Settlement Report: January 4, 2018

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

January 4, 2018

Likud Votes for Unilateral Annexation of West Bank Settlements
Knesset Set to Discuss Application of New Laws to the Settlements
Knesset Passes Jerusalem Law Designed to Block Peace Agreement
Israel Builds New Unauthorized Outpost to Temporarily House Amona Outpost Evacuees
Israeli High Court Issues Stop-Work Order on Illegal Outpost, But Agrees to its Eventual Legalization
Israel Complicit in Establishing 14 New Outposts Since 2011
The JNF is Working with a Settler Group to Evict Palestinians in East Jerusalem
Israeli Government Approves EU Trade Agreement that Excludes Settlements

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

Likud Votes for Unilateral Annexation of West Bank Settlements

On January 1st the Likud Central Committee voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling on party leaders (including Prime Minister Netanyahu) to allow unlimited construction in settlements and to take steps to formally annex all Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Likud party is the head of the governing coalition in Israel, with the largest number of seats in the Knesset and the control over the office of the Prime Minister.

The resolution reads:

On the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the regions of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], including Jerusalem our eternal capital, the Likud Central Committee calls on the Likud’s elected officials to act to allow free construction and to apply the laws of Israel and its sovereignty to all liberated areas of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria.

Haaretz notes that in the past, Netanyahu intervened to prevent resolutions like this one from coming up for a vote, over concerns that such votes could elicit international blowback. This time, he refrained from doing so. The Trump Administration offered no comment on the Likud vote.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi criticized the decision via Twitter: “Knesset approval of amended Basic Law on #Jerusalem & decision by ruling party 2annex settlements & impose sovereignty on West Bank are null & void under Intl law. Israel continues 2adopt illegal unilateral decisions that deny region the peace it deserves & is in world interest.”

For its part, the Palestinian Authority slammed the resolution, with President Abbas promising consequences and arguing that the resolution has “the blessing” of the United States, whose ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has reportedly requested the State Department cease using the word “occupation” to describe the situation in the West Bank and Golan Heights (the State Department spokeswoman later said that the U.S. policy has not changed on that regard).

J Street also linked Likud’s actions to the environment created by President Trump and his envoys, saying

President Trump bears responsibility for laying the groundwork and providing cover for these steps [by Likud]. By breaking with decades of bipartisan policy and refusing to support the two-state solution or seriously opposing settlement expansion, his administration has given a green light to the destructive plans of the settlement movement. By unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in advance of a peace agreement, the president has told the Netanyahu government that it is free to act with contempt for the peace process and for the Palestinians, and without fear of rebuke from the United States.

Knesset Set to Discuss Application of New Laws to the Settlements

The Jerusalem Post reports that the Knesset House Committee has instructed committees to discuss whether bills passed by the Knesset will be applied to settlements in the West Bank. Extending Israeli domestic law to the settlements is tantamount to annexation.

Hardline, anti-two-state, right-wing MKs – including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and House Committee chairman Yoav Kisch – have lead the charge to annex the settlements by extending Israeli domestic law, arguing it would end what they describe as “discrimination” against Israeli citizens based on their place of residence.

Slamming the move, left-wing Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg stated:

There is a territory that is outside of Israel’s borders, and what you’re suggesting is to have two parallel legal systems in the same land, where the only measure that determines which system applies to whom is a person’s race. This has a name, and you know what it is.

The House committee’s instructions this week were a half measure to force the annexation discussions, after an aborted attempt in 2017 to change the official rules of the Knesset to require bills to state whether they apply to the settlements, a rule change that the Knesset’s legal counsel advised against.

Israeli settlements, being in occupied territory, are currently under Israeli military rule, although Israeli civilians living in settlements already come under Israeli civilian law. As noted by FMEP’s Lara Friedman in testimony before the UN Security Council in October 2016:

…Israeli law follows Israeli citizens who enter or live in the Occupied Territories. This means that Israeli settlers live under Israeli law – no different than if they were living inside Israel – while Palestinians live under military law. This policy has created a dangerous and ugly political reality in the occupied territories – a reality in which two populations live on the same land, under different legal systems, separate and entirely unequal, with the governing authority serving one population at the expense of the other.

One population is comprised of privileged Israeli citizens, enjoying the benefits of a prosperous, powerful state, with their rights guaranteed by a democratic government accountable to their votes. The other population is comprised of disenfranchised Palestinians, living under foreign military occupation explicitly designed to protect and promote the interests not of Palestinian residents of the territories, but of Israeli settlers.”

Knesset Passes Jerusalem Law Designed to Block Peace Agreement

On January 1, 2018 the Israeli Knesset passed a law requiring a supermajority of votes in the Knesset to approve the transfer of any parts of Jerusalem (in its expanded borders, as determined by Israel immediately after the 1967 War) to a foreign power. Authored by the far-right Jewish Home Party, the amendment passed with a slim 64-52 majority. Jewish Home’s leader Naftali Bennett, who also serves as the Minister of Education in the current coalition government, declared that the vote shows Israel will keep control of all of Jerusalem forever.

A Palestinian Authority spokesman said the legislation, in addition to the Trump Administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, is ”a declaration of war on the Palestinian people.”

The Knesset refrained from simultaneously passing another controversial measure that would enable Israel to alter the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem – a proposal meant to pave the way for formally excising Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem that are located beyond the separation. The New York Times reports that Netanyahu directed the measure be removed from the legislation up for votes. For further background on both Jerusalem measures, see this report from Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann.

Israel Builds New Unauthorized Outpost to Temporarily House Amona Outpost Evacuees

The Israeli Civil Administration has resumed construction on what is, in effect, a new illegal outpost meant to temporarily house settlers who were evacuated from the illegal Amona outpost last year. Following their evacuation, the Amona settlers refused – even temporarily – to relocate to the interim site near Ofra. Construction then stopped, but restarted this week.

Located northeast of Ramallah, near the Ofra settlement – and within spitting distance of where the evacuated Amona outpost once stood – the work is happening without permits and on land that Israel expropriated from private Palestinian owners for “public use.” The Amona evacuees are awaiting the construction of their new settlement, called Amichai, in the Shiloh Valley. Amichai will be the first official new settlement established with government approval in 20 years. Assuming the Amona evacuees eventually move from the new outpost to Amona, it should be assumed that the “temporary” site will turn out to be a new site permanently inhabited by other settlers.

Israeli High Court Issues Stop-Work Order on Illegal Outpost, But Agrees to its Eventual Legalization

On January 2nd, Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered construction at the Adei Ad outpost to stop – but only until the Israeli government completes the process of retroactively legalizing the outpost and its structures (which first required the Israeli government to suspend the rule of law). The Court said that the government must do so within nine months, which is the timeframe Prime Minister Netanyahu specified last year when he announced that Israel will expropriate the land of Adei Ad by declaring it as “state land.” Once the area is declared to be “state land,” Israel will then be able to begin the process of official planning, which will transform the illegal outpost into an authorized settlement.

Although much of the Adei Ad outpost is built on land that had already been expropriated through the same means, part of the outpost is on land the status of which us contested. The Israeli NGO Yesh Din represents Palestinian land owners in the petition which led to the stop-work order. Yesh Din explains the week’s news, writing:

In January 2018, the High Court ordered a freeze on all construction in Adei Ad and sharply criticized the State’s conduct regarding the outpost, including its handling of the petition. The court rejected the petitioners request to have the entire outpost evacuated, but gave the State only nine months to authorize the outpost, on the provision that at that date, another petition could be filed to have some of the structures evacuated. HCJ president (retired) Naor made it clear that allowing the State to consider authorizing the outpost in this case must not be taken as a carte blanche by the court for the future. In the ruling, she wrote: “The conclusion must not be that expressing a general interest in retroactively authorizing illegal construction is enough to justify the granting of such requests in future, as a carte blanche for continued disregard for the law.”

See Yesh Din’s full report on the Adei Ad outpost, “The Road to Dispossession: A case study -the outpost of Adei-Ad.”

Israel Complicit in Establishing 14 New Outposts Since 2011

Map by Haaretz

Haaretz is reporting data that shows that the government of Israel has helped establish at least 14 outposts in the West Bank since 2011, even though the government was supposed to have ceased the practice in 2005, under Prime Minister Sharon.

Dror Etkes, founder of the settlement watchdog Kerem Navot, told Haaretz that settlers have strategically chosen to build new outposts on West Bank land that was expropriated by Israel as “state land,” knowing that such outposts would stand a greater chance of being retroactively legalized than those built on land that Israel might recognize as being privately owned by Palestinians. Etkes explained that outpost builders do not, however, limit themselves to state land, saying:

They take over as much surrounding land as possible, including private land, which they steal by other means, such as cultivation or barring access [to the Palestinian landowners]….It’s methodical, and they know exactly what they’re doing.

The JNF is Working with a Settler Group to Evict Palestinians in East Jerusalem

In Silwan (known to Israelis as the City of David), the Jewish National Fund (JNF) is working to evict Palestinians from their home in order to sell the property to the settler organization Elad. Elad’s mission is to establish Jewish hegemony over Jerusalem, and focuses its activities intensively on Silwan, both in terms of taking over properties and gaining control of the public domain through control over parks, tourist facilities, and archeological sites (see this report from Ir Amim for further background on Elad and its activities).

Map by Haaretz

The Sumreen family has been fighting for 27-years to prove its rightful ownership of its Silwan home, which the settlers and the JNF challenge based on the fact that one of the Sumreen patriarchs lives in Jordan. Based on his residence there, Israel declared him an “absentee” and took over the rights to the building, despite the fact that members of the Sumreen family still lived in the home.

Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran, who has been helping the family, charged that:

KKL [the Hebrew name for the JNF] has turned from the Jewish National Fund into the Settler National Fund. For 26 years, KKL has been embittering the lives of the Sumreen family with expensive, exhausting lawsuits and has tried over and over to evict it from its home in Silwan. KKL is playing a central role here in an ugly process of using the Absentee Property Law on the basis of dubious testimony, all to give Palestinian assets to Elad.

This is not the first controversy surrounding the JNF’s activities in Silwan, or even over the JNF’s role in the campaign to evict this particular family, which last peaked in 2011. For background, see this report on +972, as well as this commentary from Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran. Notably, controversy over the issue in 2009 prompted the JNF to issue a denial of any role in the efforts; this denial was contradicted by the facts, including the actual wording of the eviction order.

Israeli Government Approves EU Trade Agreement that Excludes Settlements

Despite opposition from some coalition and Knesset hardliners, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and all relevant ministers approved a new trade deal with the European Union that excludes Israeli settlements from its terms. Miri Regev, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports, had filed an objection regarding the deal before it was finalized. Regev has now filed a complaint with the Cabinet Secretary, saying her objection was ignored and that she was misled regarding the ability to discuss the terms of the deal.

By approving the deal, Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers acquiesced to the EU’s policy of rejecting the conflation of Israel and settlements (sometimes referred to as “differentiation”) – a policy that Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have disingenuously labeled a “boycott” of Israel). The Israeli government, which is investing millions more in fighting differentiation and international boycotts of both settlements and Israel, had previously threatened to halt cooperation with the EU [in effect, boycott Israel-EU cooperation] over the EU’s refusal to treat settlements as part of Israel.

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

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

November 22, 2017

Israeli AG Support for Land-Grab Paves Way for Legalization of [at least] 13 Outposts
Israeli AG Approves Retroactive Legalization of “Mistaken” Land Theft
Israeli AG to Present Argument on the “Regulation Law” This Week
Threatened Eviction of Another Palestinian Bedouin Community in E-1
Israel Fast-Tracks Jerusalem Cable Car Project Despite Political Concerns
Settlers Fight for the “Right of Return” to Illegal, Inaccessible West Bank Settlements
Bonus Reads

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

Israeli AG Support for Land-Grab Paves Way for Legalization of [at least] 13 Outposts

Map by Haaretz

The far-reaching implications of the legal opinion issued last week by Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit, in the context of a case dealing with the Harsha outpost, are becoming alarmingly clear. Haaretz reports that the opinion will pave the way for Israel to retroactively legalize 13 unauthorized outposts, many of which are deep inside of the West Bank. The 13 outposts (and many others) were all built without Israel’s permission on pockets of state land, surrounded by privately owned Palestinian land. Roads leading to these outpost – without which the outposts cannot be fully planned and legalized – were (or will be), by necessity, built on land owned by Palestinians. This opinion paves the way (pun intended) for that to happen.

Dror Etkes, founder of the anti-settlement group Kerem Navot, notes that the impact of the decision is actually far greater than reported by Haaretz: “The real number of [affected] outposts is over 60.” Etkes adds,

The story [is] that the settlers are striving to resolve, with Mandleblit’s help, involves hundreds (yes hundreds!) of roads that have been illegally paved for decades around settlements and outposts, on land that even Israel recognizes as privately-owned. Now, with a little creativity and a lot of nerve, a legal mechanism has been invented to enable settlers to retroactively authorize the road system, without which the national land grab enterprise championed by Israel in the West Bank, can’t function.

Notably, several outposts that spun off from the Itamar settlement are among those that could benefit from this new legal precedent. Near Nablus, Itamar’s hilltop outposts form a contiguous land bridge – with roads connecting them – from Itamar to the Jordan Valley. Itamar’s residents are notorious for their ultra-nationalism.

Israeli AG Approves Retroactive Legalization of “Mistaken” Land Theft

Attorney General Mandleblit has endorsed an argument, made for the first time since 1967, in a legal brief submitted this week in Court by the Israeli government, that paves the way for Israel to expropriate privately owned Palestinian land inside the Ofra settlement, and potentially in other places as well. The land in question was “mistakenly” included as part of the settlement. The State filed the brief this week in response to a legal challenge to the Ofra settlement’s Master Plan.

Map by Haaretz using Google Maps

The case centers on a “mistake” which happened when the Ofra settlement master plan was approved; Israel argues that at the time it did not know that some of the land in the area had not been declared “state land” (suggesting, at best, extraordinarily faulty due diligence in the planning process, and at worst, a policy of treating Palestinian land ownership claims as irrelevant). In 2016, the State acknowledged Palestinian claims to the land and announced its intention to rectify the problem by re-drawing the settlement’s master plan.

With this new argument, the State, backed by the Attorney General, has reversed the 2016 commitment and is instead moving to formally expropriate the Palestinian plots, arguing that the Ofra settlers acted in good faith based on the government’s approval of the Master Plan (i.e. that settlers should not be punished for the State’s mistake). Earlier this year, AG Mandleblit suggested this exact argument (that land stolen by mistake, in good faith, could be legalized as long as the Palestinian owners were compensated) as an alternative law for the Knesset to pass instead of the Regulation Law, which he opposed.

Commenting on the AG’s opinion, Tawfiq Jabareen, the lawyer representing the Palestinian petitioners, told Haaretz:

Attorney General Mandelblit is continuing to destroy the status of the rule of law and severely undermine Palestinian property rights in the occupied territories.

Israeli AG to Present Argument on the “Regulation Law” This Week

On Nov. 23rd, Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit is expected to present his argument on the “Regulation Law” to the Supreme Court. As we reported previously, Mandleblit was staunchly opposed to the Regulation Law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and refusing to defend the law against legal challenges mounted by several civil society groups earlier this year. At the time the law was being considered, Mandleblit proposed an alternative legal strategy to accomplish the same goal: the retroactive legalization of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank.

Map by Peace Now

Mandleblit has been expected to argue forcefully against the law, which provides a new legal basis for the retroactive legalization of outposts and agricultural land seizures, with Palestinian owners provided “compensation” (but no choice in the matter). Following the opinion Mandleblit issued last week regarding the Harsha outpost case (implications of which we detail above), and given his recent support for the retroactive legalization of land theft for the benefit of the Ofra settlement (detailed above), it is quite possible that his opposition to the retroactive legalization of land seizures has softened.

If upheld, the Regulation Law can be used to retroactively legalize 55 outposts and 4,000 unauthorized settlement structures by expropriating over 8,000 dunks of privately owned Palestinian land.

Threatened Eviction of Another Palestinian Bedouin Community

The wave of IDF-ordered evictions continued this week, with the Jabal al-Baba bedouin community only the latest to be affected. The approximately 300 residents were ordered to leave their encampment near the Maale Adumim/E-1 settlement area east of Jerusalem within 8 days. The Jabal al-Baba community has been living in the area since 1948, after it was expelled from the Negev.

The Jabal al-Baba community is the second bedouin community in the Maale Adumim/E-1 area to be faced with eviction this year. In August, Israel escalated its longstanding threat to forcibly relocate the Khan al-Ahmar bedouin community to a site near the Abu Dis garbage dump – a move that B’Tselem warns will constitute a war crime. FMEP has covered the story in detail, including as it relates to the prospects for the construction of the doomsday E-1 settlement.

Israeli actions to remove Palestinian bedouin communities from Area C are not confined to the Jerusalem area. On November 1st, the Israeli army ordered the eviction of an entire bedouin community in the northern Jordan Valley.

Israel Fast-Tracks Jerusalem Cable Car Project Despite Political Concerns

Haaretz reports that Israeli planning authorities are moving ahead with plans to build a controversial cable car line in East Jerusalem, despite growing opposition. As FMEP reported in July, the planned cable car line is designed to facilitate tourism to Jewish sites in East Jerusalem while preventing tourists from encountering Palestinians. It features a stop at the settler-run Kedem Center, which was built in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann explained

There are four worrisome aspects to this project. Without reference to political matters or religious sensitivities, this is a crime against Jerusalem. Disrespect for the unique value of the city and another example of the ‘disneyfication’ of Jerusalem under [Mayor Nir] Barkat. Someone who loves Jerusalem could not conceive of such a project. [The idea that] someone can send a cable car 150 meters away from the Al Aqsa Mosque is smoking the wrong thing….[the project] is another example of how the public interest and the interests of Jerusalemites are being subverted for the good of the settlers of Silwan, with the final station shamelessly at the Kedem Center, serving the narrow ideological interests of the settlers….[the project is] a clumsy attempt to unify the divided city by means of engineering gimmicks.

Settlers Fight for the “Right of Return” to Illegal, Inaccessible West Bank Settlements

Israeli settlers are angling to return to four settlements – Ganim, Kadim, Sa-Nur and Homesh – that were dismantled in 2005, as part of Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. Settlers have long insisted they will “return” to the sites.

In this latest effort, they are focusing on the argument that the land has not been used since they abandoned it. Falling in Area C, and therefore under the full authority of Israel’s Civil Administration, the former settlements remain vacant despite Palestinian desire to develop it. The Jenin Municipality, which has nominal jurisdiction over the location, reportedly wants to develop the areas but has not yet applied for the necessary Israeli permits; applying to do so, in any case, would almost certainly be futile, given that Israel issues virtually no permits for Palestinian construction in Area C. In the meantime, the sites have become a garbage dumpsites.

Two or the sites – Ganim and Kadim – can only be accessed by driving through the Palestinian city of Jenin, raising security issues that make their redevelopment into settlements a remote possibility. Sa-Nur and Homesh, in contrast, are easily accessible by settlers. Earlier this year settlers and supporters, including right-wing Israeli lawmakers, gathered at the site of Sa-Nur demanding that the government let them return. At the site of Homesh, radical settler youth are already squatting, have established a yeshiva (religious school) and actively prevent Palestinian access.

Bonus Reads

“How Israeli settlers turn archeological sites into political tools” (Al-Monitor)
“Ombudsman: Settlement council doctored tenders to reward right-wing NGOs” (Times of Israel)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

October 26, 2017

Assault on Jerusalem [And a Negotiated Solution], Part 1: Cabinet to vote Sunday on “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill,” with Netanyahu’s Backing
Assault on Jerusalem [And a Negotiated Solution], Part 2: East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave in Jabal Mukaber Set to Triple in Size
Assault on Jerusalem [And a Negotiated Solution], Part 3: First New East Jerusalem Settlement in Decades, Atarot, Is Inching Closer Towards Construction
The New U.S. Settlement Policy: Expand at Will, but Don’t Surprise Us
Israeli Justice Minister Personally Involved in Drafting State Responses to Settlement Petitions before the High Court of Justice
Updates: Netiv Ha’avot and the “Settler Security Package”
Bonus Reads

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

Assault on Jerusalem [And a Negotiated Solution], Part 1: The “Greater Jerusalem [Annexation] Bill” is Set for a Vote on Sunday with Netanyahu’s Backing

The Israeli Knesset reconvened on Monday for it finals session of the year; in addition to a litany of anti-democratic bills [Americans Peace Now published an excellent explainer of those bills here], Netanyahu has reportedly signalled the Knesset to pass the “Greater Jerusalem Bill” [text here]. With Netanyahu’s approval, the bill is expected to be come up for a vote in the Cabinet on Sunday, October 29th, and after that to be sent to the Knesset.

If passed into law, the “Greater Jerusalem Bill” will:

Map by Peace Now

Effectively annex a an enormous area of the West Bank into Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality, including not only the settlements but huge areas of adjacent land designated by Israel as belonging to the settlements. Peace Now has a map of the settlements/land that will annexed [click for greater detail].
Include as part of Jerusalem settlements/lands located far from the current borders of Jerusalem, extending deep into the West Bank nearly to Jericho (the Palestinian city located on the border with Jordan) and including settlement located closer to Hebron than to Jerusalem.
Effectively annex the area of the planned E-1 settlement, the same area where the Khan al-Ahmar community continues to await the fate of Israel’s plan to forcibly relocate them (a war crime) out of the area.
Redraw the borders of the Jerusalem Municipality to cut out several Palestinian neighborhoods that are legally part of the Municipality but that Israel elected to leave on the West Bank side of its separation barrier (these neighborhoods would have new “sub-municipalities” created for them).

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi stated bluntly “such efforts represent the end of the two-state solution.”

The anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now writes,

The bill states that its implementation would allow to maintain a “demographic balance” between Jews and Palestinians in Jerusalem, and will allow for the expansion of construction of housing units and industry in the area. It is clear that the idea is to allow rapid settlement construction in settlements near Jerusalem and create facts on the ground which will prevent the chance for a two state solution, and at the same time excise Palestinian neighborhood by the formation of “sub-municipalities” or if you will, Bantustans, devoid of resources which will allow them to be self-sufficient.

J Street writes that passage of the bill,

would be a major step in Israel’s ongoing, de facto annexation of territory throughout the West Bank – and pose a massive threat to the possibility of ever achieving a two-state solution. If carried out, Israel would be crossing a major red line by unilaterally imposing its own solution to a vital final status issue.

In addition to the “Greater Jerusalem Bill,” a second bill regarding Jerusalem is also on the Knesset’s winter docket. If passed, this bill would amend Israel’s Basic Law to require a supermajority – 80 out of 120 votes – in the Knesset to approve any deal that transfers sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem to a foreign entity. This gives the Knesset veto power over any future peace deal reasonably assuming that the Palestinians will not agree to cede all of Jerusalem (it’s historic capital and home to sacred religious and national sites) to Israel.

Americans for Peace Now explains,

If passed into law, this measure would be unmatched in the Israeli legal code. No other Israeli government executive decision requires a two-thirds majority. This legislation would tie the hands of future governments in negotiating peace and will grant a de facto veto to representatives of the Israeli public’s anti-peace minority. The bill passed an initial vote and will need to pass three additional readings to become law. The absurdity is that the law, if passed, will surely garner significantly fewer than the 80 votes it demands for a future decision on Jerusalem.

Earlier this month, when these two bills were first unveiled, Terrestrial Jerusalem’s founder Danny Seidemann warned:

Cumulatively, these … initiatives constitute an effort to implement the most radical changes in the status of East Jerusalem since the Israeli annexation in June 1967, and threaten to profoundly detrimental impacts on the prospects of a future political agreement. Indeed, it is difficult to overestimate their significance. Together they would create a radically new geopolitical reality in Jerusalem and its environs.

Ir Amim also cautions:

The bills have not surfaced in a vacuum; they complement a series of recent initiatives calculated to impose crucial territorial-political facts on the ground under the guise of “municipal moves.” They would preempt chances of a political resolution to the conflict, weaken the urban fabric, and ratchet up tensions in Jerusalem.

Assault on Jerusalem [And a Negotiated Solution], Part 2: East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave in Jabal al-Mukaber Set to Triple in Size

In addition to the wave of settlement approvals by the Israeli High Planning Council last week [read last week’s Settlement Report here], on Oct. 25th, the Jerusalem Municipality issued conditional building permits for 176 new units in the Nof Zion settlement enclave. The permits are pending until the settlers submit proof of ownership papers; the missing paperwork has delayed the issuance of the permits since the plan was first leaked in early September (it’s not clear what has changed to allow for them to be issued now).

Map by Peace Now

Nof Zion is inside the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabel al-Mukaber in occupied East Jerusalem. The new units will nearly triple the size of the enclave, making it the largest of its kind in East Jerusalem.

When reports of the building permits for Nof Zion surfaced earlier this year, it sparked outrage and concern over unrestrained settlement growth in East Jerusalem and its impacts on the future of Jerusalem. The same concerns are now more urgent and alarming, as it appears there are no settlement plans too controversial for the Netanyahu government to greenlight.

Ir Amim writes,

The primary objective of the settlers’ infiltration into the Palestinian neighborhoods in and around the Old City is to undermine the possibility of dividing Jerusalem, thereby foiling the possibility of a political resolution on the city and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The building permits will issue a clear statement that the Israeli government sanctions and supports the establishment of new facts on the ground designed for this purpose.

Assault on Jerusalem [And a Negotiated Solution], Part 3: First New, Government-Backed East Jerusalem Settlement in Decades, Atarot, Inches Closer Towards Construction

In a move described by city planning experts as “nothing less than fantasty,” the Israeli government has set aside millions of shekels to build 10,000+ units in a new settlement planned at the site known as Atarot, in the northern part of East Jerusalem. If implemented, Atarot would be the first new government-backed settlement established in East Jerusalem since the construction of Har Homa in the 1990s [unless plans to move ahead with the new settlement of Givat Hamatos come to fruition first – in that case, Givat Hamatos would be the first new government-backed settlement established in East Jerusalem since the early 1990s; Atarot would be the second].

Map by Peace Now

The planned Atarot settlement would be located in the northern part of the East Jerusalem, extending to the southern edge of the West Bank city of Ramallah. It would include 10,000+ units for ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis. The location for construction is site of the disused Atarot airport. The airport site is an important commodity, reportedly promised to the Palestinians for their state’s future international gateway. Developing the site into a Jewish Israeli settlement would deprive a future Palestinian state of the only airport in the West Bank, dismember Palestinian neighborhoods in the norther 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).

FMEP first reported on Atarot in April 2017 when the settlement plan was rumored to be included on the master blueprint of settlements for which Netanyahu intended to seek U.S. approval. It was expected to be announced in May on the occasion of the Jerusalem Day celebration, but until now, the plan has not advanced.

The plan dates back to 2007; it was pursued by the Israeli government in 2012 but shelved under pressure from the Obama administration. At that time, 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.

This week, Peace Now commented:

This is a crazy plan, both politically and in terms of planning. It is an attempt to drive a wedge into the heart of an urban area of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Since the neighborhood of Har Homa was established in the 1990s, no new Israeli neighborhood has been built beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem.

Reported New U.S. Settlement Policy: Expand at Will, but Don’t Surprise Us

According to a report posted on Al-Monitor, two months of secret negotiations between the U.S. and Israel have resulted in an unofficial framework for how Israel, with U.S. approval, will advance and expand settlements. The agreement reportedly entails the following:

The U.S. will see all settlement plans Israel has decided to approve before they are advanced bureaucratically (i.e., before moves that allow them to become public).
Israel can approve plans for new settlement units anywhere that is adjacent to an existing unit (read: in any/all/every settlement or outpost).
With respect to the West Bank, there is an unspecified limit on the quantity of new units that each new settlement project is allowed.
With respect to East Jerusalem, there is no limit on the number of units allowed to advance as long as rules 1 & 2 are respected.

It should be noted that the only plan that appears to violate the letter of this leaked deal is the plan for the Atarot settlement in East Jerusalem, which is not adjacent to any existing units (rule #2).

Israeli Justice Minister Personally Involved in Drafting State Responses to Settlement Petitions before the High Court of Justice

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is coming under fire for her intervention in every case before the High Court related to Israeli settlements and unauthorized outposts. Haaretz reported this week that since being appointed, Shaked has retained the services of a private lawyer to review and redraft each and every state response related to settlements and outposts before that response is submitted to the High Court of Justice. Moreover, the lawyer Shaked selected for this task comes from the notorious far-right, pro-settler group Regavim — a group that devotes its efforts to systematically mapping out and expelling Palestinians from strategic areas in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Negev.
Further Haaretz reporting revealed the Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit and the State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan (whose office ostensibly produces the first draft of state responses that Shaked then edits) have defended Shaked against criticism for this heavy handed political interference in legal matters.

Updates: Netiv Ha’avot and the “Settler Security Package”

Map by Peace Now

The Israeli High Court dismissed a state-backed petition by settlers challenging the planned demolition of 17 structures built wholly or partly on privately-owned Palestinian land in the unauthorized outpost of Netiv Ha’avot. The settlers asked that 15 of the structures only be partially demolished, leaving intact the portions of them that are not on Palestinian land. The Court rejected the request and ordered the structures to be demolished. The entire outpost of Netiv Ha’avot is slated to be razed by March 2018 following a High Court ruling. Just last week, the High Planning Council approved a plan (a plan it called “improper” but approved anyway) to build 17 temporary new homes for Netiv Ha’avot residents on lands between the Elazar and Alon Shvut settlements. This land parcel is outside of either of the settlements’ jurisdictions – in effect, it is another case of rewarding settlers for breaking the law by “compensating” them with the establishment of a brand-new settlement. However, to avoid the appearance that this is the case, the High Planning Council ordered the borders of Alon Shvut to be formally expanded before the structures are built to include the parcel (which would mean that the plan would not, retroactively, violate the new U.S.-Israeli policy understanding reported previously).
Settlers continued to protest Netanyahu even after news last week that the government plans to dispense $939 million in 2019 for the “settler security package” they are demanding. In an attempt to placate the settlers’ demands, Netanyahu met with the settler leaders to speed up his government’s timeline for beginning the West Bank settlement infrastructure projects, outlining a plan to invest $228 million beginning in next year. According to the unwritten plan, the 2018 projects will include paving five new settler-only highways to bypass Palestinian villages.

Bonus Reads

“Dangerously ‘imprecise’ on Israeli settlements” (Americans for Peace Now)
“Unprotected: Detention of Palestinian Teenagers in East Jerusalem” (B’Tselem & HaMoked)
“Settler Leaders Appeal to High Court Over Bypass Road” (Jerusalem Post)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

October 4, 2017

Bibi Backs Bill to Annex Settlements into Jerusalem’s Municipality (and Cut Out Palestinians)
Tenders for Givat Hamatos to be Issued in Coming Months
Eastern Ring Road Construction Has Started, Enabling Future E-1 Construction
Ambassador Friedman Says Settlements Are Part of Israel, Gives Settlement Growth a Green Light
Putting It All Together: Israeli Actions and U.S. Statements
Update: Amichai Construction Stalled (Again)
Bonus Reads

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

Bibi Backs Bill to Annex Settlements into Jerusalem’s Municipality (and Cut Out Palestinians)

On October 2nd while speaking in the Ma’ale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced his support for the “Greater Jerusalem” bill, a piece of legislation that proposes annexing 19 settlements into Israel’s Jerusalem municipality while simultaneously creating new municipalities for Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem that fall on the West Bank side of the separation wall. FMEP covered similar legislation in our July 28th Settlement Report. At the event, Netanyahu also promised thousands of new units for the settlement and vowed that it will be a part of Israel forever.

The legislation’s author, Yisrael Katz (Likud) who serves as both the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Intelligence, explained the bill’s purpose is to “strengthen Jerusalem by adding thousands of Jewish residents to the city, while simultaneously weakening the Arab hold on the capital.” Netanyahu has members of his governing coalition to formally introduce the “Greater Jerusalem” bill by the end of the year.

Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann reported previously on the bill in detail here. Writing about this latest development, he observed: “Such a move has correctly been viewed in the past as tantamount to de facto annexation and the erasure of the Green Line…a new and deeply disturbing geopolitical reality is taking shape before our very eyes.”

Tenders for Givat Hamatos to be Issued in Coming Months

Terrestrial Jerusalem reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to allow tenders to be issued for the establishment of the two-state ending Givat Hamatos settlement, in the southern part of Jerusalem. Rumors of these tenders first emerged in August of this year.

Map by Peace Now

If constructed, Givat Hamatos will be the first new government-backed Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem since the establishment of Har Homa in 1997. The settlement will complete the barrier of settlements that sever Palestinian East Jerusalem from Bethlehem to its south, and inside Jerusalem will complete the isolation of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa from any possible connection to the West Bank. Givat Hamatos will thus prevent a border from being drawn in Jerusalem along the lines of the Clinton Parameters (i.e., according to which Palestinian neighborhoods are part of Palestine and Israeli neighborhoods are part of Israel), and in a manner that permits the emergence of a Palestinian state with a viable capital in Jerusalem.

Eastern Ring Road Construction Has Started, Enabling Future E-1 Construction

Peace Now reports that Israel has started construction on a controversial and highly consequential portion of the “Eastern Ring Road” in the E-1 area. If this section of the road is completed and opened, it will redirect Palestinian traffic around the E-1 settlement area, ostensibly paving the way for construction of the two-state ending settlement. In June 2017, Ir Amim reported that Israel had approved a budget for the construction of this segment of the road.

Map by Peace Now

The “Eastern Ring Road” is often called the “Apartheid Road” because the separation wall runs down the middle of the road, separating Palestinian and Israeli settler traffic. Israel designed the Eastern Ring Road, which is still incomplete after years of stalled construction, to solve several problems it faces in connecting Israeli settlements to Jerusalem.

Peace Now explains:

This road is part of a future road, which, if completed, will allow Israel to build in E-1 and divide the West Bank in two on the pretext that the road provides a solution to the Palestinian need to connect north to south. However, the Palestinian need is not only a question of transportation, but also a question of territory and the possibility to develop the areas at the heart of the West Bank, without which a viable Palestinian state cannot be established.

This start of this new construction comes in the context of other developments that seem to signal a serious intent to move forward with E-1. Specifically, the ongoing Israeli government plans to expel Bedouin living in the area (discussed in detail in last week’s Settlement Report) and Netanyahu’s now open embrace of legislation to effectively annex the area to Jerusalem (discussed above).

Ambassador Friedman Says Settlements Are Part of Israel, Gives Settlement Growth a Green Light

In his first on-camera interview since taking office, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman told an Israeli news outlet that Israel’s settlements are a part of Israel, breaking with 50 years of bipartisan U.S. policy that distinguishes between sovereign Israel and its settlements.

Ambassador Friedman, who personally raised money for the Beit El settlement before taking office, said:

I think the settlements are part of Israel… There was always supposed to be some notion of expansion into the West Bank, but not necessarily expansion into the entire West Bank. And I think that’s exactly what, you know, Israel has done. I mean, they’re only occupying 2% of the West Bank. There is important nationalistic, historical, religious significance to those settlements, and I think the settlers view themselves as Israelis and Israel views the settlers as Israelis.

The U.S. Department of State has not clarified Ambassador Friedman’s remarks, but has said that his comments do not represent a shift in U.S. policy. This is the second time this month that the Administration has had to publicly distance itself from controversial pro-settlement remarks by the Ambassador. However, State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert created more consternation when she was unable to clarify on record how much of the West Bank the U.S. believes to be occupied(though she was asked twice over the past week).

Additionally, days before the interview, Ambassador Friedman and U.S. Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt reportedly told Netanyahu that the U.S. accepts a distinction between what Israel calls its “settlement blocs” and far-flung, isolated settlements. Netanyahu relayed news of the (alleged) major U.S. policy shift during a private meeting with settler leaders. According to meeting participants, Netanyahu also claimed the U.S. Ambassador gave him permission to continue expanding Israeli settlements, but had warned Israel not to go overboard.

As we noted last week, actors in Israel and in the U.S. have been pushing for the U.S. to adopt such a distinction, which would allow Israel to annex the “settlement blocs” outside of the framework of a peace deal. The campaign is further evidenced by a new article written by Eli Lake, quoting Elliot Abrams extensively, defending Ambassador Friedman’s remarks about settlements being a part of Israel and arguing for Israel’s unilateral annexation of the blocs.

As we also noted last week, FMEP President Lara Friedman has written extensively against the normalization and annexation on the so-called settlement blocs. Dating back to 2013 she wrote that this approach:

“…is a recipe not for strengthening the two-state solution, but for imposing a unilateral Israeli vision of a Greater Israel extending beyond the Green Line, adjacent to a balkanized Palestinian entity. Such an outcome may be appealing to Benjamin Netanyahu and his U.S. apologists. It will never be acceptable to the Palestinians and the international community, and it certainly shouldn’t be mistaken for a “solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is calling on President Trump to fire Friedman. Debra DeLee, APN’s President & CEO, said that Ambassador Friedman’s comments are “outrageous, unacceptable, and flat-out wrong” and that “Americans should be appalled to hear our ambassador parrot this disingenuous argument, in effect revealing himself as a spokesman for the extremist ideological settler population, rather than a faithful representative of the US government.”

J Street also released a statement lambasting the Ambassador’s remarks, saying

Eradicating that distinction and normalizing settlements as “part of Israel” would severely damage the prospects for a two-state solution and undermine the United States’ capacity to act as helpful facilitator in reaching a deal to end the conflict. Such a change in policy would strengthen the position of Israel’s settlement movement and rejectionist right….While the State Department’s clarification is important, it remains unacceptable that the chief American diplomatic representative in Israel continues to misrepresent and undermine long-standing US policy. His statements are a stark reminder of why Friedman’s nomination to be ambassador to Israel faced an unprecedented level of congressional opposition, with a record 46 senators voting against. It is now clear that concerns about Friedman as an official representative of the United States because of his long history of close ideological and financial ties to the settlement movement were well-founded.

Putting It All Together: Israeli Actions and U.S. Statements

A few of the major Jerusalem-area developments over the past couple months include:

The advancement of the “Greater Jerusalem” bill that will annex Israeli settlements to the Jerusalem municipality and cut out Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. [reported above]
The advancement of settlement plans in Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem and surrounding settlements including Ramat Shlomo/Neve Ya’akov. [Terrestrial Jerusalem]
An uptick in evictions and demolitions in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem (Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and Issawiya to name a few) and al-Walajah (part of al-Walajah is inside of the Jerusalem municipality, this is the area where the threat of evictions and is most acute).
Israel’s stated plan to forcibly relocate the Khan al-Ahmar community from the area near the E-1 and Ma’ale Adumim settlements. [B’Tselem]
News of imminent tenders for the Givat Hamatos settlement and for the expansion of the Nof Zion settlement enclave inside of a Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood. [Terrestrial Jerusalem & Peace Now]
The resumption of construction of the “Eastern Ring Road” which paves the way for Israel to build in E-1. [Peace Now]

Over the same period, the key statements from Trump Administration officials have been:

Amb. Friedman and Jason Greenblatt reportedly told Israel not to “go overboard” on settlement growth, but gave a clear green light for settlement growth.
In an on-camera interview with Walla Israel, Amb. Friedman said that settlements are a part of Israel and that Israel is only occupying 2% of the West Bank.
Amb. Friedman referred to the “alleged occupation” in an interview with the Jerusalem Post,
The State Department has been unable to explain or clarify Ambassador Friedman’s remarks regarding the amount of the West Bank that Israel is occupying, or the status of Israeli settlements.
The Trump administration continues its refusal to directly comment on any specific settlement announcement, and has yet to do so with this week’s news regarding the “Greater Jerusalem” bill.

The United State’s diplomatic pressure has played an historically important role in dissuading Israel from pursuing two-state ending settlement activity in the Jerusalem area. That diplomatic pressure, it seems, is no longer a factor.

Update: Amichai Construction Stalled (Again)

The construction of the new settlement of “Amichai” has once again stalled. This week the government reportedly declined to expedite the transfer of funds to the contractor building Amichai, instead requiring the contractor to go through the planning process to acquire and additional tender. Until the tender is officially approved by the government, the contractor is unable to continue the construction due to lack of funds.

The new settlement of Amichai was approved earlier this year as a pay-off for the families who illegally established the Amona outpost and were forcibly evacuated earlier this year. Amichai is the first new West Bank settlement to be approved by the Israeli government in the past 25 years.

Bonus Reads

“How Settlers Turn Archeological Sites Into Political Tools” (Al Monitor)
“UN Special Envoy Says Israel Ignoring Demand to Halt Settlements” (Times of Israel)
“Apartheid in Hebron” (Arab American Institute)
“Goods from Israel Settlements Granted Preferential EU Trade Deals” (Middle East Monitor)
“Despite Police Restrictions, MKs Tour East Jerusalem” (Jerusalem Post)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

July 28, 2017

Bibi Embraces “Population Transfer” – Asks for US OK
The Knesset & Bibi Move to Gerrymander Jerusalem
Settlers Set Up Outpost, Seek to Expand Settlement as “Response” to Murders
Settlers Seize Contested Building in Hebron
Construction on New Settlement in Shilo Valley Stalled (Due to Lack of Funds)
High-Ranking Government Officials Defend Outpost from Demolition
Bonus Reads

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

Bibi Embraces “Population Transfer” – Asks for US OK

According to a report from Israel’s Channel 2 News, Prime Minister Netanyahu recently asked U.S. Ambassador David Friedman and Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt to support a populated land-swap as part of a future peace deal.

Map in CSMonitor

The swap in question would transfer 300,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel (living in the Wadi Ara region, an area known as “the triangle,” near Haifa) to the Palestinians, in exchange for Israel’s annexation of settlements in the Etzion bloc. The plan – which was previously championed by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who even proposed it at the United Nations – is in effect a population transfer that would allow Israel to get rid of a large cluster of Palestinian cities, including the city where the two terrorists who attacked guards at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount last week grew up.

An unnamed White House official made a statement in response to the report saying, “This may have been one of many ideas discussed several weeks ago in the context of a peace agreement and not in the context of a separate annexation.”

FMEP President Lara Friedman commented on what message Bibi’s endorsement of this idea sends: for the current Israeli government, “citizenship of Jews is inalienable right; citizenship of Arabs is revocable privilege.”

Arab Israeli MK Aida Touma-Suliman responded to the report saying, “The cat is out of the bag and Netanyahu has shown his true colors regarding the Arab population…the [Wadi] Ara residents are not only Israeli citizens, they’re also indigenous people who dwell on their land, and are not to be compared with settlers dwelling on another nation’s land. We the Arab citizens aren’t part of any such equation and aren’t willing to pay the price again for Israel’s policy of occupation and settlements.”

When Avigdor Liberman promoted the idea back in 2014, then-President Shimon Peres said, “Israel cannot take away its citizens’ citizenship simply because they’re Arab.” Then-Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar said, “An Israeli citizen is not an object and not transferable as part of a framework political agreement.” Netanyahu has never expressed support for the plan prior to this news report, but the plan has allegedly come up in negotiations before.

The area of settlements known as the “Etzion Bloc” is home to over 22 settlements and 75,000 Israeli settlers. The loose cluster of settlements is located south of Jerusalem, extending from the 1967 Green Line deep into the West Bank; most of the settlements are on the Israeli side of the separation barrier. The major traffic junction in the area has recently seen numerous car-ramming and stabbing attacks by Palestinians targeting Israeli settlers and soldiers in the area, including an attack today that resulted in the death of the attacker and no other reported injuries.

The Knesset & Bibi Move to Gerrymander Jerusalem

In tandem with the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif crisis is, three important bills regarding Jerusalem’s future have advanced in the Knesset:

Map by Haaretz

Prime Minister Netanyahu announced his support for a bill in the Knesset that would allow 130,000 Israeli settlers living four West Bank settlements to vote in Jerusalem’s municipal elections while effectively excluding around 100,000 Palestinians from the Jerusalem municipality (most obviously the Shuafat refugee camp and Kafr Aqab, which are located outside the separation barrier). The four settlements are Maale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Beitar Illit, and Efrat, the last of which is six miles from Jerusalem. All are illegal under international law. Netanyahu’s support for this bill means that it is set to move forward when the Knesset’s reconvenes from its 3-month summer recess in November.
Another bill (introduced a few days before the one described above) would allow the Israeli government to transfer Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem outside the barrier to a separate, new municipality, created especially for this purpose. This bill and the one above aim to remove from the municipal area of Israel’s eternal, united capital those areas that threaten the Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem, relegating them to a separate authority.
These bills are complementary to a bill voted on last week that seeks to prevent the Israeli government from transferring parts of Jerusalem to a foreign power (i.e. the Palestinian government) in a future peace deal.

Settlers Set Up Outpost, Seek to Expand Settlement as “Response” to Murders

Following the horrific murder of three Israelis living in the Halamish settlement, the settlement’s leaders are seeking to consolidate and expand their illegal presence in the West Bank.

Map by Peace Now Israel

Within hours of the murder, hundreds of Halamish residents set up a campsite and a blockade of the eastern road leading to the settlement. The campsite is being called “Yad Ahi,” or “My Brother’s Hand” in memory of the three family members who were slain by a Palestinian youth last Friday. Settlers are rotating shifts inhabiting the campsite, aiming to make it an official outpost of the settlement and permanently close the road to Palestinians.

Halamish leaders are also demanding the government allow the expansion the settlement’s borders. A spokesman of the Binyamin Regional Council (which represents and provides municipal services to settlements in the Halamish region) called on the government to approve construction plans connecting the Halamish settlement to a nearby outpost called Tzofit, in order to “create a bigger security area and allow building neighborhoods that have already received zoning approvals.” Tzofit (also known as “Zufit” and/or “Elisha Preparatory”) is an illegal outpost that was established in 2007.

U.S. Ambassador David Friedman and Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt went to the illegal Halamish settlement this week to offer their condolences to the victims of the murder.

Halamish is located northwest of Ramallah, deep inside the West Bank. When the settlement was founded in the 1970s, Palestinian residents from the nearby towns of Deir Nidham and Nabi Saleh sued to stop the settlement’s construction, claiming it was being built on their villages’ land. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of the settlers, declaring the area to be state land. The Halamish settlement and its ever-growing encroachment on surrounding Palestinian villages has inspired weekly protests in Deir Nidham and Nabi Saleh, which has become infamous for weekly demonstrations – often involving clashes with the IDF – in recent years, often with international participation.

Settlers Seize Contested Building in Hebron

On the evening of July 25th — while events in Jerusalem were dominating the attention of the region and the world — 120 settlers broke into and illegally occupied a contested building near the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. The Israeli army immediately surrounded the building and on the morning of July 26th the area was declared a “closed military zone.” Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Defense Ministry to allow the settlers to stay as negotiations on their fate and ownership of the building continue.

Map by B’Tselem

The Times of Israel reports that, “sources close to the prime minister said that Netanyahu was looking to avoid having to evacuate the families.” On the other hand, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid called for their immediate evacuation. As of this writing, the settlers are still being allowed to illegally squat in the property.

Peace Now warned that the settler’s action can “ignite the region” and called on the government to, “follow the law and the Israeli interest and evacuate the trespassers without delay.”

J Street issued a statement calling on the U.S. government and international actors to pressure Israel to remove the settlers, saying “the Hebron settlers and their allies clearly believe that they can take advantage of the present crisis and push their long-term expansionist agenda by creating new ‘facts on the ground.’ It is vital that the prime minister and defense minister act in the best interests of Israeli security and uphold the rule of law by swiftly removing these families from the property.”

Hebron’s settlers have for some time been waging in a legal struggle to prove they legally purchased the building, known as the Machpela House. Palestinians contend they did not purchase it from the legal owners. While proceedings are ongoing, the settlers have once before broken into and occupied the building; when they did so in 2012, they were allowed to stay in the house for a week before being evacuated at the urging of the then-Attorney General of Israel who argued that it was necessary to preserve the rule of law.

Construction on New Settlement in Shilo Valley Stalled (Due to Lack of Funds)

A month after construction began on the first new settlement authorized by Israel in 25 years, the project has come to a halt – no over politics but due to insufficient government funds. The government had promised to bankroll the settlement’s construction but has not contributed to costs yet, according to the Binyamin Regional Council, which is currently footing the bill. The spokesman for the Binyamin Regional Council speculated on July 25th that the issue will be resolved quickly and expressed confidence in the government’s commitment to the project. Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly gave orders to ensure construction is resumed quickly. As of this writing, there is no reporting to suggest construction has resumed.

High-Ranking Israeli Officials Defend Outpost from Demolition

Last week we reported on an impending demolition order against the Netiv Ha’avot outpost (near Bethlehem), along with the public relations efforts settlers were leading to elicit government intervention in their favor. The settlers got a helping hand this week when Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid (who heads the Yesh Atid political party) attended an event at the outpost. The Haaretz report suggests Bennett engaged in a conversation with the outpost’s leaders on how to “deal with” the demolition order and impending deadline.

Bonus Reads

“This Synagogue Furniture Factory Is Actually a Sweatshop That Tramples Palestinians’ Rights” (July 26, 2017, Haaretz+)
“The Settler Leader Who’s Even Charming Liberals as Israel’s Top Man in New York” (July 27, 2017, Haaretz+)
“A Rare Glimpse: Shabak Agent Recruiting Hilltop Youth” (July 3, 2017, Jewish Press)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

July 21, 2017

In Jerusalem’s North: The “Adam-Neve Ya’akov” Plan Resurfaces
In Jerusalem’s South: The “Gilo Southeast” Plan Expected to Advance
In the Shadow of Jerusalem’s Old City: Settler-Run Visitor Center is Approved
In the Heart of East Jerusalem: Alarming Plans Advance As Expected
U.S. Department of State: Settlements & Settlers Provoke Violence
Settlement Outpost Near Bethlehem is Angling to Avoid Demolition
Court Wants Settlers/Palestinians to “Negotiate” Land Theft Ex-Post Facto
Bonus Reads

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

In Jerusalem’s North: The “Adam-Neve Ya’akov” Plan Resurfaces

The Israeli Construction & Housing Ministry announced impending plans for a 1,100 unit housing project to Jerusalem’s immediate northeast.

Map by Ir Amim

The plan aims to connect large settlements in East Jerusalem (Neveh Ya’akov and Pisgat Zeev) with an isolated settlement in the West Bank (Adam, aka Geva Binyamin). The land identified for the project is within the municipal boundaries of Adam, but on the Israeli side of the separation barrier (the route of the separation barrier in this area cuts deep into the West Bank). If implemented, the Adam settlement would have built up areas on both sides of the barrier.

Israeli Housing Minister Yoav Galant’s office issued a statement explaining, “We will be everywhere that it is possible to build and to provide solutions to the housing shortage, particularly, as in the case of Adam, in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In Greater Jerusalem, there is also particular security importance in Israeli [territorial] contiguity from the Gush Etzion Bloc in the south to Atarot in the north, and from Ma’aleh Adumim in the east to Givat Ze’ev in the west.”

Ir Amim writes that the plan would, “further fracture a future Palestinian state by… breaking contiguity from north to south… while isolating the southern perimeter of Ramallah from East Jerusalem, the future capital of the Palestinian state. Advancing a project of this size, given its extreme geo-political ramifications, would have a fatal impact on the two-state solution.”

The same plan was developed in the early 2000s and explored in 2007 and again in 2008, but shelved because of its political sensitivity and international concern for the future of Jerusalem and the prospects for a two-state solution. Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann of Terrestrial Jerusalem writes, “What is different now than in the past is talk of the plan comes in the context of an opening of the settlement floodgates in East Jerusalem, including green lights and expediting of plans the implementation of which, for any number of reasons, in the past was far-fetched or even inconceivable. Consequently, it is important to flag this scheme as early as possible, and to monitor in vigilantly.”

In Jerusalem’s South: The “Gilo Southeast” Plan Expected to Advance

Map by Ir Amim

The Israeli government is set to advance a plan to expand the borders of the Gilo settlement (between Jerusalem and Bethlehem) in order to build 3,000 new units. This plan, called “Gilo Southeast,” is expected to be considered at a meeting on July 26th.

If implemented, Gilo Southeast would further surround the Palestinian city of Beit Safafa, severing the town from the West Bank. An area of intense Israeli settlement infrastructure growth (a settler-only freeway divides the community, and the area has been the focus of demolitions of Palestinian homes), Beit Safafa’s Palestinian residents describe a life under siege.

Gilo Southeast is just one of several alarming plans threatening to sever Palestinian contiguity between East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank:

Gilo Southeast would abut the border of the Givat Hamatos doomsday plan, which is only waiting for the publication of tenders to begin construction. The Givat Hamatos plan has remained blocked under the previous political calculations, but can be tendered at any moment.
The plan would also connect Gilo to Har Homa, a fast growing settlement that was built with the Netanyahu’s approval in 1997 – the last official settlement to be built until the recent approval of the Amichai settlement.

Ir Amim writes that Gilo Southeast would create “one more link in a chain of developments designed to seal off the southern perimeter of Jerusalem from the West Bank, nullifying prospects for a two state solution.”

In the Shadow of Jerusalem’s Old City: Settler-Run Visitor Center is Approved

Map by Emek Shaveh

Last week the controversial Visitor’s Center in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan (known to Israelis as the “City of David” and located just outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City in the shadow of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif) took another important step forward in the final stages of the planning process. According to the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, the plan “awaits final approval by the Israel Antiquities Authority, which will only be granted once the archaeological excavations at the site are completed. In our assessment this should happen soon.”

Known as the “Kedem Center,” the building is being financed and promoted by the settler-run Elad Foundation, whose goal is to establish Jewish hegemony over all of Jerusalem (i.e. erase all Palestinian presence, history, and any visibility in the city). The Center will be the largest, state-of-the-art tourism center in Jerusalem and will also serve as a station for the new cable car line approved this year, a cable car line that is designed to facilitate tourists visits to Jewish sites in East Jerusalem while preventing tourists from encountering Palestinians.

Emek Shaveh issued a statement saying, “this project will change the landscape in the area between the Old City and the village of Silwan, and will have a considerable impact on the identity of the Historic Basin. The purpose of the Kedem Center is first and foremost political – to Judaize Silwan and prevent a political solution for Jerusalem.”

The Jerusalem Post reports the Kedem Center plan was approved by Prime Minister Netanyahu as a defiant gesture following UNESCO’s decision to designate sites in Hebron as World Heritage Sites, which Netanyahu incorrectly says deny Jewish history.

In the Heart of East Jerusalem: Plans Advance as Expected

In addition to the north, south, and center settlements plans detailed above, previously reported settlement plans targeting East Jerusalem were all approved for deposit for public review at a government meeting last week. We reported extensively on these in our last edition, here. The plans approved for deposit for public review include the incendiary plans in the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, and more.

Though the plans were all approved for deposit for public review, as of this writing none have been deposited (yet). Like almost every step in the Israeli settlement planning process, actually depositing the plans for public comment is itself a political decision.

U.S. Department of State: Settlements & Settlers Provoke Violence

In the recently released 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism, Secretary Tillerson’s State Department writes, “Continued drivers of violence included a lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood, Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the perception that the Israeli government was changing the status quo on the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount, and IDF tactics that the Palestinians considered overly aggressive.” [emphasis added]

Notably, the 2015 Country Reports on Terrorism (an Obama Administration document) did not focus on the role of settlements or identify settlements/settlers as a “driver of violence.” The 2015 document simply noted a handful of terrorist incidents, including the trend of “price-tag attacks,” committed by settlers and committed by Palestinians near settlements.

Settlement Outpost Near Bethlehem is Angling to Avoid Demolition

A settlement outpost near Bethlehem – built illegally even under Israeli law – is fighting a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to demolish 17 buildings that were found to have been built on land owned by Palestinians. A 2016 decision ruled that buildings in the center of the outpost sit partially on Palestinian land and must be demolished by March 2018. The NGO Yesh Din has an additional, broader petition before the High Court that seeks to prove that the whole outpost is on Palestinian land.

Map by Peace Now

The Netiv Ha’avot outpost was built in 2001 as an additional “neighborhood” of the Elazar settlement southwest of Bethlehem, but was in fact built on a hilltop near the outskirts of the settlement, on land located beyond the settlement’s borders. Forty Israeli settler families currently live there, 15 of which will be affected by the demolition orders.

The outposts’ residents are aggressively pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene in their favor (Netanyahu has already caved to vociferous settler protests several times this year). At a demonstration in support of the outpost, signs read “This destruction too is on your watch” (referring to the Amona evacuation) and “Bibi wake up and intervene.”

Court Wants Settlers/Palestinians to “Negotiate” Land Theft Ex-Post Facto

The Israeli Supreme Court made an unusual move to try to avoid having to return private land to Palestinians. The ruling pertains to a case in the Jordan Valley, where the Israeli military seized Palestinian private land for military uses, and subsequently (and improperly, according to Israeli law) gave the land to settlers. Rather than compel the settlers to return the stolen land to its owners, the court wants the Palestinians to negotiate with the settlers for compensation. The court’s move – which is in response to a 2013 petition – is an attempt to resolve the issue without having to rule on the validity of the land seizure, and without having to compel Israel to forfeit the land and evict the settlers (even if doing so requires suspending even the pretense of the rule of law).

Haaretz explains how we got here, “After the Israeli occupation of the West Bank began in 1967, the army issued an order prohibiting Palestinians from entering the area between the border fence and the Jordan River. At the beginning of the ‘80s, the government decided to encourage farmers to work the fields to create a buffer zone with Jordan. The World Zionist Organization was given the land and leased it to settlers.”

Bonus Reads

“In Israel’s ‘eternal capital’ anti-Palestinian discrimination is built-in” (July 16, 2017; +972 Mag)
“Black is the New Orange: 30% of Settlers are Haredim” (July 18, 2017; Times of Israel)
“Why Adelson is Pouring Millions of Dollars Into an Army-run Israeli University in the West Bank” (July 19, 2017; Haaretz+)
“The Biggest Attack in Jerusalem” (July 18, 2017; Haaretz+)
REPORT: “Insurance against political risk: Settlements and the Yanai governmental insurance corporation” (Akevot, July 21, 2017)

Overview: “Archival records, now declassified at Akevot’s request, tell the story of the financial safety net Israeli government provided for commercial companies and settlement agencies beyond the Green Line. Referred to as a “political guarantee” or “political insurance”, it protected settlers and investors in the occupied territories against such “political risks” as Israel’s evacuation from the occupied territories, policy changes or boycotts. As use of the government guarantees gradually expanded, a government insurance corporation was created, to sell insurance policies against these political risks. This is the story of the political guarantee in the occupied territories and the Yanai insurance corporation.”