Settlement Report: February 22, 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.

February 22, 2018

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

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

Caravans Move Into New Shiloh Valley Settlement

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

Map by Peace Now

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

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

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

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

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

State Requests Delay of Demolitions in Netiv Ha’avot Outpost

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

Map by Times of Israel

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

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

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

Process Begins for Major Expansion of Gilo Settlement in East Jerusalem

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

Terrestrial Jerusalem writes:

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

Ir Amim writes:

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

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

Map by Peace Now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Israel Evacuates Outpost, Again

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

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

Jordan Valley Annexation?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Katz also said (among other things):

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

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

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

Bonus Must-Reads

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

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

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

February 15, 2018

Longtime Settler Leader Appointed to Head Government Team to Legalize Outposts
Plans Advance for Settlement Expansion, Including “Unusual” Plan for the Netiv Ha’avot Outpost
De Facto Annexation: Israel Extend Domestic Law to Settlement Colleges & Universities
Bibi Blocks Settlement Annexation Bill, But Signals Something Bigger
Updates on Jerusalem Settlement Activity
Lara Friedman: Stop Parsing Trump’s ‘Word Salad’ on Settlements
Bonus Must-Reads

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

Longtime Settler Leader Appointed to Head Government Team to Legalize Outposts

Despite criticism from the High Court of Justice, this week the Prime Minister’s office finalized the appointment of settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein to head a government team tasked with leading the process of retroactively legalizing illegal outposts across the West Bank. As FMEP reported when Wallerstein’s appointment was first announced in late October 2017, Wallerstein has been prosecuted for knowingly violating Israeli law by building a sewage plant near the Ofra settlement on private Palestinian land; has admitted to issuing forged building permits for settlement construction without the authority to do so; and has admitted to lying (again) to government authorities to expedite the construction of the (since evacuated) building the Amona outpost.

The team Wallerstein will now lead is tasked with developing legal cases – likely based on new legal precedents and opinions (here, here, and most recently here) established by Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit that support the appropriation of private Palestinian land for a public good – to “regularize” outposts (i.e., convert outposts built in violation of Israeli law into official “legal” settlements). The government has already begun to the lay the groundwork for Wallerstein’s work: a leaked recording that surfaced in mid-January revealed that a small team within the Defense Ministry has spent months identifying 70 outposts across the West Bank that it believes can be retroactively legalized.

With this appointment, Wallerstein — who has worked full-time to strengthen settlements since 1979 — will lead government-backed effort to shape the ever-evolving legal mechanisms for justifying, in the eyes of Israeli courts, the appropriation of as much private Palestinian land as possible in order to expand and entrench Israeli settlements and outposts. And notably, the legalization of these outposts will mean, in effect, that while for years Israel committed to not establish new settlements, new settlements were in reality being established continuously through unofficial means.

Plans Advance for Settlement Expansion, Including “Unusual” Plan for the Netiv Ha’avot Outpost

This week, the High Planning Council of the Israeli Civil Administration (the arm of the Israeli Defense Ministry that is the sovereign over the West Bank, governing all aspects of life) advanced several plans to expand settlements and outposts across the West Bank.

Settlement watchdog Peace Now notes that the approvals include plans both for the creation of new settlement “areas” (expanding the footprint of settlements in the West Bank) and expansion within the existing footprints:

A plan to build a hotel and race track for tourists in the Jordan Valley, near the Petza’el settlement (approved for deposit for public review).
A plan to build a gas station and school in the outpost of Mitzpe Danny, located east of Ramallah, in the middle of the West Bank (approved for validation).
A new outpost to “temporarily” house mobile homes for the residents of the Netiv Ha’avot outpost (approved the validation) – more below).
A plan for 68 new units in the Elazar settlement near Bethlehem (approved the validation).
A plan for a new cemetery to be located south of Qalqiliya (discussed but decision to deposit for public review postponed).

The Defense Ministry tried to minimize the significance of these approvals, calling them “non-residential” or “less significant,” because the High Planning Council is only supposed to convene a few times a year, per a reported agreement with the United States. The High Planning Council met once already this year, and is not due for another (what the Defense Ministry might call “significant”) meeting until April.

Peace Now responded to the plans the Defense Ministry’s claim with a statement saying,

“The government is building new settlement areas under the guise of ‘insignificant’ plans that will not include housing units. This is an old trick used to establish new settlements without calling them that by name. All of these plans—the construction of a hotel and tourist complex in the Jordan Valley, an educational campus in an illegal outpost, and even a cemetery as the first stage in the construction of a new industrial zone—in actuality create new settlements. The Netanyahu government has lost all the brakes on the road to de facto annexation of the West Bank, and it continues to distance Israel from the prospects for peace and the two-state solution.”

The plan for the Netiv Ha’avot outpost bears further explanation:

Map by Peace Now

As noted above, the High Planning Council this week approved the validation of a plan to establish a new settlement site to “temporarily” house residents of the Netiv Ha’avot outpost who are facing a court-ordered eviction from Netiv Ha’avot because the outpost was built without permits, and sits partially on private Palestinian land.
The plan moved ahead after Israeli authorities dismissed an objection brought by Peace Now and Palestinian residents of the village of Al-Khader, whose land the plan affects.
According to the approved plan, Israel will place 15 mobile homes at the selected site — connected to Israeli water, power, sewage, roads, and other infrastructure — located near, but not within, the borders of the Alon Shvut settlement.
When the High Planning Council initially approved the advancement of this plan in October 2017, it noted that “the plan is improper, but we will have to approve it as a temporary solution.” At the time, the Council ordered the government to go about expanding the borders of the Alon Shvut settlement to include the land.
Because the mobile homes will be put on land that is outside of any settlement border, the plan in effect creates a new outpost.
Under the approved plan, the new homes will be allowed to stay in that location for three years. However, based on past practice, it can be expected that within that time, or at the end of those three years, the site will “regulated” by Israel to become a permanent area of Israeli settlement.

FMEP has covered the many unfolding storylines in the Netiv Ha’avot drama repeatedly and in detail, but as a reminder: in 2016 the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the demolition of the Netiv Ha’avot outpost. As of now, 15 structures in the outpost are scheduled to be demolished next month, though efforts are still ongoing to save the structures from complete demolition. High ranking officials in the Israeli government, including Yesh Atid’s leader Yair Lapid, have supported the outposts campaign not only to save the 15 structures but to retroactively legalize the entire outpost. If the latter campaign succeeds, it will mean that the newly approved mobile home site will be available for additional settlers to inhabit for at least three years.

De Facto Annexation: Israel Extend Domestic Law to Settlement Colleges & Universities

The Knesset this week passed a bill that extends the state’s jurisdiction outside of its borders, bringing colleges and universities in settlements under the authority of the Israeli Council for Higher Education, among other things paving the way for establishment of a medical school funded by US settlement backer (and key Netanyahu and Trump supporter) Sheldon Adelson. FMEP previously reported on this bill and its implications on Feb. 1, 2018 when it passed first reading in the Knesset (a signal that the ruling coalition had approved its passage). Though limited in its direct impact, the bill’s authors and supporters have effectively created the rhetorical and legislative space in which the extraterritorial application of Israeli law is no longer questioned, nor is the ultimate end goal of annexing as much West Bank land as possible.

Unsurprisingly, the Trump Administration offered no criticism of the move.

Making clear the underlying goal of the initiative, Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) said:

“From the application of sovereignty on Ariel University [let us proceed] to the application of sovereignty on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria!”

Similarly, a leader of the Yesha Council (the umbrella organization representing Israeli settlements), Shiloh Adler, said:

“Just as there is no reason why Ariel University should be managed by a different council for higher education, we hope that the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley will soon be placed under Israeli sovereignty just like all other Jewish communities in the State of Israel”

PLO Spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi responded with a statement saying the bill:

“…represents another dangerous step in the annexation of the occupied West Bank…All settlements are illegal and constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and a direct violation of international law and conventions, including UNSC resolution 2334. Israel is thereby demonstrating its intent to prolong and consolidate its military occupation by working to ‘legalize’ the presence of extremist Jewish settlers, institutions and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

Bibi Blocks Settlement Annexation Bill, But Signals Something Bigger

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week intervened to block a vote in the Israeli cabinet on whether to lend government support to a bill in the Knesset that seeks to extend Israeli domestic law to “areas of settlement in Judea and Samaria.” The bill is modelled on a resolution adopted in January, with Netanyahu’s support, by the Likud Central Committee. That resolution calling for the formal annexation of the settlements.

In explaining his decision to block the vote at a Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu pleaded with his party to hold off on settlement annexation while he coordinated the matter with the White House, stating that he has been in discussions with the Trump Administration about “applying sovereignty” to the settlements for “some time.” A White House spokesman for Jared Kushner (who officially leads the Trump Administration’s Israel-Palestine peace efforts) strongly denied that the U.S. had engaged in any discussions with Israel about plans to annex the West Bank. The statement did not weigh in on those plans, instead reaffirming the U.S. commitment to brokering peace. Reportedly, U.S. officials privately told the Israeli government to put out a correction of Netanyahu’s statement and a senior Israeli official later released a statement partially walking back Netanyahu’s claim, suggesting instead that Netanyahu has kept the U.S. informed about various proposals in the Knesset (there are several annexation proposals that have already passed and some that are still pending).

Ignoring the kerfuffle, several MKs called on Netanyahu to ignore U.S. statements and proceed with annexation.

Americans for Peace Now released a statement saying,

“The Trump Administration must be unequivocal in both its public statements and its private discussions with Israeli officials that the United States regards annexation as entirely unacceptable.”

J Street released a statement saying,

“It would be completely irresponsible for the Trump administration to contemplate endorsing unilateral annexation in any way. US officials should be strongly warning Israel that such a move would be unacceptable — not holding discussions that could give annexation the green light.”

Updates on Jerusalem Settlement Activity

Ir Amim reports that the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee met last week to privately discuss three plans for new East Jerusalem settlement projects, all on the Mount of Olives. The three plans were all drafted by the head architect of the Elad settler organization [learn more about Elad, here]. The meeting was an attempt to circumvent the standard planning process that governs construction projects in Jerusalem – a process which requires public hearings.

Map by Haaretz

Two of the plans relate to the proposal for a new promenade connecting two settlement enclaves (Beit Orot and Beith Hahoshen) located inside the Palestinian neighborhood of A-Tur, the construction of which will require the expropriation of private Palestinian land.

The third plan is for a visitors’ center (to be run by Elad) abutting the Mount of Olives Cemetery – a plan rumored to be moving forward in June 2017. At that time, Peace Now slammed the plan, saying:

“Dragged by settler organizations, the Israeli government is willing to go out of its way to approve this sensitive plan through a highly unusual procedure. In the current political context, to establish a visitor center next to a mosque and 300 meters away from Temple Mount/Al-Haram A-Sharif is to play with fire. A visitor center in this sensitive area could have far reaching implications on the future of the two state solution and the possibility for a compromise in Jerusalem.”

Ir Amim researcher Aviv Tatarsky told Haaretz:

“Over the past two years we have witnessed increased settlement activity under the guise of tourism and heritage initiatives around the Old City. The Old City and the neighborhoods around it are the home of 100,000 Palestinians…On one hand the authorities make it hard for residents to get building permits and deny them adequate services. On the other, they are advancing in dubious ways initiatives aimed at serving the settlement organizations in the eastern part of the city.”

Lara Friedman: Stop Parsing Trump’s ‘Word Salad’ on Settlements

In an interview with Adelson-financed Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, President Trump said, “The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements.”

When asked about the significance of Trump’s criticism of settlements, FMEP President Lara Friedman said:

“He didn’t raise the issue of settlements, he was asked about it and gave a word salad response that implies nothing….There was nothing that indicated that there will be any pressure on Israel in response to the settlements. Since this administration came in, what they say has matched what their feet are doing. They are suggesting policies that are sympathetic to the Israeli right and far-right. There is nothing in [the interview] that contradicts their policy.”

Bonus Must-Reads

[Op-ed] “Take a look around. This is what annexation looks like” (+972 Mag)
[Op-ed] “No chance for peace while settlers dream of holy war” (Al-Monitor)

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 30, 2017

Israeli Attorney General Argues Against “Regulation Law,” But Endorses its Goal
One Structure Demolished in the Netiv Ha’avot Outpost, But Will Others Follow?
Interior Ministry Pushes Plan for a New Settlement City in West Bank “Seam-Line” Region
Ir Amim & Bimkom Report – “Deliberately Planned: A Policy to Thwart Planning in the Palestinian Neighborhoods of Jerusalem”
UPDATES: Bedouin Communities Fight Eviction; Jerusalem “Supermajority” Bill Advances
Bonus Reads

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

Israeli Attorney General Argues Against “Regulation Law,” But Endorses its Goal

On November 22nd, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit issued his much-anticipated response to a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the “Regulation Law,” a law passed by the Knesset in February 2017 paving the way for the retroactive legalization of 55 Israeli outposts, 4,000 illegally constructed settlement units, and seizure of thousands of dunams of Palestinian agricultural land. Two petitions were filed against the law, one by a group of Israeli NGOs (ACRI, Peace Now, and Yesh Din),the second by a group of Palestinian NGOs including Al-Mezan and Adalah.

In a 72-page opinion, AG Mandleblit said the law is “a sweeping and injurious arrangement that does not meet the test of proportionality,” adding it “will also cause severe discrimination against the Palestinian population in the region.” At the same time, Mandelblit’s underlying argument – consistent with his actions and words in recent weeks – effectively endorsed the goal of retroactively legalizing the illegal construction and land seizures through other legal means.

The Palestinian NGOs sharply criticized the AG’s opinion, saying:

Although Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit maintains that the law should be repealed, his position is still problematic from the standpoint of international law. In parallel to his opposition to the law, the AG noted that “validating” the settlements is a worthy act and that the State of Israel now has a number of other tools at its disposal that allow it to “validate” Israeli construction on private Palestinian land that was transferred to a settlement “in good faith.”

In the AG’s response, he authorizes use of these tools including, amongst other measures, expropriation of Palestinian land for “public needs,” such “regulating” the construction of an access road to an illegal Israeli settlement outpost.

Adalah, JLAC, and Al Mezan emphasize that the AG’s position clashes directly with international law explicitly forbidding the construction of settlements and the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory – this is considered a war crime. International law specifically bans harm to Palestinian property in the West Bank for the purposes of development and expansion of settlements.

Peace Now, ACRI, and Yesh Din also issued a joint statement criticizing the Attorney General for his support for retroactive legalization by means other than the Regulation Law, saying:

…despite opposing the “Regularization Law”, Mandelblit has recently approved other legal steps to allow for the takeover of privately owned Palestinian land. During the past two weeks, the AG issued two legal opinions, one concerning land near the Haresha outpost and another in Ofra, in which he approved expropriation of private Palestinian land for the sole benefit of settlements.

In his legal opinions Mandelblit fails to recognize that any takeover of private Palestinian land for the purpose of settlements stands in violation of IHL, specifically the laws of occupation that apply to the West Bank.

The undersigned organizations [ACRI, Peace Now, and Yesh Din] will continue to work against any government initiative, whether through legislation or by form of legal opinions, which violates human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.

One Structure Demolished in the Netiv Ha’avot Outpost, But Will Others Follow?

On November 29th, the Israeli army razed an illegally-built structure in the unauthorized outpost of Netiv Ha’avot, near the Elazar settlement south of Jerusalem. Dozens of settlers protested the demolition by barricading themselves inside, forcing the Israeli army to remove them one-by-one against their protests before demolishing the building.

As FMEP reported in October, the Supreme Court upheld a 2016 decision ordering the demolition of 17 structures in Netiv Ha’avot that were built on privately owned Palestinian land. The structure razed on November 29th was the second to be demolished in accordance with this ruling, following the razing of a memorial statue earlier this year. The remaining 15 structures are residential homes and must be demolished by March 2018, according to the court order.

Map by Haaretz

However, Haaretz reports that Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit will soon decide whether to save six of the remaining structures from complete demolition by issuing building permits for the sections of the homes that were built (without permits) on Israeli state land. The six structures – unlike the remaining nine – were built mostly on land that has not been proven to be privately owned by Palestinians (allowing Israel to seize it as “state land”). As FMEP reported last month, the Supreme Court has already dismissed a similar petition submitted by the settlers arguing for partial demolitions; the AG’s issuance of building permits would circumvent the court’s decision.

The Netiv Ha’avot settlers are also fighting to retroactively legalize the entire unauthorized Netiv Ha’avot outpost (not only the 17 structures that have been ordered to be demolished), which was built without permission from the Israeli government. In October, the High Planning Council advanced plans to build homes for Netiv Ha’avot residents in an alternate, ostensibly permitted, location; however, the plans specified a parcel of land that is also problematic under Israeli law because it is outside of the borders of any “legal” settlement. Indicative of how the settlement planning process often rewards illegal settlement activity with more settlement activity, the Council sought to address this challenge by ordering the borders of the nearby Alon Shvut settlement to be expanded to incorporate the land where the structures are planned to be built.

Interior Ministry Pushes Plan for a New Settlement City in West Bank “Seam-Line” Region

Map by WINEP

The Israeli Interior Ministry has reportedly recommended creating a new Israeli [settlement] city in the West Bank that unites four West Bank settlements – Etz Efraim, Sha’arei Tikva, Oranit and Elkana – allowing for increased construction on the land between them. The four settlements are all located in the “seam-line” zone, the area created by the weaving route of the Israeli separation barrier that was built to keep many settlements on the Israeli side of the barrier despite being east of the 1967 Green Line.

FMEP will report more details on this story as it develops.

Ir Amim & Bimkom Report – “Deliberately Planned: A Policy to Thwart Planning in the Palestinian Neighborhoods of Jerusalem”

A new report by Ir Amim and Bimkom shines a harsh spotlight on the discriminatory urban planning process in East Jerusalem, as well as the increasing rate of home demolitions that, coupled with settlement expansion, are undermining the future of the Palestinian community there. In three case studies, the report’s authors look at how Israel deliberately blocks applications for planning and building in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, making it impossible for Palestinians to build legally.

Ir Amim & Bimkom write

This discrimination in planning is the product of a policy driven by demographic considerations – in particular, the objective of increasing the Israeli population while reducing the Palestinian population, with the underlying goal of ensuring Jewish demographic superiority….

The outcome of this policy has a devastating impact at both the individual and community levels. Barriers to legal building push many Palestinians to build without permits. Each year, the Jerusalem Municipality (herein, Municipality) and the District Planning Bureau (formerly under the auspices of the Interior Ministry and now the Finance Ministry), demolish dozens of housing units constructed without permits in the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem; in 2016 alone, the authorities demolished 123 housing units. The psychological and economic ramifications of this reality are profound. Moreover, inadequate planning prevents the construction of schools and the development of public spaces and employment and commercial zones, thereby weakening the community as a whole.

This treatment is clearly discriminatory, particularly when contrasted with the fact that the Israeli government continues to approve and fast-track approvals both for settlement planning in construction in major settlement neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and in settlement enclaves located in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods. For details see this recent report from Peace Now.

UPDATES: Bedouin Communities Fight Eviction; Jerusalem “Supermajority” Bill Advances

Over 100 Palestinians joined residents of Jabal al-Baba to protest the Bedouin community’s imminent eviction from the E-1 settlement area just east of Jerusalem. The Jabal al-Baba community, which has lived in the area since it was expelled from the Negev in 1948, was given an eviction notice earlier this month demanding that it leave the area and stating that all structures there will be demolished. Jabal al-Baba is one of the many Bedouin communities located near Israeli settlements in Area C that are facing the imminent threat of eviction; the Khan al-Ahmar community (also located in the Maale Adumim/E-1 area) and two Jordan Valley bedouin villages have also been ordered to leave their land. The European Union has called on Israel to halt the planned demolitions. The EU statement also highlighted the impending demolition of Susiya, a Palestinian city in the South Hebron Hills. Both Susiya and Khan al-Ahmar were the subject of concern of a recent letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, signed by 10 U.S. Senators, demanding the demolitions be canceled and articulating serious concerns about the settlement enterprise, saying, “these communities are currently facing the imminent threat of evacuations and demolitions, and have been targeted by settlement movement activists seeking to entrench the Israeli occupation and prevent the ultimate creation of an independent Palestinian state.”
The Knesset’s Constitution, Law & Justice Committee voted to advance a bill that, if passed into law, will require a supermajority of votes in the Knesset to approve any deal that transfers sovereignty of any part of Jerusalem to a foreign power. This law would in effect give a minority in the Knesset veto power over any future peace deal with the Palestinians. The bill is now set for two final votes in the Knesset before becoming law. Ir Amim provides valuable analysis of the bill, and points out that the language is careful to differentiate between territorial concessions and municipal changes, a distinction that is apparently intended to support other pending legislation that would bureaucratically excise some Palestinian neighborhoods from Jerusalem – a move that the Knesset is also considering in order to manufacture and preserve a Jewish majority in the city.

Bonus Reads

“UN Settlement Business Data Can Stem Abuse” (Human Rights Watch)
“Border Homes, in Jerusalem but Not, Face an Existential Deadline” (New York Times)
“Why Won’t Israel Let Me Mourn My Father?” (New York Times)
“US Ambassador David Friedman Drops Out of West Bank Memorial Ceremony for Murdered US Citizen” (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 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 20, 2017

Israel Advances 2,646 Settlement Units
Construction of the Givat Hamatos Settlement in East Jerusalem is Underway
Israel to Invest in $939 Million “Settler Security Package” for Settlements Across the West Bank
Court Orders Evacuation of Settlers from “Machpelah House” in Hebron
As Olive Harvest Begins, Settlers Steal and Destroy the Palestinian Crop
Labor Chairman Shocks Israeli Left with Defense of Settlements
Bonus Reads

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

Israel Advances 2,646 Settlement Units

This week the Netanyahu government advanced plans for a total of 2,646 settlements units across the West Bank. According to Israel’s veteran settlement watch organization, Peace Now, the Israeli government has advanced plans for 6,742 new settlement units so far in 2017, a steep escalation from previous years.

As we reported last week, these advancements include several provocative plans that will “compensate” settlers who had built illegally in the West Bank (296 units in Beit El, 102 units in the brand-new settlement of Amichai, and 86 units in Kochav Yaakov), move towards retroactively legalizing an illegal outpost (the Netiv Ha’avot plan, which the High Planning Council called “improper” but approved anyway), enlarge settlement enclaves in Palestinian neighborhoods (31 units on Shuhada Street in Hebron – the first new settlement construction approved inside Hebron in more than a decade. Btselem’s short video documentary on Shuhada Street is here).

The anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now said:

The Israeli government has lost all its inhibitions, while promoting settlement expansion in a record pace for recent years and distancing us daily from the possibility of a two state solution. The government is sending a clear message to settlers – build illegally and anywhere and we will find a solution for you. It is clear that Netanyahu is prioritizing his settler constituency over the rule of law and the possibility for peace.

The Palestinian Authority reacted with anger, calling on the international community and the Trump administration to intervene, saying “This settlement assault comes at a time when the administration of US President Donald Trump is exerting effort and creating the conditions that will pave the way for making a real peace.” The EU and key European nations strongly condemned the settlement approvals. Germany noted, “…each new housing unit cements a one-state reality…”

The White House issued the same talking points on settlement announcements it has since President Trump took office, expressing concern that unrestrained settlement activities does not advance the prospects for peace but saying past demands for a settlement freeze have not been helpful to negotiations.

Construction of the Givat Hamatos Settlement in East Jerusalem is Underway

Map by Peace Now

In addition to the massive wave of settlement advancements this week, infrastructure work has started at the site of the long awaited (and much feared) Givat Hamatos settlement in East Jerusalem. Construction workers and machinery were spotted clearing the ground as the Israeli government prepares to issue the first tender for the settlement, which will green-light the construction of some 1,600 units. [image]

The construction of Givat Hamatos will be especially devastating to the two-state solution. It will complete a barrier of Israeli settlements between Jerusalem and Bethlehem; it will complete the encirclement and isolation of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa; and, it will be the first new Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem in 20 years.

Ir Amim writes,

Construction of Givat Hamatos – prospectively, the first new [government-backed] settlement in East Jerusalem in two decades – would cap off a wave of simultaneous developments along the southern flank of East Jerusalem to complete consolidation of Israeli control of the southern perimeter and render the two state solution nonviable.

Peace Now writes:

The preparation for a tender in Givat Hamatos, together with Netanyahu’s statements last week regarding the construction of thousands of housing units in Ma’ale Adumim with heavy hints towards E1, are all a part of the government’s effort to create a de-facto annexation and prevent the possibility for two states on the ground. Netanyahu is taking far-reaching steps, which he has thus far avoided, and by doing so he risks the two state solution and the future of Israel.

The Givat Hamatos plan received final approval two years ago, but construction was delayed in light of international pressure including interventions by the Obama administration. As FMEP reported earlier this year, at the onset of the Trump administration, reports suggested a huge slate of Jerusalem area projects would now move forward – those rumored plans included Givat Hamatos, Atarot, Ramat Shlomo, and more (including E-1). Though an official announcement of advancement of those plans has not yet been made, the movement on Givat Hamatos piques concerns of additional major new settlement developments in the Jerusalem area.

Israel to Invest in $939 Million “Settler Security Package” for Settlements Across the West Bank

The Times of Israel reports that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is planning to allocate $939 million for projects for settlers and settlements across the West Bank. Liberman’s plan addresses the complaints of settlers who staged a protest in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s private residence earlier this week demanding enhanced security measures. Settlers complained that Netanyahu had promised the infrastructure but had not yet allocated funds to effectuate the projects. According to the Times of Israel, the $939 million package will fund:

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.

Court Orders Evacuation of Settlers from “Machpelah House” in Hebron

The Israeli High Court has ordered the evacuation of settlers from a disputed home in Hebron. Settlers broke into the “Machpelah House” nearly 3 months ago, despite an ongoing legal battle to determine ownership of the home. The evacuation of the squatters had been repeatedly delayed by the political echelons and by attempts by the settlers to delay their evacuation until the Court makes a final ruling on ownership of the Machpela House, as we have previously reported. It remains to be seen if this court order will be carried out or if further delaying tactics will be brought into play.

As the Olive Harvest Begins, Settlers Steal and Destroy the Palestinian Crop

Yesh Din has documented 10 cases of settlers destroying or stealing olives from Palestinian groves across the West Bank this week, in what has become a common occurrence this time each year. Rabbis for Human Rights has documented an additional four cases this week, calling it a “severe wave of olive theft.”

Israeli police routinely arrest, release, and forget the settlers who commit harvest-time crimes, as documented thoroughly by Yesh Din. In one incident this week, settlers were filmed stealing olives, arrested by the Israeli police, and released on the same day. Yesh Din writes:

Since 2005, we have documented around 280 investigation files dealing with damage to olive trees. Only in 6 cases were indictments served (2.2% of cases for which an investigation has been concluded). More than 93% of these cases were closed due to police failure to locate the perpetrators or to gather enough evidence to prosecute suspects.

Rabbis for Human Rights says:

These are ideologically driven hate crimes. Due to the fact that most of the thefts took place on Palestinian lands which the farmers are restricted by the Israeli army from entering, the army has an increased responsibility to protect these groves.

Labor Chairman Shocks Israeli Left with Defense of Settlements

Avi Gabbay, the relatively unknown political outsider who was elected to be Chairman of the Israeli Labor Party earlier this year, has set off a debate within the center-left party following a series of shocking comments on settlements this week. Most pertinently, Gabbay stated that he does not believe Israel should have to evacuate settlements as part of a peace agreement – a position that is at odds with members of his own party and of the position of the Zionist Union, of which the Labor Party is a major part. He later praised Israeli settlers, saying “The settlement [project] was and remains the beautiful and devoted face of Zionism….[the settlers are] the pioneers of our generations, people who act in the face of adversity, who cause the wilderness to bloom, who realize the impossible.”

Any initial hesitancy of MKs to disagree with the party leader eventually gave way to an onslaught of Labor officials publicly discrediting the chairman’s position on the evacuation of settlements. Tzipi Livni, a member of the Hatnua party and leader of the Zionist Union that unites Labor with other left and center-left political parties, took a simple and strong line saying, “The opposition to evacuating settlements is not the position of the Zionist Union.”

Gabbay’s hardline comments on settlements were not the only remarks that landed him in hot water over the last week. He also stated that he would not agree to form a (hypothetical) government with the Arab-Israeli Joint List because, as he said, “I do not see anything that connects us to them or allows us to be in the same government with them,” and, “I don’t deal with rights of Palestinians.”

The Times of Israel recounts the contextual history of the Labor Party on the issue of settlements and the Party’s important role in previous peace negotiations:

The center-left Labor party has long been the Israeli political standard bearer for reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians — involving the relinquishing of most of the West Bank and many of the settlements — with former Labor prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak all investing considerable efforts to negotiate an accord.

Bonus Reads

“In Jerusalem, Municipal Issues Have Political Overtones” (NPR)
“In unprecedented move, eight European countries to demand compensation from Israel for West Bank demolitions” (Haaretz)

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 12, 2017

Bibi Approves Major Expansion of Settlements
DETAILS: Thousands of Settlement Units to Advance Next Week with Netanyahu’s Permission
U.S.: No Comment, No Change in Talking Points
Bonus Reads

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

Bibi Approves Major Expansion of Settlements

This week, the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced imminent approval of major new settlement construction across the West Bank, including in some especially sensitive/controversial areas.

How major? There has been debate and disagreement in the Israeli press about the number and what they exactly mean. Haaretz reports that, while Netanyahu listed plans totalling 3,736 settlement units, only 600 of those units will actually be approved for immediate construction (the rest are part of plans that are in earlier stages of the approval process). However, the Times of Israel counts 1,941 units being advanced, of which 1,197 units will receive final approval. The Peace Now Settlement Watch Project counts 3,400 units up for advancement, and tenders (the final step before construction) expected for 296 units.

This debate over the numbers should not obfuscate the fact that Netanyahu is orchestrating an acceleration of settlement growth, the totality of which we will have definitive knowledge of only after the High Planning Council meets next week.

Please note, there is no benign stage in the settlement planning process. No matter the stages of the planning process involved, Netanyahu’s announcement this week represents a huge wave of forthcoming settlement construction.

As Terrestrial Jerusalem’s founder Daniel Seidemann wrote in 2015,

There is no such thing as a “window of opportunity” in stopping settlement planning/approvals. When the world objects to settlement approvals, the answer from Israeli officials, invariably, is either, “It’s too early, it’s just a plan – what are you objecting to?” or “It’s too late, this was approved long ago – why are you bothering us now?” In truth, settlement plans can be stopped at almost any point on the road to implementation, and the earlier a plan is stopped, the lower the political costs.

With that in mind, we cover the plans expected to be advanced in detail below.

DETAILS: Thousands of Settlement Units to Advance Next Week with Netanyahu’s Permission

Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly announced his permission for the High Planning Council to advance 3,736 of settlement units during the Council’s meeting next week (Oct. 17-18). If all of the reported plans are approved, the total number of settlement units promoted so far in 2017 will reach 6,500 by the end of the month, a significant increase compared to 2,629 for all of 2016, and 1,982 for all of 2015, according to Peace Now data. One Israeli official has promised the settlement numbers will reach 12,000 by the year’s end, bragging that the amount is four times the total promoted in 2016.

Graphic by Haaretz

Of the thousands of units slated for advancement, several plans are at the final stage of planning and will likely receive the green light to start construction. These plans fulfill specific promises to settlers Netanyahu has made over the years (and address some of his most acute domestic political pressure points). The following plans – all of which are in settlements located deep inside the West Bank and beyond the separation barrier – are expected to receive building permits, as reported by Haaretz:

31 units for the settlement enclave on Shuhada Street, in the heart of downtown Hebron. This is the first plan for new settlement units in downtown Hebron in the last 12 years; the Hebron Municipality is expected to mount a legal challenge against the plan’s implementation. Peace Now explains, “alongside additional developments in Hebron, including the creation of an independent administration and the entry to the Abu Rajab House, this can be seen as another effort by the government to strengthen the radical settlement in the heart of Hebron.”
296 units in the Beit El settlement, which are part of Netanyahu’s promise to compensate for the settlers evacuated from the Ulpana outpost in 2012.
86 units in the Kochav Yaakov settlement which are part of Netanyahu’s promise to compensate for the settlers evacuated from the Migron outpost also in 2012. The evacuation of the Migron outpost has lead to the construction of not one but two new settlements as compensation.
146 units in the Nokdim settlement, where Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman lives.
9 units in the Psagot settlement.

The Times of Israel reports additional units expected receive final approval:

459 units in Ma’ale Adumim.
102 units in the new settlement of Amichai, which was approved earlier this year as payoff for settlers evacuated from the unauthorized outpost of Amona. Haaretz suggests that construction of these units will remain stalled as the State responds to a petition filed against the Amichai settlement by the Israeli NGO Yesh Din, arguing that the settlement’s borders annex land that is privately owned by Palestinians. As reported in detail in past editions of the FMEP Settlement Report, Amichai is the first new settlement to receive government authorization in the past 25 years. It is to be located deep inside the Shilo Valley in an area that cannot, under any conceivable two state arrangement, be included inside the borders of an Israeli state in a way that preserves the territorial contiguity of a Palestinian state.

The High Planning Council will also consider depositing for public review (a last step before final approval) plans for 30 units in the Elon Shvut settlement that will expand the settlement borders to build the homes in order to compensate residents in the unauthorized outpost of Netiv Ha’avot, an outpost where the government is appealing to the High Court to save settlement homes that were partially constructed on land that is proven to be privately owned by Palestinians. The Court has ordered that the outpost be razed by March 2018.

To see all of the plans expected to be addressed next week, see Peace Now’s data table (link near the middle of this page). Peace Now issued an accompanying statement saying,

The government has gone wild with settlement plans deep in the West Bank for thousands of new settlers, whom Israel will have to evacuate in a two state solution agreement. Faced with the growing pressures and investigations, Netanyahu goes out of his way to prove how radical he is, without considering the consequences of massive settlement expansion on the future of the two state solution. The plans for Hebron and Nativ Ha’avot are particularly enraging, as they indicate to settlers that the rule of law does not apply to them and illustrate the government’s deteriorating legal standards when it comes to settlement expansion.

U.S.: No Comment, No Change in Talking Points

The Trump Administration has issued no statement regarding Netanyahu’s brazen settlement advancements. Instead, unnamed White House officials repeated the same talking points that have defined the Trump Administration’s settlement stance, saying,

President Trump has publicly and privately expressed his concerns regarding settlements, and the administration has made clear that unrestrained settlement activity does not advance the prospect for peace. At the same time, the administration recognizes that past demands for a settlement freeze have not helped advance peace talks.

Hagit Ofran, Director of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Program, told the Washington Post, “This year is looking to maybe even be a record year… It’s without a doubt due to the fact that there have been changes in the White House.”

Bonus Reads

“By Backing ‘Greater Jerusalem’ Bill, is PM leaning towards annexing settlements?” (Times of Israel)
“The Transformation of Jerusalem” (Arab American Institute)
“The Bedouin village where compassion ends” (+972 Magazine)

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.

September 13, 2017

Don’t be Hoodwinked by Misleading Settlement Numbers
Israel Government Sides with Illegal Outpost in Fight Against Demolition
Netanyahu’s Promise to Build 300 New Units in Beit El Moves Forward (With Trickery)
Updates: Clashes Ensue in Sheikh Jarrah Following Eviction; Amona Site is Now a “Closed Military Zone”; More Demolitions in Silwan
Bonus Reads

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

Don’t be Hoodwinked by Misleading Settlement Numbers

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics published data this week on new settlement starts in the second quarter of 2017 (April-June). The data, purportedly showing a dramatic decline (75%) in construction, compared to the same period in 2016.

Hagit Ofran, the Director of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch, set the record straight – noting that starts in any given period reflect planning that took place months and years before. Construction happening today, for example, reflects approvals and tenders from two to three years ago. In light of this reality, the relatively low number of starts in the second quarter of 2017 has nothing to do with overall settlement trends, or with current settlement policies. These current settlement policies, reflected in a huge massive wave of settlement approvals seen (so far) in 2017 – a wave the indicates the settlement floodgates have opened – will result in a corresponding spike in settlement starts down the line (at which point the Israeli government will claim “it’s not our fault, this was all approved long ago!”).

Israel Government Sides with Illegal Outpost in Fight Against Demolition

Map by Kerem Navot

The High Court of Justice has ordered the demolition of 15 structures located in the Netiv Ha’avot outpost, built on land recognized by Israel as privately owned by Palestinians. In response to a last minute petition the outpost’s leaders filed with the High Court of Justice, the Israeli government expressed its support for their proposal to save 6 of the buildings from complete demolition; instead, the proposal offers to demolish only the “problematic parts” of the structures – i.e., where they cross into the pockets of privately-owned Palestinian land that run through the middle of the outpost. The High Court is set to make a final ruling on the petition on September 13th.

It is worth pointing out that every structure in the Netiv Ha’avot outpost was built in violation of Israeli planning laws. The outpost is an unauthorized expansion of the Elazar settlement, located southwest of Bethlehem. Only the 15 buildings that were built on private Palestinian land face demolition; if Israel enforced its own planning laws, the entire outpost would be razed. Last month, the Attorney General ordered the Defense Ministry to create a special unit to enforce Israeli planning laws specifically in settlements and outposts (in conjunction with the passage of the Regulation law permitting legalization of most illegal settlement construction and land seizures).

Netanyahu’s Promise to Build 300 New Units in Beit El Moves Forward (With Trickery)

Map by Kerem Navot

Kerem Navot (aka, Naboth’s Vineyard – the organization founded by anti-settlement legend Dror Etkes) has a cheeky look at how Netanyahu’s promise to build new homes in the Beit El settlement by the end of this month is coming to fruition. According to the report, the settlement has conspired with the government to build a new Border Police base south of the settlement 0- based on alleged security needs of the settlers. And what about the existing Border Police station for the settlement? That’s where the new units will be built. Two birds with one stone: more settlement units for Beit El, plus more land taken for settlements, to accommodate the entirely unnecessary new police station.

The Beit El settlement was established in 1977, on land previously seized by Israel for military purposes. A second military seizure in 1979 enabled Beit El to expand. This method of establishing and expanding settlements has been repeatedly challenged in Israeli courts. The Israeli group Yesh Din led one such petition against Beit El, seeking to have the second seizure annulled; that petition was dismissed earlier this year. Yesh Din writes,

The State understood that it was impossible to legally defend the land theft that has been ongoing in Beit El for 40 years on land that was seized for arbitrary reasons, but it refrained, once again, from defending the rights of the weakest population, simply because they are Palestinians. Despite this, we at Yesh Din will continue to fight against the dispossession of Palestinians and the infringement of their rights.

Map by Haaretz

As a reminder, Beit El is the settlement that current U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman personally donated to and fundraised for in his capacity as President of the American Friends of Beit El charity from 2011 until his appointment (he dedicated at least one building in the settlement which bears his name).

Beit El is also slated to have a security wall built between one side of the settlement and the al-Jalazoun Palestinian refugee camp.

Updates: Clashes Ensue in Sheikh Jarrah Following Eviction; Amona Site is Now a “Closed Military Zone”; More Demolitions in Silwan

Last week, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinians participated in Friday prayers in front of the former home of the Shamasneh family, which was evicted last week by settlers. On the same day, 200 Israelis – including MK Ayman Odeh (Joint List) – marched from central Jerusalem to join the demonstration. Clashes broke out between settlers and the demonstrators, resulting in injury to 14 protestors.
The illegal outpost of Amona was dismantled earlier this year, but the Kerem Navot organization has revealed that instead of being returned to the Palestinians who the court ruled were the rightful owners, the Israeli army has declared the area a “closed military zone” — keeping Palestinians off the land but permitting residents of the neighboring Ofra settlement to enter the area at will.
Ma’an News has video of a home demolition in the Ras al-Amud, a Palestinian neighborhood just south of the Old City in Jerusalem. Ma’an also reports that Israel delivered several demolition orders to Palestinians in the Issawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem earlier this week.

Bonus Reads

“Red Cross Chief Blasts Settlements as ‘Key Humanitarian Challenge’” (Times of Israel)
- “We witness it daily in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem: [Israeli settlement] has enormous impact on people, on their freedom of movement, the social and economic fabric in the territories. It offers limited access to agricultural and other productive lands, has curtailed educational and employment opportunity; it makes water resource and water supply systems difficult for Palestinian communities. And the list could go on and on,” he [Red Cross Chief Peter Maurer] said.
“Shin Bet Bypasses Court Again and Stiffens Release Terms of Teen Settler Activist” (Haaretz+)
- “Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court initially ordered him [a teen who is part of the extremist West Bank movement known as Hilltop Youth, had been detained without trial after violating a administrative order] released on the condition that he remain at home at night. But the Israel Defense Forces order requires him to be under house arrest 24 hours a day.”

“In a First, Israel Will Penalize Amnesty International for Anti-Settlements Campaign.” (Haartez+)
- “Israel plans to punish Amnesty International for its recent campaign, which encourages people to lobby companies and governments to boycott settlement products, by denying tax benefits to Israelis who donate to the human rights organization. It is the first time the government will apply the so-called anti-boycott law, which penalizes organizations and individuals calling for a boycott of Israel or the settlements. The controversial law was passed in 2011.”
“Reports Israeli government plans to retaliate against Amnesty International over settlements campaign” (Amnesty International)
- “Amnesty International has repeatedly emphasized that the very existence of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories violates international law, a matter on which there is international consensus and is reflected in UN Security Council resolutions. Settlements have contributed to decades of mass suffering and violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

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.

August 9, 2017

Israel Moves Forward with Inflammatory Evictions & Home Demolitions in Jerusalem
Netanyahu Celebrates Expansion of Beitar Illit Settlement
Attorney General Requests Temporary Injunction Against “Regulation Law”
Palestinian Leaders Criticize U.S. Peace Efforts & Point to Silence on Settlements
New Poll Reveals Settlers Prefer the Status Quo to Annexation or Peace
Updates: Machpelah House; New “Amichai” Settlement; Netiv Ha’avot Outpost
Bonus Reads

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

Israel Moves Forward with Evictions & Home Demolitions in Jerusalem

Last week we covered three devastating bills moving in the Knesset that seeking to remove Palestinians and include far flung settlements in the borders of Jerusalem. Now, several seemingly small but incredibly significant developments in Jerusalem show how Palestinians are already being forced out of the city:

Map by Peace Now

In Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian family is fighting against imminent eviction from their family home of 50 years, an eviction ordered by the Israeli Supreme Court. This is the first eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem since 2009 and comes on the heels of several inflammatory settlement announcements which will bring more Israeli settlers into the neighborhood that sits just north of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Court’s decision to evict the Shamasneh family relies on an Israeli law which allows Jews to regain East Jerusalem property owned before Jordan’s 1948 capture of that part of the city. Daily solidarity protests are reportedly being staged in an effort to prevent the family’s eviction.

Map by Emek Shaveh

In Silwan, the settler group Elad is bidding to become the majority-owner of an apartment building that Palestinians are in a bidding war to keep. The Siyam family originally owned the entire building but over time lost control of one-half of it to the settlers another one-fourth of it to Israel’s Custodian of Absentee Property. The owners of the remaining one-fourth – Silwan non-violent opposition leader Jawad Siyam and his sister – currently reside. Now the Custodian is auctioning off its one-fourth share and if the settlers have the winning bid, it is a near certainty that Jawad and his sister will be evicted from the house by Israeli courts. This ownership battle could have a decisive impact on the character of this critically-located East Jerusalem neighborhood, which sits in the shadow of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. Elad has long been active in Silwan, taking over properties and, working hand-in-hand with the Israeli government and Jerusalem Municipality, gaining control over the public domain via tourism and park projects at the expense of the Palestinian residents. Elad recently won the rights to build a state of the art visitor center that will also be a stop on the new cable car line running to the Mount of Olives. Elad’s efforts to take over Palestinian property in East Jerusalem rely in large part on Israel’s “Absentee Property Law” (1950), according to which Palestinians who were not present at their property immediately following the 1967 war are considered “absentee,” and consequently forfeit ownership rights to the Israeli government. The government can then dispose of the property as it sees fit. In Jerusalem, Elad’s multi-million dollar annual budget puts Palestinians at a potentially insurmountable disadvantage. When Israel used the “Absentee Property Law” in 2004 to seize Palestinian property in East Jerusalem, then-President George W. Bush called on Israel to reconsider the decision.

In al-Walajah, a wave of home demolitions combined with the nearly completed construction of the separation barrier threatens to completely sever and displace al-Walajah’s residents from the West Bank (who hold West Bank IDs, rather than Jerusalem residency, despite the fact that in 1967 most of the village’s land was made part of Jerusalem). Just this week the Israeli government issued demolition orders against 14 Palestinian homes built without the proper permits (these permits are nearly impossible for obtain).
Map by Ir Amim

The 14 homes are in addition to 28 other homes already slated for demolition in the village. On the same day, the Israeli Supreme Court decided to temporarily delay the implementation of 7 of those previous orders in light of a petition brought to the court by the Norwegian Refugee Council. Residents of al-Walajah have fought the growing encroachment 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 unbelievably section of the 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.
In Jabal al-Mukaber, a neighborhood south of the Old City in East Jerusalem, Israel demolished four Palestinian homes without prior notice to the residents. Ma’an News reports, “Israeli authorities have stepped up issuing demolition warrants for Palestinians in East Jerusalem in recent months, particularly after Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barakat threatened that the demolition of the illegal Israeli outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank would be met with the mass demolition of Palestinian homes lacking the nearly impossible to obtain Israeli-issued building permits.”

Netanyahu Celebrates Expansion of Beitar Illit Settlement

Prime Minister Netanyahu attended a cornerstone-laying ceremony for hundreds of new homes set to be built in the Beitar Illit settlement, a massive, fast-growing, ultra-Orthodox settlement in the Etzion bloc. At the ceremony, Netanyahu proudly repeated his assertion that, “There is no government that does more for the settlement [movement] in Israel than the one under my leadership.” The project will annex a third strategic hilltop to the Beitar Illit, which like much of the Etzion bloc is located on the Israeli side of the separation barrier.

The same day Netanyahu visited Beitar Illit, several right-wing Knesset members traveled to the northern part of the West Bank to call on the Prime Minister to re-establish four Israeli settlements located near the West Bank city of Jenin, that were dismantled in 2005 of part of Ariel Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza. A bill has been introduced in the Knesset that would rescind the 2005 disengagement memo which led to the evacuation of the four settlements.

Attorney General Requests Temporary Injunction Against “Regulation Law”

On August 7th, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit weighed in on a petition filed with the Israeli Supreme Court challenging the legality of the “Regulation Law,” which was passed this year and provides a legal basis for retroactive legalization of outposts and other settlement activity in the West Bank on land owned by Palestinians. Mandelblit – who argued against passage of the Regulation Law late last year and after the law’s passage and said he would not defend it in court – asked the High Court to put a temporary injunction against the law until the Court issues its ruling. The injunction would prevent the Civil Administration (the arm of the IDF that rules over the West Bank) from using the law, and possibly from even taking the preliminary steps towards using the law, in order to retroactively legalize outposts and unauthorized settlement activity.

The petition against the Regulation Law (also called the “Expropriation Law,” the “Regularization Law,” the “Legalization Law,” or the “Settlements Law”) was filed in March by three leading Israeli settlement watchdogs: Yesh Din, Peace Now, and ACRI.

Palestinian Leaders Criticize U.S. Peace Efforts & Point to Silence on Settlements

The Palestinian outlook on President Trump’s negotiation efforts has grown outright grim this week. Any initial optimism has been replaced with a sense of abandonment on the part of Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority and the topic of unfettered settlement growth has been a recurring talking point. On August 7th in Ramallah, Jordan’s King Abdullah and the Palestinian Authority jointly called for the U.S. to unequivocally state its support for a two-state solution and reiterated that a complete settlement freeze remains a precondition for the resumption of negotiations, including in East Jerusalem. That statement should dispel any lingering questions regarding reports in June that the PA was willing to drop a settlement freeze as a precondition to peace talks.

The new statement comes after a week of terse, unscripted criticism by the Palestinians aimed at President Trump. A top Abbas advisor, Dr. Nabil Sha’ath, told Haaretz that that Palestinians no longer look to the U.S. to be helpful on the issue. Sha’ath said, “Palestinian efforts in the near term will be focused on the international arena in an effort to prevent accelerated settlement construction or the passing of laws that have direct consequences for the peace process.”

In an interview with Jewish Insider last week, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat did not mince words about his disappointment with the Trump administration’s earlier attempts to get the ball moving on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Of note, Erekat laments, “Israel announces thousands of new settlement units that make it almost impossible to achieve the two-state solution, and it’s merely met with silence from U.S. officials.” Erekat is not entirely correct about the U.S.’s silence. The U.S. Department of State has repeatedly issued the same ambiguous statement regarding Israeli settlement policy, that “unrestrained settlement activity is not helpful to the peace process.” The statement echoes President Trump’s remarks in February calling for Israel to “hold back a little” on settlements.

In a third report, an anonymous Palestinian official took aim at Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s senior-most envoys dealing with Israel and the Palestinians. The source said, “It’s not a nice thing to say, but they are both ardent supporters of the settlements.They are completely unfamiliar with the other side, they don’t understand the region and they don’t understand the material. You can’t learn about what is happening here in a seminar lasting just a few weeks.” The remarks came one day before the release of a recording of Jared Kushner revealed his thinking on the topic of Israeli-Palestinian issues during which he expressed a lack of interest in history lessons on the topic.

New Poll Reveals Settler Prefer the Status Quo to Annexation or Peace

A new poll reveals remarkable differences between Israeli Jews living within the borders of sovereign Israel and those living in settlements. It sheds light on who in Israel is benefitting from the current “status quo” (which was undefined in the poll’s questions to respondents):

Of Israeli settlers:

35% called for the continuation of the status quo
24% want Israel to annex the West Bank
15% want to see a peace agreement
10% back a decisive war against the Palestinians

Of Israeli Jews living in Israel:

18% called for the continuation of the status quo
9% want Israel to annex the West Bank
45% support a peace agreement
12% back a decisive war against the Palestinians

The poll also examined the views of Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Updates: Machpelah House; New “Amichai” Settlement; Netiv Ha’avot Outpost

Several important updates to last week’s settlement report:

In Hebron, settlers continue to illegally occupy the Machpelah House under the protection of the Israeli army, despite a new petition seeking their evacuation filed this week by Palestinians who claim to own the house. Last week, the head of the “Samaria Regional Council” Yossi Dagan, moved into the house along with his wife and three children. Approximately 120 Israeli settlers were already living there, having illegally broken into into the house last week in a bid to circumvent legal proceedings regarding rightful ownership. The IDF quickly declared the house a closed military zone, but the order has not been enforced, which is the only reason why Dagan and his family were able to enter the building. Yossi Dagan was elected head of the Samaria Regional Council in 2015. He opened a campaign office for Donald Trump during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and published an open letter to Steve Bannon expressing his admiration and support for the newly elected U.S. administration.
Netanyahu’s cabinet gave a major boost to the stalled construction of a new settlement called Amichai by reportedly doubling the size of the government’s financial contribution to the project. Last week, after it was reported that construction has been halted due to lack of funds, Netanyahu quickly issued assurances that the problem will be fixed. The new Amichai settlement – the first to be approved by the government since 1991 – is being built in the Shilo Valley, deep inside of the West Bank, as the payoff for families who built the illegal Amona outpost and were evacuated earlier this year. Immediately next to the Amichai construction site, at the site of the future Shvut Rachel East settlement (which was the original plan to pay-off the Amona evacuees but was rejected because it wasn’t the preferred hilltop — but was nonetheless approved for construction by the Israeli government as a neighborhood of the Shilo settlement) several caravans have been moved onto the recently leveled land in preparation for further construction.
In two separate meetings last week, settler leaders met with PM Netanyahu and his chief of staff in their bid to cajole the Prime Minister into intervening against a demolition order threatening 15 homes in the Netiv Ha’avot outpost near Bethlehem. Commenting on the issue while at a ceremony in the Beitar Illit settlement, Netanyahu committed to helping the affected families “within the framework of the law that would minimize the damage.” It’s not clear if the Prime Minister was referring to the past damage caused to the Palestinians who own the land upon which settlers built illegally, or the future damage it will cause to relocate the families who live in illegally built homes.

Bonus Reads

Who Profits Flash Report: “Tracking Annexation: The Jerusalem Light Rail and the Israeli Occupation” (July 2017)
“The Young Palestinian Men of East Jerusalem Have Nothing to Lose” (August 3, 2017 | Haaretz+)
Human Rights Watch: “Jerusalem Palestinians Stripped of Status” (August 8, 2017)
“Demographic hysteria leaves Jerusalemites by the wayside” (August 7, 2017 | +972 Mag)

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.”