter of East Jerusalem that has remained relatively untouched by Israeli settlement within its limits. Since the land in question is not far from Ramat Shlomo to the south-west and Pisgat Zeev to the north-east of it, its construction may mark the beginning of a far sweeping move to create contiguity between the two settlements, while driving a wedge between Bet Hanina and Shuafat.”

Plans Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 2: Reports on Har Homa & Rumors on Givat Hamatos

On January 7th, the popular Isareli broadcaster network Kan reported that the Prime Minister’s office has blocked a plan to build 2,000 new settlement units in the settlement of Har Homa, citing “diplomatic difficulties.” In response to an inquiry, the office did not deny the report, but issued the following statement:

“Israel has built in Jerusalem, is building in Jerusalem and will continue building in Jerusalem — while exercising judgment.”

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann raised a key question and larger concerns about the reports concerning Har Homa, 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 betw. 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.”

Ir Amim notes that, while reportedly stalling the Har Homa plan, Netanyahu is – in fact – simultaneously facing mounting pressure to issue tenders for the construction of the Givat Hamatos settlement, the site for which is the northern border of Har Homa. Ir Amim writes:

“Last week, rightwing groups launched a coordinated campaign to exert pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to advance construction in the area of Givat Hamatos, which has been essentially frozen for the past six years. While the approval of the plan for 2,610 housing units in the area was formally published in 2014, there has been no announcement of tenders since then. This has been largely attributed to international opposition, namely from the United States and Germany. Likely attempting to ratchet up pressure on Netanyahu in lead-up to the upcoming elections in March, the campaign has been spearheaded on a public level by rightwing organizations. Several prominent rabbis known for supporting the settler movement penned a letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to announce the tenders for Givat Hamatos, while rightwing media outlets have published daily articles demanding an ‘end to the freeze.’ A rightwing institute likewise published a lengthy paper on the significance of establishing a new settlement in the area as a means of thwarting any potential future division of Jerusalem within the framework of a resumed peace process.”

Plan Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 3: Israel Approves Plans for Two More Settler-Run Tourist Sites in East Jerusalem 

On December 25, 2019 the Jerusalem Local Planning approved two significant settler-backed schemes in East Jerusalem:

1. The committee approved the Israeli government’s plan to seize land in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in order to establish a park adjacent to the infamous Shepherd Hotel, an historic/iconic building that was taken over by the radical Ateret Chohanim settler organization in 2011. The new park – called “Hakidron Park” has been discussed and considered by Israeli governments for the past 15 years.
2. The committee also approved the Israeli government’s plan to confiscate land in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of East Jerusalem, for the purpose of opening a tourist and religious services center on the Mount of Olives, adjacent to the Jewish cemetery. The Jerusalem Municipality hired an architect, Arie Rahamivov, who is also employed by the radical Elad settler group for the planning and construction of their crown jewel: the Kedem Center in Silwan. The new center in Ras al Amud will be yet another tourist center under the management of Elad, which already operates another visitors center on the Mount of Olives.

Ir Amim writes:

“Approval of the aforementioned land expropriations would signal intent to begin construction at both sites and will help to further solidify the settlement ring around the Old City Basin. While both plans can be posited as innocuous municipal initiatives to serve local residents and visitors to the areas, such touristic projects play an integral role in expanding the scope of settlement strongholds in the area and creating a more contiguous Israeli space, while diffusing the political agenda behind these efforts.”

Plans Advance in East Jerusalem, Part 4:  Tenders for Pisgat Zeev and Gilo

Ir Amim reports that the Israel Lands Authority published construction tenders for the following East Jerusalem settlements in early January:

• 3 tenders for a total of 461 new settlement units in the Pisgat Zeev
• 1 tender for commercial buildings in the Gilo settlement, located 

For Second Time, Israeli Court Rules Against Settler Claim to Bakri House in Hebron

On December 23rd, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the Palestinian Bakri family are the rightful owners of a disputed property in Hebron. This ruling should deal a final blow to the 18-year long legal battle settlers have waged to gain control of the Bakri family house (“should”, not “will”, because the settlers have repeated been dealt defeats in court and each time are able to manufacture a new claim or appeal) .

The ruling – which affirmed a March 2019 ruling by the Magistrate court, which the settlers had appealed – called for the immediate evacuation of the settlers whom Israel has permitted to illegally squat in the house while the legal processes were ongoing. For a full history of the Bakri house saga, see here.

Following the ruling, Peace Now said:

“[the] court again ruled that the settlers had forged [documents] and lied all along… We hope that after [almost] two decades of violence, lies and terror, justice will be carried out and the invaders will be evicted.”

Peace Now Wins Interim Decision Against Secretive Public Funding to Amana 

In response to a Peace Now petition, on December 31st the Israeli High Court issued an interim decision that requires state bodies to request approval from the court before transferring funds to Amana, a settlement body which is known to undertake illegal settlement activities across the West Bank. Peace Now filed the petition after discovering that state bodies have been secretly funneling money to Amana. 

Peace Now said in a statement: 

“Amana is the most significant organization operating in the settlements. For decades, it has overseen the establishment of dozens of illegal outposts and neighborhoods with the help of massive budgets, some of which have been transferred from Israeli taxpayer money through local settlement authorities in violation of the law. The judges’ decision is a dramatic yet necessary step that limits, for the time being, this illicit transfer of funds to illegal projects in the settlements and outposts. We hope that in this spirit, the court will rule that public funds should no longer be transferred to Amana via subsidy procedures. This situation in which the State of Israel backs illegal activities with public funds is unconscionable, and we urge the Israeli government to put an end to it.”

Israeli Court Dismisses Palestinian Landowners’ Petition Against the Ofra Settlement

On January 6th, the Israeli High Court of Justice dismissed a petition filed by Palestinian landowners challenging the legality of the Ofra settlement. The petition was based on the fact that the settlement is partially built on privately owned Palestinian land. The court ruled that the majority of the settlement had been built on land expropriated by Israel, and that the minority of land that Palestinians claim ownership over was not enough to invalidate the entire Master Plan for the settlement. Further, the court stated that the settlement structures built on the privately owned Palestinian land were built by settlers “in good faith,” under the mistaken belief that land had also been expropriated by the Israeli government. 

This High Court ruling does not fix the legal status of Ofra settlement buildings, but it is nonetheless significant because it continues to deny Palestinians their property rights. Likewise, it gives a green light to  the use of the “market regulation” principle to expropriate land in order to retroactively legalize the structures. As a reminder, the “market regulation” principle – which was invented by the Israeli Attorney General – holds that if settlers acted “in good faith” when they built on privately owned Palestinian land, the state can expropriate that land, thereby making what was illegal before, now perfectly legal.

The Ofra settlement’s legal situation has long been an issue that the Israeli government has tried to fix.  Ofra was first established by settlers on land that the Jordanian government had expropriated in 1966, in order to build a military base (which was never built). The Israeli government used this pretext to expropriate the land in 1977, in order to recognize the Ofra settlement, which had been established illegally but with tacit cooperation of the government on the site two years earlier. However, the settlers built the majority of the Ofra settlement on land that was not expropriated by Israel in 1977 —  land that was in fact registered to Palestinians from the nearby village of Ein Yabroud. In light of the legal status of the land, no Israeli government has since found 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 on what is at stake in the Ofra settlement case:

“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.”

FMEP documents the government’s efforts to expropriate Palestinian land for the settlements in its Annexation Policy Tables.

Bennett Launches Initiative to More Aggressively Demolish Palestinian Construction in Area C

Making the most of his appointment as Israeli Defense Minister in the current caretaker government, Naftali Bennett is pushing an initiative to annex Area C and to aggressively demolish Palestinian construction in the area (reminder: Area C constitutes nearly 60% of the West Bank; it is land that under Oslo II was supposed to have been “gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction”).

As part of his efforts, Bennett has launched legal research into how Israeli can bring settlement building in Area C under the direct authority of the Justice Ministry, cutting out the Civil Administration. This Civil Administration, it should be recalled, is the arm of the Israeli Defense Ministry which acts as the sovereign power over the West Bank, in a system of governance Israel created based on its recognition of the different legal status of the area.  Bennett has called for that system to be disbanded (in addition to annexing Area C). To be clear: transferring the construction and planning processes in Area C to domestic Israeli jurisdiction would by any definition constitute the Israeli state extending its sovereignty over area — an act of annexation.

Bennett has requested that Defense Ministry officials present several legal options for how Israel can bring planning processes under the Justice Ministry (integrating the settlements into the normal planning process). The settler-run Arutz Sheva outlet attributes the following quote Bennett in a private meeting:

“We are in essence discussing applying procedural sovereignty only. Full sovereignty is under the authority of the political echelon, but this is a step in the right direction. There is no reason that residents of Judea and Samaria should continue being discriminated against. We must stop this. Residents of Beit El and Ariel are no less Zionist than residents of Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv. They pay taxes and serve in the army, and they need to receive the same services from the government.”

Bennett is also advancing several initiatives that will empower and compel the Civil Administration to more aggressively enforce demolition orders against Palestinian construction in Area C (based on Israel’s policy of not granting permits to Palestinians in Area C, nearly every Palestinian structure in this territory has a demolition order pending against it). Bennett is also eyeing ways to combat what he considers illegitimate and nefarious funding from the European Union to Palestinian communities living in Area C. Israel Hayom reports:

“Bennett’s plan to stop the Palestinians from chipping away at Area C demands action in four areas: Operational, economic, legal, and PR. He wants to change enforcement priorities to put an emphasis on eradicating illegal buildings in strategic locations rather than by numbers. For example, home demolitions would be carried out in accordance with Israeli interests, prioritizing illegal buildings next to roads or settlements. Bennett also instructed the Central Command and the Civil Administration to work more closely to implement his plan and asked that the Civil Administration report to him monthly to update him on progress. Meanwhile, the defense minister is weighing the possibility of allocating more resources to the Civil Administration for enforcement, which would entail hiring more personnel. Bennett also wants to take steps to stop the flow of European money that funds the illegal Palestinian construction in the first place, allowing the “Fayyad Plan” to flourish.”

Bennett Appoints Key Settler Ally to Lead New Government Task Force on Area C Annexation Plans, Immediately Announces Plan to Legalize Settlements

In addition to his new initiative targeting Palestinian construction in Area C, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he has created an inter-ministerial taskforce to develop settlement and annexation plans for the future of Area C in the West Bank.

Bennett’s chief of staff, Itay Hershkowitz, has been in weeks-long consultations with key settler leaders to decide what items to act on immediately. Haaretz reports their agenda includes:

1. Allowing Jews to privately purchase land in the West Bank. [See here for a detailed explanation of this complicated matter]
2. Connecting unauthorized outposts to water and electricity.
3. Granting official recognition to unauthorized outposts that are located near established settlements by recognizing them as “neighborhoods” of the settlement. 
4. Repealing a military order that empowers the Civil Administration to evict settlers from privately owned Palestinian land with or without a Palestinian-initiated petition to have the settlers removed.
5. Legalizing 30 sheep farms in the West Bank that are under pending demolition orders. 

On Thursday, Bennett announced that he has appointed West Bank settler Koby Eliraz to lead the new taskforce. Calling Eliraz a “bulldozer,”Bennett said:

“The territorial future of the Land of Israel is at stake. The State of Israel has simply not been up to the task of stopping [Palestinian construction]. We are changing direction and embarking on a battle that Israel must win… The defense establishment will fight for this territory, and it is essential for someone to lead this campaign.”

Eliraz previously served as Netanyahu’s settlement advisor, but was fired by the Prime Minister in June 2019 reportedly because he was believed to be allied too closely to Netanyahu rival Avigdor Liberman, who Netanyahu also dismissed. At the time of Eliraz’s firing, settler leaders were outraged and published a letter asking Netanyahu to reverse Eliraz’s firing, suggesting that Eliraz’s absence will hinder government efforts to retroactively legalize outposts. The letter noted:

“Kobi has taken care of Israeli settlement and its residents with great professionalism. He is credited for many advancements [on our behalf] in the fields of construction, infrastructure development, security and more.”

The Times of Israel observed, significantly, that the Yesha Council was able to get every single settlement Mayor to sign the letter in support of Eliraz, explaining:

“The Yesha Council in recent years has struggled to get all of its members on board with its initiative, but the umbrella group’s ability to gather the signatures of every Israeli mayor beyond the Green Line is testament to the broad respect that Eliraz holds among settler leader.”

Following ICC Announcement, Pompeo Says Israel Has “Fundamental Rights” to Land

At a press briefing on December 22nd, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not specifically address the ICC announcement, but made lengthy comments regarding statements from European countries and the European Union that were critical of the new U.S. position on settlements (that they are not “per se illegal” under international law). Pompeo’s comments hold relevance to the U.S. position on the ICC case and more generally on the U.S. approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

“First, the legal analysis that the EU performed [on settlements] we just think is wrong. We think they have an improper analysis of the international law surrounding this. So as the technical legal matter, [EU Foreign Minister] Ms. Mogherini just – she’s just wrong. And so we are doing our level best to demonstrate to them our legal theory, our understandings, and why it is that we’re convinced that under international law these settlements are not per se illegal. So we’re working that element of it as well. But at another level, and perhaps at the level that will lead to the right outcome, which is why we did this, this has to be resolved through political means, and we hope that all nations, including member nations inside of the EU and the EU itself and countries all over the world, will come to recognize the fundamental rights that the Israeli people have to this land, to this space. There are real security needs. The risk that is presented from the world as anti-Semitism is on the rise, we hope that every nation will recognize that and weigh in on this conflict in a way that is constructive, that will ultimately lead to the peace that is so desperately needed.” [Emphasis added by editor]

Pro-Settlement Legal Forum Conference Draws Big Names, Big Promises

The Kohelet Policy Forum, a right-wing advocacy organization that has enormous influence with senior Israeli – and increasingly American – government figures, hosted a “Conference on the Pompeo Doctrine” in Jerusalem, Jan. 7-8, 2020. The conference served as a gleeful celebration and forward-looking projection of what the new U.S. settlement policy towards settlements means for Israel. The conference drew participation from all the leading Israeli politicians and several senior members of the Trump Administration, including Secretary of State. Pompeo. Key quotes from the conference speakers are copied below.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo:

 “We’re recognizing that these settlements don’t inherently violate international law. That is important. We’re disavowing the deeply flawed 1978 Hansell memo, and we’re returning to a balanced and sober Reagan-era approach. “In doing so, we’re advancing the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.” 

U.S. Ambassador David Friedman:

“…when we came into office the lingering issues included three of significant importance: the status of 1) Jerusalem, 2) the Golan Heights and 3) Judea and Samaria. We have approached them in ascending order of complexity…I thank God that President Trump had the courage and the wisdom to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move our embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv…In recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, President Trump, evaluating the continuous malign and barbarous threats posed by Syria, concluded that no northern boundary for Israel would be secure except a boundary that incorporated the Golan. He acted well within the language of 242. [Judea and Samaria] is certainly the most complicated of the issues because of the large indigenous Palestinian population. Over the years before we came into office, it’s only gotten more complicated and more challenging. The proverbial goalposts have moved and moved – to the point today where they are no longer even on the field….The Pompeo Doctrine does not resolve the conflict over Judea and Samaria. But it does move the goalposts back onto the field. It does not obfuscate the very real issue that 2 million or more Palestinians reside in Judea and Samaria, and we all wish that they live in dignity, in peace, and with independence, pride and opportunity. We are committed to find a way to make that happen. The Pompeo Doctrine says clearly that Israelis have a right to live in Judea and Samaria. But it doesn’t say that Palestinians don’t….it calls for a practical negotiated resolution of the conflict that improves lives on both sides.”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

“I will not let any settlements be uprooted in any diplomatic plan. This idea of ethnic cleansing… it won’t happen. There is a window of opportunity. It opened, but it could close…There was no West Bank separate from the rest of the land. It was seen as the heart of the land. We never lost our right to live in Judea and Samaria. The only thing we lost temporarily was the ability to exercise the right. When Israel returned to the West Bank We didn’t return to a foreign land. That is a distortion of history. Jews lived in Jerusalem and Hebron for thousands of years consecutively…The Pompeo declaration about the status of the towns [in Judea and Samaria] establishes the truth that we are not strangers in our land. In a clearly defensive war, we returned… to the land where our forefathers put down roots thousands of years ago…Unlike some in Europe who think the Pompeo declaration distances peace, I think it will promote peace, because peace must be based on truth, not lies. Settlements are not the root of the conflict. We are standing with justice and the truth. It is a great struggle.”

Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Area C annexation and his initiatives in that regard:

“Our aim is that within a decade a million Israeli citizens will live in Judea and Samaria” and later “Our objective is that within a short amount of time, and we will work for it, we will apply [Israeli] sovereignty to all of Area C, not just the settlements, not just this bloc or another. We are embarking on a real and immediate battle for the future of the Land of Israel and the future of Area C. It started a month ago and I am announcing it here today. A month ago, I convened a meeting and I explained the clear directive, the State of Israel will do everything to ensure that these territories [Area C] will be part of the State of Israel.”

Likud MK and former Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat said:

“I am confident that Secretary Pompeo’s statement is an integral part of the American plan and is closely linked to Jared Kushner’s proposal advanced in Bahrain promoting significant economic investment in the Palestinian economy…Now is a perfect opportunity to similarly grow the communities throughout Judea and Samaria at a pace like never before. This declaration is a recognition of the legal and historic right of the Jewish people to live wherever we wish. This is how it should be in other parts of the world and certainly here in the Jewish State. This declaration is therefore an exceptional opportunity for Israel to ensure our continued growth and expansion throughout these areas. Israel needs to set a goal for the settlement of two million people in Judea and Samaria within fifty years. This is a commitment which requires that we already now lay the framework to make that possible and this is an investment which will also benefit the Palestinian people” [Editor’s note: Barkat has been working with Harvard Professor Michael Porter to promote an economic peace scheme, most recently speaking at Harvard about the plan in December 2019]

Eugene Kontorovich, Director of International Law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum and a key shaper of anti-BDS/pro-settlement legislation in U.S. Congress and across state governments, said: 

“American Policy is now clearer than ever, Jews living in Judea and Samaria is not a crime. For decades, the obscure Carter-era memo was used as justification for anti-Israel policies despite the fact that its conclusions were rejected by subsequent administrations. Sec. Pompeo’s statement at the Kohelet conference today makes clear the U.S.’s wholesale rejection of the legal theory that holds that international law restricts Israeli Jews from moving into areas from which Jordan had ethnically cleansed them in 1949.”

Bonus Reads

1. “The Atarot Exception? Business and Human Rights Under Colonization” (Marya Farah in Jerusalem Quarterly)
2. “The Decade Israel Erased the Green Line” (+972 Magazine)
3. “Settlers are seizing ‘empty’ land. The Palestinian owners are fighting back” (+972)
4. “Israeli Right Wants to End Peace with Jordan” (Haaretz)
5. “Security official says police, courts scuttling efforts to curb settler violence” (The Times of Israel)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

December 13, 2019

1. Jerusalem Municipality Advances Plans to Retroactively Legalize Settler Buildings in  Jerusalem’s “Peace Forest” [While the State Continues Demolition Crusade Against Palestinian Homes There]
2. Bennet Tries Blackmailing Hebron Municipality into Accepting New Settlement Plan
3. High Court Asks State to Consider (Maybe, Just Maybe, but Not Necessarily) Allowing Palestinians to Access their Land
4. New ICC Report Expresses “Concern” Over Israeli Annexation; Palestinian Groups Slam Report as  Legitimizing the Fragmentation of Palestine
5. Netanyahu and Pompeo Discuss [or didn’t discuss?]  Jordan Valley Annexation
6. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Contact Kristin at kmccarthy@fmep.org

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Jerusalem Municipality Advances Plans to Retroactively Legalize Settler Buildings in  Jerusalem’s “Peace Forest” [While the State Continues Demolition Crusade Against Palestinian Homes There]

Ir Amim reports that on December 10th the National Planning Committee approved a request (submitted by the Jerusalem Municipality but steered by the radical settler group Elad) that would, in effect, rezone Jerusalem’s “Peace Forest” in order to green light the retroactive legalization of Elad’s illegal construction there, while also allowing Elad to continue building there at the direct expense of Palestinians living literally nextdoor. Ir Amim explains:

“During the discussion, a presentation was made by the municipality, revealing the scope of the plans for the area, which will essentially turn the residential neighborhoods of Jabal Mukkaber, Silwan and A-Thuri into so-called touristic sites. According to the presentation, grassy areas and recreational facilities are slated for the area of Wadi Yasul, a Palestinian neighborhood located on the south-eastern edge of Silwan [which is] currently under threat of wide-scale home demolitions and the potential displacement of 500 residents. The amendment to the forest’s designation will not only retroactively legalize all of Elad’s unpermitted building in the area, but it will bolster the organization’s hold and enable it to continue to expand their touristic settlement operations in the forest.”

Underscoring the the systematic discrimination in planning policies and enforcement facing Palestinians in Jerusalem, Israeli officials have consistently refused to grant building permits for Palestinians to build on their own land in the area designed as the “Peace Forest” and have actively pursued demolitions against the Palestinians living there. In April 2019, the state began demolishing Palestinian buildings in the “Peace Forest” in an area known as the Wadi Yasul neighborhood. The reason for the demolitions: the buildings lack legally-required Israel-issued building permits, i.e. the buildings had the same legal status as Elad’s tourist buildings, but the two face vastly different treatment by Israeli authorities. 

Rather than demolishing Elad’s buildings in the same manner as Palestinian construction, the Israeli government is working hand in hand with the settlers to pursue every avenue to allow the retroactive legalization of Elad’s illegal construction. Even more brazenly, in tandem with the demolition of Palestinian homes in the area, Israeli officials have been working with the Elad to rezone the “Peace Forest” [something it refused to do for Palestinians] in order to allow the Elad to build more infrasture in the forest, including a tourist zipline and a promenade meant to connect settlement eclaves in the area.

Haaretz previously explained how Jerusalem authorities have repeatedly assisted Elad in its illegal activities:

“At first the NGO simply trespassed and built illegal structures there [the “Peace Forest”]. But things changed and gradually various local and national bodies – including the Jerusalem Municipality, the Israel Land Authority, the Tourism Ministry and the JNF – began to grant Elad assistance. This assistance has included granting building permits retroactively, allocating land to the group without a proper bidding process, and generous funding to the tune of tens of millions of shekels… It has been sponsoring activities in the Peace Forest since 2005, despite the fact that it has no ownership rights there or permits from the ILA (the legal owner of the land, which was expropriated from private Palestinian owners).”

Ir Amim explains:

“The scope of settlement projects in the vicinity of Wadi Yasul – and the breadth and depth of state support awarded to Elad, including authorities’ overt efforts to retroactively legalize unpermitted building – illuminate the stark discrimination in planning that empowers the expansion of radical settlement inside Palestinian neighborhoods while putting their native residents at risk of displacement.”

Bennet Tries Blackmailing Hebron Municipality into Accepting New Settlement Plan

On December 1st, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet sent a letter to the Hebron Municipality giving the Municipality 30 days to sign off on Israel’s plan to build a new settlement over an historic Palestinian marketplace in downtown Hebron, and threatening that the state will initiate legal proceedings to strip the Municipality of its protected tenancy rights in the marketplace if it does not accept the plan.

Haaretz explains the contention that the state made in the letter:

“The Israeli custodian of government and abandoned property in the West Bank claims that government has a legal basis to evict the municipality from the market and as a practical matter, to lift its standing as a protected tenant since the municipality has another marketplace at its disposal (the location of the other marketplace was not specified). The letter states that the municipality will retain its rights to the new property’s ground floor if it doesn’t oppose the plan…Samer Shehadeh, who represents the municipality, claims that Israel needs the municipality’s consent for its proposed plan because the protected status rights include the entire site, including air rights to build additional floors or demolish existing buildings. He disputes that there are legal grounds for rescinding the municipality’s standing as a protected tenant. ‘This letter is akin to a threat and an attempt to pressure the municipality to grant its consent to the move, but it will never happen,’ he said.”

Peace Now responded to Bennet’s letter, saying:

“The legal acrobatics have reached new heights when it comes to expanding the settlements. Ethical standards are being trampled to satisfy an extremist minority that wishes to deepen control and entrench the apartheid that exists in the Hebron settlement. This is an additional example proving the extent to which the occupation is messianic.”

On December 9th, the Palestinian Fatah party led a general strike in Hebron to protest Israel’s plan.

High Court Asks State to Consider (Maybe, Just Maybe, but Not Necessarily) Allowing Palestinians to Access their Land

On December 11th, the Israeli High Court of Justice asked the state to consider allowing Palestinian landowners to access their land which was previously stolen from them by settlers who built the Amona outpost. The state was given 15 days to consider and respond to the court’s request.

The illegal Amona outpost was evacuated by Israel in February 2017. Since then, the Israeli Civil Administration has classified the site as a “closed military zone,” preventing Palestinian landowners (whose legal ownership of the land Israel officially recognizes) from accessing their land. At the same time, Israeli settlers have repeatedly returned to the area attempting to reestablish the Amona outpost, and have even held IDF-protected celebrations there. 

In January 2019, the Israeli NGO Yesh Din launched a legal petition to reverse the military order, restore access to the land for Palestinians, and enforce orders prohibiting settlers from trespassing on the land. In response, the state claimed that the order was meant to prevent friction between Palestinians and settlers (in effect, Palestinians are being barred from access to their own land in order to placate settlers who stole the land from them in the first place). The recent ruling was given in response to this case.

New ICC Report Expresses “Concern” Over Israeli Annexation; Palestinian Groups Slam Report as  Legitimizing the Fragmentation of Palestine

On December 5th, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) released a report providing an update on all the current inquiries before the court, including a section on the nearly 5-year preliminary investigation into “The Situation of Palestine.” 

In the report, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda states that the preliminary investigation is nearly complete (a statement she also made in the 2018 version of the same report), and, notably, expressed concern about Israel’s plan to annex the Jordan Valley. The latter remark reportedly prompted Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit to warn Netanyahu that moving forward with his plan to annex the Jordan Valley is likely to trigger the opening of investigations into IDF officers and Israeli settlers. 

At the same time, Palestinian rights groups slammed the new report on several counts, most substantively centered on the report’s treatment of the Gaza Strip as separate from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In a lengthy and detailed statement, civil society groups Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR said:

“Our organizations reject and condemn in the strongest manner what can only be described as a territorial reordering by the Office of the Prosecutor, in describing the West Bank and East Jerusalem as under the ‘control’ of Israel, and therefore occupied territory, while presenting the Gaza Strip separately as an area of ongoing hostilities. This assessment is manifestly out of step with agreed international positions on the status of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as comprising the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967, as determined by the myriad of UN Human Rights Council Resolutions, UN General Assembly Resolutions, UN Security Council Resolutions, the in-depth findings of UN Commissions of Inquiry, and an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. Our organizations remind that the territory of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip is internationally recognized as one territorial legal unit. We further remind that the failure to include the status of the Gaza Strip as occupied territory resiles from previous reports of the Office of the Prosecutor, which consider that ‘the prevalent view within the international community is that Israel remains an occupying power in Gaza despite the 2005 disengagement’. As such, the report feeds into Israel’s fragmentation of the occupied Palestinian territory, for the purposes of its colonialist territorial expansion, a fragmentation that is further entrenched by the application of different legal regimes in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, the denial of freedom of Palestinian movement through its construction of Annexation Wall and checkpoints in and around the West Bank and Jerusalem, military walls, fences, buffer-zones, watchtowers and drone surveillance surrounding and imprisoning over 2 million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel also retains undisputed control over the territorial water and airspace. Additionally, Israel’s continued effective control over all Palestinians through, inter alia, the Population Registry, denial of family reunifications, denial of return of Palestinian refugees, denial of freedom of movement of people, goods and services throughout the occupied territory, and the division of the Palestinian population through a discriminatory ID system, have fragmented families for decades throughout the OPT.”

Netanyahu and Pompeo Discuss [or didn’t discuss?]  Jordan Valley Annexation

Following their meeting on December 4th in Portugal, Israeli PM Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a diplomatic tiff over whether the two discussed Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley.

Briefing reporters immediately following their meeting, Netanyahu said that they discussed annexation:

“[I] discussed with Pompeo the annexation of the Jordan Valley. Clearly it will be easier [if the Jordan Valley is annexed under] a government and not a transitional government which is much more complicated, we are looking for solutions.”

Responding to inquiries prompted by Netanyahu’s statement,, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker said: 

“there was no annexation plan, full or partial, for any part of the West Bank was presented to – by Israel to the United States during the meeting.”

Cutting straight through the American diplomatic denial, Netanyahu clarified by telling the press that they did not discuss an annexation plan but they did discuss annexation:

 

“I want American recognition of our sovereignty in the Jordan Valley…It was said that we had not discussed a formal plan and that was true, but the issue was raised and I raised it with Secretary of State Pompeo and I intend to raise the issue with the Trump administration.”

 

As of this writing, there has been no further clarification from the United States. 

Bonus Reads

1. “When the Settlement Bloc Expands” (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.

December 5, 2019

1. In The Heart of Hebron, Israel Begins Starts Planning New Settlement
2. Targeting East Jerusalem (Center): Israel Begins Work to Triple Size of Nof Zion Settlement
3. Targeting East Jerusalem (South): Moving Ahead with 3 Plans to Expand Gilo
4. Targeting East Jerusalem (North): Plans Readied for New Settlement on Ramallah’s Outskirts
5. Jerusalem’s Settler-Backed Cable Car Project Challenged in High Court
6. Settler Leaders’ Endorse Netanyahu…and Netanyahu Govt Approves New Funds for Settlers
7. Israeli Government Funnels Nearly USD $270 Million of Surplus Taxpayer Funds to Settlements Each Year (in addition to regular budgets)
8. Joint U.S.-Israel Research Project Will Include Ariel Settlement University
9. Not the Onion: Israeli Govt Sold Palestinian Land to a Settler Org & Now Pays Rent to the Settlers
10. Settler-Run Business Council Asks US Congress to Fund Settler-Palestinian Projects
11. Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Contact Kristin at kmccarthy@fmep.org

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In The Heart of Hebron, Israel Begins Starts Planning New Settlement

On December 1st, acting Defense Minister Naftali Bennet announced that he had ordered the start of the planning process for a new settlement in downtown Hebron that will double the number of settlers living there. The plan calls for the demolition of the historic Palestinian wholesale market – consisting of shops belonging to Palestinians who hold the properties under what Israel has, until now, recognized as protected tenancies.

Under the plan, the historic Palestinian market will be replaced with new structures that will include 70 new settlement units located above the new ground floor. Bennet boasted the the project will double the number of Israeli settlers living in Hebron. The site of the planned  settlement is located on Shuhada Street in the heart of Hebron, a street that serves as the perhaps the clearest example of Israel’s apartheid-like military administration of the city, as detailed in a recent report by B’Tselem.

In announcing the directive, Bennett made clear the strategic and symbolic importance of the new Hebron settlement, saying it:

“will create a territorial continuation from the Cave of the Patriarchs to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, and double the number of Jewish residents in the city.”

The plan to build a settlement at the site of the Palestinian wholesale market – which Israel closed 25 years ago following the 1994 Baruch Goldstein massacre of Palestinians worshipping at the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque (detailed history here) –  is not new. In fact, it has been a goal of settlers for years, the realization of which has been because previous Israeli governments were less willing to brazenly reverse Israel’s longstanding recognition of the tenancy rights of the Palestinian-run Hebron Municipality (which built the market) and the Palestinian vendors who rent market stalls from it. 

Such calculations changed following the election of President Trump and his administration’s open support for the settlers and their agenda. In November 2018, Avigdor Liberman and Ayelet Shaked (at the time the Defense Minister and the Justice Minister, respectively) worked together to issue a new Defense Ministry legal opinion, which argues that, based on claims of Jewish ownership of the land prior to the 1929 Hebron riots and massacre of Jewish residents, the state of Israel has the authority to override the tenancy rights of the Hebron Municipality to build a settlement. This legal opinion paved the way for Bennet’s announcement – long awaited by settlers – this week. In this context, the vague commitment Bennet offered as part of his decision to promote the settlements plan – in which he promised that the rights of Palestinians on the ground floor “will be preserved as they are today” – rings hollow.

Bennet and Shaked’s plan marks a significant expansion of the government’s use of the legal principle that allows Jewish Israelis to reclaim properties that were owned by Jews prior to 1948, as an extension of the Jewish right of return. Peace Now writes:

“The basis of the settlers’ demand for the establishment of a settlement in the wholesale market is that the land was owned by Jews before 1948… If the Israeli government accepts the claim of the landowners to right to return to their land taken in 1948, it will undermine the Israeli claim that the Palestinians’ right of return inside Israel need not be implemented.”

Upon Bennet’s announcement this week, former Justice Minister Shaked reminded Israelis of her role in changing Israeli legal interpretations in order to build the new settlement:

“As justice minister I worked for two years to free the land from a legal entanglement in which it was for many years, and the neighborhood had waited about a year for the defense minister’s approval. Bennett’s courageous decision will boost the Jewish community and develop the city.”

In reaction to Bennet’s order, Peace Now said in a statement:

“This is very bad news for Israel: bad morally, bad for the security, and bad in terms of the political chances for peace. The settlement in Hebron is the ugliest face of Israel’s control in the Occupied Territories. In order to maintain the presence of 800 settlers among a quarter of a million Palestinians, entire streets in Hebron are closed to Palestinians, denying them freedom of movement and impinging on their livelihoods.”

Targeting East Jerusalem (Center): Israel Begins Work to Triple Size of Nof Zion Settlement

On November 8th, the Israeli government began construction work to expand the settlement enclave known as Nof Zion, located in the middle of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber. The project will add 182 homes to Nof Zion, tripling its size and turning Nof Zion into the largest settlement enclave inside a Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood (surpassing the Ma’ale Zeitim settlement in Ras al Amud, on the Mount of Olives).

Ir Amim writes:

“Establishing and expanding state-backed settler enclaves like Nof Zion within Palestinian neighborhoods not only erodes the fabric of these communities, but further reinforces Israeli control of East Jerusalem and foils the possibility of a future political resolution on the city. This phenomenon is exemplified by the acceleration of settlement initiatives in the Old City Basin aimed at further embedding Israeli sovereignty of this area through a constellation of state-sanctioned residential and touristic settlement sites, as illustrated by Ir Amim’s map, ‘Settlement Ring around the Old City.’ “

Though the Nof Zion settlement currently has 91 units built, in 1994 the Israeli government originally approved plans for a total of 395 units. However, the first phase of construction bankrupted the developer and the remaining building permits were never issued. A drama ensued over the fate of the project, after a Palestinian-American made a bid to buy the development rights. His winning bid was ultimately blocked by right-wing Israelis [with a key role played by Jerusalem settler impresario Aryeh King], who objected to the sale of the property – in a Palestinian neighborhood – to an Arab. Plans then stalled. 

In September 2017, rumors emerged that the government was set to issue 176 building permits for the already-approved project. According to Ir Amim, those permits were ultimately issued in April 2019.

Targeting East Jerusalem (South): Moving Ahead with 3 Plans to Expand Gilo

According to Ir Amim, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee has approved an outline plan to build 290 new units in the Gilo settlement, located in southern Jerusalem between the isolated Palestinian East Jerusalem neighbrohood of Beit Safafa and the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Ir Amim reports that the proposed new units will be built within an already built-up area of the settlement, meaning that this plan (unlike the Gilo southeast plan and/or the Har Gilo west plan) will not expand the footprint of the Gilo settlement.

According to Ir Amim:

“The plan is designated for an area in Gilo directly along the planned route of the Jerusalem Light Rail’s green line currently under construction, which will significantly ease access between the neighborhood/settlement and West Jerusalem.”

In approving the outline plan, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee dismissed objections to the plan by a Palestinian family that had fought to prove their ownership of the land. In fact, the committee did not even consider the petition, ruling instead that the question of ownership was beyond the court’s purview – demonstrating yet again  the culpability of Israeli courts in the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians.

Additionally, on November 27th, the Local Planning Committee discussed two more plans to expand the Gilo settlement. The first plan, calls for the construction of 1,444 new settlement units in the northern part of the Gilo settlement adjacent to Beit Safafa. The second plan calls for the construction of 110 units and would, if implemented, expand the footprint of the Gilo settlement eastwards towards the West Bank city of Beit Jala. Ir Amim reports the plan is being pushed by a private company.

Ir Amim comments:

“Together all three plans will significantly increase the number of Israelis living over the Green Line in Gilo, while also extending the settlement territorially. These plans are being promoted in tandem with the massive road infrastructure developments in the area, including expansion of Route 60 as well as work on the planned route of the Jerusalem Light Rail’s green line. Road infrastructure projects are part and parcel of the settlement enterprise and are used to lay the groundwork for future settlement expansion. Not only will these developments expedite traffic between Gilo and West Jerusalem, but it will ease access between the Gush Etzion settlement bloc and Jerusalem.”

Targeting East Jerusalem (North): Plans Readied for New Settlement on Ramallah’s Outskirts

On November 28th, the news outlet Israel Hayom reported that the Minister of Construction and Housing is preparing a plan to build a new settlement in East Jerusalem at the site of the disused Atarot airport. The site is located just north of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina and extends to the southern border of Ramallah. The plan reportedly outlines 11,000 new settlement units. If implemented, this plan would be the first new government-backed settlement established in East Jerusalem since the construction of Har Homa in the 1990s.

The Atarot airport site is an important commodity and it was previously  promised to the Palestinians for their state’s future international gateway. Developing 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.

Commenting on the plan when it was under discussion in 2012, Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran observed:

“Not only that this plan might severely harm the future Palestinian State, destroying the only airport in the West Bank, but it will also cut between East Jerusalem and Ramallah at the heart of many Palestinian neighborhoods: Shu’afat and Beit Hanina in the South, Bir Nabala, Al Judeira, Al Jib, Rafat and Qalandia in the West, Ar-Ram, Dahiyat al Bareed and Jaba’ from the East, and Qalandia Refugee Camp, Kafr ‘Aqab and Ramallah from the North. It seems that what the Givat Hamatos plan is meant to do in the South of Jerusalem (to cut between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem), this plan will, god forbid, do at the North of it. The goal of this plan is clear: to prevent the possibility of a Palestinian State in the West Bank, and thus to kill the two states solution.”

Jerusalem’s Settler-Backed Cable Car Project Challenged in High Court

Led by the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, a coalition of architects, archeologists, and other professionals has filed an appeal to Israel’s High Court of Justice seeking the withdrawal of a settler-promoter plan to build a cable in East Jerusalem. The plan received approval from the Israeli Housing Cabinet on November 4, 2019.

Emek Shaveh explains the nature of this appeal:

“Our Claims: The plan was approved by a transitional government which was not authorized to do so; This alleged transportation plan was not assessed according to the Ministry of Transportation’s accepted standards; The decision was made based on misleading simulations…Since the High Court of Justice is unauthorized to discuss planning issues, other than the legality of the procedure, the points that were discussed in the public objection, signed by 450 people including 70 public figures, is not included in the appeal…The cable car is a grotesque idea and catastrophic for a unique city such as Jerusalem. It is unclear why the Israeli government needed to approve an irregular, controversial project at the cost of hundreds of millions of shekels in its last days. The fact that senior professionals from all the relevant fields – architects, historians, geographers, tourism specialists and archaeologists – need to turn to the High Court of Justice to prevent it shows, more than anything, that the process of approving the project was unprofessional.”

Though the appeal is limited to a procedural challenge – based on the jurisdiction of the High Court over such matters – Emek Shaveh’s objections to the plan relate to the design of the plan and the negative impact that will result if the plan is implemented. As FMEP has repeatedly covered, this Jerusalem cable car project is an initiative of the Elad settler organization (which is building a massive tourism center – the Kedem Center – in the Silwan neighborhood, which will be a stop along the cable car’s route). The scheme is intended to further entrench settler control, via archeology and tourism sites, inside the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, while simultaneously delegitimizing, dispossessing, and erasing the Palestinian presence there. Non-governmental organizations including Emek Shaveh,  Who Profits, and Terrestrial Jerusalem have repeatedly discredited the government’s contention that the cable car serves a legitimate transportation need in Jerusalem, and have clearly enumerated the obvious political drivers behind the plan, the archeological heresies it validates, and the severe impacts the cable car project will have on Palestinian residents of Silwan.

Settler Leaders’ Endorse Netanyahu…and Netanyahu Govt Approves New Funds for Settlers

On December 1st, the Israeli Cabinet approved a USD $11.5 million security package for the settlements. According to Haaretz, USD $9.9 million of the funds are allocated as a one-time grant to regional settlement councils; the remaining $1.6 million is reportedly earmarked for the construction of “first aid stations.”

In a meeting with Yesha Council leaders prior to the approval of the funds – during which the Yesha Council leaders offered their continued endorsement of Netanyahu amidst the ongoing Israeli political upheaval (in which Netanyahu is fighting for his political life and, likely, to stay out of jail) – Netanyahu promised:

“We are continuing to strengthen the settlement movement and help it. They won’t uproot us from here.”

Shortly after the cabinet’s vote, MK Ayman Odeh sent a letter to Israeli Attorney General Mandelblit requesting an inquiry into the constitutionality of the move, commenting that the sequences of events:

 “raise[s] a grave suspicion of a budget allocation [was made] in exchange for a political favor.”

MK Odeh asked whether the security package had been properly reviewed by government professionals. Condemning the disbursal of funds, Odeh said:

“Netanyahu has done the two things that he loves, at the same time, is appropriating public funds for his personal benefit and expanding the settlement enterprise in order to deepen the occupation. It is unconscionable for the head of a transitional government to use the money belonging to all of us to buy the support of the heads of the Yesha Council of settlements for his public battle against the legal system. I demand that the allocation be canceled and its funds directed into the program to curb domestic violence, which has been waiting for funding since its approval in 2017.”

Israeli Government Funnels Nearly USD $270 Million of Surplus Taxpayer Funds to Settlements Each Year (in addition to regular budgets)

According to data from the Israeli Finance Ministry, obtained and analyzed by Peace Now, the Israeli government is using its surplus funding to invest in the growth and entrenchment of settlements — to the tune of nearly $270 million each year. The figure does not include regular funding that goes towards the normal maintenance and security of the settlements. 

The data shows:

•  There has been a 50% increase in surplus funding for the settlements since 2017 (i.e. the inauguration of President Trump). 
  • 2017 expenditure: NIS 1.650 billion
  • 2018 expenditure: 1.4 billion
  • The first quarter of 2019 data indicate another increase.
• The settlements receive ~12% of all Interior Ministry’s grants to all local authorities (including Israel proper), despite representing less than 5% of the total Israeli population. 

The Israeli government produces these figures (which, ironically, make a hard distinction between Israel proper and the settlements – a policy of differentiation which the government is very much trying to fight) to comply with a U.S. condition on loan guarantees set in 1990s by Republican President H.W. Bush. At the time, the U.S. administration made an effort to penalize Israel for its settlement activity by deducting the amount spent by Israel for non-security-related settlement costs from the total value of U.S. loan guarantees available to Israel. The condition therefore required the Israeli government to calculate and inform the U.S. every few months regarding its settlement-related expenditures. Peace Now reports in detail on how the Israeli government makes that calculation (spoiler: it’s an estimate) and what is included in it (spoiler: it does not include all of the ways the Israeli government directly funds the settlement enterprise).

 Importantly, Peace Now notes that:

“as of September 2018, following the recognition of the Trump administration in annexing the Golan Heights, the Finance Ministry stopped reporting to Americans on investment in Israeli communities in the Golan Heights. At the same time, the first quarter figures for 2019 indicate record expenditures in the settlements, with NIS 390 million (between January – March 2019), compared with an average of NIS 354 million in each quarter in 2018 (including the Golan).”

Commenting on the figure, Peace Now said in a statement:

“State figures themselves show that Israel continues to invest huge capital in developing settlements at the expense of development within Israel. The government’s decision this week to add another NIS 34.5 million in grants unique to the local authorities in the settlements indicates that the government has lost all self-regard for serving the Israeli public at large. With a transitional government on the verge of new elections and close to the end of the fiscal year, the government finds it appropriate to add millions of shekels to the indulgence that is already being given to settlement authorities that receive, according to Treasury figures, close to three times the proportion of their population.”

Joint U.S.-Israel Research Project Will Include Ariel Settlement University

Israeli Minister of Science and Technology Ofir Akunis is reportedly expected to sign an historic agreement in the coming weeks that will establish a new joint research project between American  and Israeli universities which will, for the first time, include an Israeli university located in a settlement – Ariel University.  Minister Akunis told told the Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom (owned by Sheldon Adelson, who not coincidentally is a key financial backer of Netanyahu, Trump, and Ariel University) that the new agreement:

“is a direct result of the American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and Secretary of State Pompeo’s declaration that the settlements in Judea and Samaria do not violate international law.”  

For more analysis of the recent announcement by the Trump Administration, see last week’s Settlement Report. 

Not from the Onion: Israeli Govt Sold Palestinian Land to a Settler Org & Now Pays Rent to the Settlers

Peace Now reports that the Israeli government sold unofficially expropriated (i.e., stolen) land in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood  to the radical Amana settler organization for $262,000 (a fraction of its value). But the story gets better: the Israeli government is now paying $224,000 per year in rent to Amana – the settler organization – for use of a single floor of a building built on the land.

The details of this Kafka-esque story – laid out below – show yet another means by which the Israeli government not only assists settlers in acquiring privately owned Palestinian land, but continues to line the pockets of settlement groups working to take more land from Palestinians. 

Regarding the land Amana is now renting to the government, Israel intended to expropriate the land in question from the Palestinian Abu Ta’ah family following the 1967 war. However, the government went ahead and gave the land to the Amana settler organization, and Amana began construction on it, before the process of expropriation was complete – in effect giving the settlers what was still, legally, private Palestinian land. In order to complete the expropriation of the land from the Abu Ta’ah family – which remained the legal owner of the land and fought against the expropriation and Amana’s construction there – the government had to actually retroactively change how the plot of land was registered and sign a retroactive expropriate order.

Peace Now told Haaretz:

“After it received the land that was expropriated in a dubious process without a tender, Amana is profiting in three ways: It built a luxurious office building for itself in the midst of a Palestinian neighborhood; it also strengthens the settlement it built by bringing in Israeli visitors to the welfare office inside the Palestinian neighborhood; and has treated itself to a nice income of about a million shekels a year at our expense and with the help of state and municipal institutions.”

Settler-Run Business Council Asks US Congress to Fund Settler-Palestinian Projects

Ashraf Jabari and Avi Zimmerman, the Palestinian and Israeli co-founders of the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce, recently met Members of Congress while in Washington, D.C.  Their goal: to seek support and funding for their joint projects in the West Bank, in the name of supporting peace and coexistence. 

Zimmerman said of the trip:

“we now embark on the implementation process by welcoming private and public investments to partner with the businesses that are generating impact for generations to come. Representatives from both Houses and parties were highly responsive, and impressed that we have already begun with strategic planning for private investments.”

As FMEP has repeatedly explained, economic “coexistence” initiatives like the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce (JSCC) seek to normalize, entrench, and reward Israeli settlements while perpetuating Israel’s economic exploitation of occupied territory (including the local workforce, land, and other natural resources). Congressional support for such initiatives could mean U.S. taxpayer dollars going directly (and publicly) to the settlements.

Zimmerman and Jabari were hosted on Capitol Hill by Heather Johston, the Executive Director of the US-Israel Education Association (USIEA). The USIEA is a American evangelical group deeply involved in supporting and normalizing settlements, working in partnership with the Israeli government. It is also works with the Family Research Council to lead Congressional delegations to Israel and runs a bible camp in the Ariel settlement. Boasting of her warm relations on Capitol Hill, Johnston recently spoke to the press about her work to promote the JSCC in Congress:

“Just about everyone on Capitol Hill accepts and recognizes the unique relationship between the U.S. and Israel. It is critical that members of Congress and the Senate have a clear and all-encompassing picture of reality in Israel and how the country and its citizens relate to their neighbors. This visit by Zimmerman and Jabari to Capitol Hill not only introduces members of Congress and the Senate to a phenomenon that is not widely known about but also to untapped opportunities of advancing prosperity and stability in the Middle East.”

Commenting on Jabari and Zimmerman’s recent meetings on Capitol Hill, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) – who led an August 2019 Congressional delegation funded by USIEA, which was hosted by Jabari in his Hebron home –  told The Hill:  

“Sheikh Ashraf Jabari told us the economic relationship between Palestinians and Israelis is basic, strong, and can’t be separate. In a strong bipartisan way, we should be supporting the grassroots movement for economic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s foundational to achieve peace in the region.”

McMorris Rogers and her delegation are not the only Members of Congress who have been warming up to the concept of peace through joint economic “coexistence” schemes like the JSCC. In early March 2019, U.S. Senator James Lankford incorrectly suggested that Congress had already allocated funding for the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Congress. Despite the error, his statement signalled that there are concerted, ongoing conversations in Congress regarding economic peace schemes. 

In addition to Members of Congress, Jabari and Zimmerman enjoy close and warm relations with U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, who has repeatedly met with and promoted the JSCC’s work. Amb. Friedman’s support first came into public view in October 2018 when Amb. Friedman attended an event convened by the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce. Then, in February 2019, Amb. Friedman spoke about economic co-existence initiatives at a conference hosted by the JSCC and US-Israel Education Association. Speaking to the press at conference, Ambassador Friedman said the goal of the forum is to “encourage business development in Judea and Samaria, encourage the prosperity of people who live there, most of them Palestinian residents.” 

Bonus Reads

1. “Israel Limits West Bank Farmers’ Access to Lands Near Green Line” (Haaretz)
2. “Forbidden: The West Bank land Israel locks away from Palestinians.” (Middle East Eye)
3. “100-plus Democrats sign letter criticizing new US stance on Israeli settlements” (JNS)
4. “ Israel Limits West Bank Farmers’ Access to Lands Near Green Line” (Haaretz)