Settlement & Annexation Report: August 4, 2022

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

August 4, 2022

Encircling Jerusalem: Israel Advances Settlement Plans Across the City, While Settler Projects Tighten the Noose
Dumping Any Pretense of Respect for Rule of Law, Israeli High Court Reverses Course, Allows Mitzpe Kramim Outpost to be “Legalized”
Settlers Acquire Another Home in Downtown Hebron
Elad Closes Palestinian Access Road Near Sambuski Cemetary in Silwan
This Week in Area C, Part 1: JNF Approves Purchase of Palestinian Land In Jordan Valley While High Court Weighs Petition
This Week in Area C, Part 2: Regavim Files Petition Pushing for Immediate Demolition of Palestinian Construction in Area C
This Week in Area C, Part 3: Settlers Continue to Occupy Six Sites After Recent Attempt to Establish New Outposts En Masse
Groups Petition to Cancel New Israeli-Led Archeological Dig in the West Bank Citing Legal Questions
Bonus Reads

Encircling Jerusalem: Israel Advances Settlement Plans Across the City, While Settler Projects Tighten the Noose

It must be stressed that events over the past several months (while the Settlement Report has taken an abbreviated form) have rapidly accelerated the encirclement of Jerusalem by settlements and settler-backed projects — developments which come at the direct expense of Palestinians — their presence in Jerusalem, their rights as land owners, and their quality of life. This encirclement continues to progress, unabated and almost entirely unchallenged, each day.

Last week, on July 25th, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee advanced plans for two brand new settlements in East Jerusalem – “Givat HaShaked” and the “Lower Aqueduct” plan. These two settlements that would nearly complete the encirclement of Jerusalem to the south. Details of those plans are:

The Lower Aqueduct plan (1,465 new units) was approved for deposit for public comment. This plan would see a new settlement – called the Lower Aqueduct Plan – built on a small sliver of land between the controversial settlements of Givat Hamatos and Har Homa – and is intended to connect them. In so doing, it will establish an uninterrupted continuum of Israeli settlements on the southern rim of Jerusalem, and destroy the contiguity of Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Givat HaShaked settlement was also discussed, and the Committee opted to increase the total number of units that the plan outlines for construction, from ~400 to 700 housing units, plus schools and synagogues. Ir Amim and Terrestrial Jerusalem both report that, after a few technical requirements are met, the plan to build Givat HaShaked is expected to receive final approval when the Committee reconvenes in the coming weeks. The plan for Givat HaShaked is unprecedented, according to Terrestrial Jerusalem, in that it is the first settlement of this size that that Israeli government will establish inside of a Palestinian neighborhood – Beit Safafa, which will be completely encircled by Israeli construction if Givat HaShaked is built.

For more background on the Lower Aqueduct plan, see resources by: Terrestrial Jerusalem and Ir Amim.

These plans are significant developments in the effort to establish settler hegemony over East Jerusalem, but are only part of the story of how the encirclement of East Jerusalem has rapidly advanced over the past months. In addition to the construction of new settlements and growth of existing ones, settlers are succeeding in advancing new projects under the guise of tourism (like: the Cable Car, a new visitors center in Batan Al Hawa, and more) and the State is undertaking systematic efforts to take over more and more land. Those methods include the revival of a politicized land registration process in East Jerusalem and the expansion of “national park” lands onto the Mount of Olives. Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan also continue to face the looming threat of dispossession through Court proceedings. In a rare piece of good news — on July 21st the Israeli Supreme Court partially accepted a petition filed by the Duweik family, which has led to the (temporary) freezing of their eviction.

Another facet is the looming threat is the seemingly growing inevitability of the construction of the E-1 settlement to Jerusalem’s east. Prior to the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden in Jerusalem on July 13th, the Israeli government intervened to postpone a critical hearing on the E-1 settlement, rescheduling it for September 12th. The rescheduled hearing, if it is not postponed yet again, could result in granting final approval to the highly contentious plan (and barring intensive outside pressure such additional postponement seems highly improbable, given the Israeli domestic politics and the upcoming national election). See Terrestrial Jerusalem for a recap of President Biden’s visit.

Dumping Any Pretense of Respect for Rule of Law, Israeli High Court Reverses Course, Allows Mitzpe Kramim Outpost to be “Legalized”

Nearly two years after ruling there is no possible legal basis by which the Mitzpe Kramim outpost can be retroactively “legalized” under Israeli law, the Israeli Supreme Court has now reversed course and will allow the State to formally legalize the settlement using the so-called Market Regulation principle.

In its original ruling, issued in September 2020, the High Court held that construction of the Mitzpe Kramim outpost was not undertaken in “good faith” because there were “multiple warning signs” that the land was privately owned by Palestinians. The outpost was ordered to be dismantled at that time. Now, with apparently no new evidence, the Court decided to accept the settlers’ claim of “good faith.”

The “good faith” condition for retroactive legalization of illegal settler construction on privately-owned Palestinian land is a central element of the “market regulation” legal principle which was devised by former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in December 2018 as an alternative to the (now overturned) Settlement Regulation Law. The principle offers a path to grant retroactive legalization to the settlers for what this principle treats as “unintentional” land theft – throwing the principles of both rule of law and private property rights out the window. Peace Now has a comprehensive breakdown of the legal opinion, including the specific criteria outlining which outposts can qualify under the new scheme. It is estimated that 2,000 illegal settlement structures qualify for retroactive legalization using this principle.

Yesh Din writes on the significance of this ruling:

“This ruling overtly indicates Israel’s intentions to continue to pursue retroactive legalization of illegal Israeli construction in blatant disregard of the rights of the local Palestinian population of the West Bank. The State of Israel continues to ignore the duties bestowed upon it by IHL, as the occupying power, to protect the occupied population. Additionally, as the occupying power, Israel is prohibited from transferring the occupier’s population into occupied territory. The interpretation of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion will, in practice, undoubtedly serve to fulfill the intentions of the repealed Regularization Bill from 2017. It will enable settlers, backed by the Civil Administration and other State authorities, to take over thousands of dunams of Palestinian land, leading to human rights violations on a massive scale all over the West Bank and serving as the basis for future negligent and illegal policies, which are now more likely to be given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court. This ruling symbolizes a turning point of Israel’s Supreme Court, which, for the first time, has endorsed the forced confiscation of privately owned land, which is not required for military needs, for the sole purpose of use by Israeli civilians for the establishment of a new settlement.”

In +972 Magazine, Orly Noy writes:

“The court’s ruling could potentially pave the way for the retroactive legalization of thousands more homes in outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land…The legalization of Mitzpe Kramim is only a footnote in Israel’s policies of dispossession and land theft on both sides of the Green Line, carried out through what the Israeli regime deems completely “legal” expropriations…And one more word regarding the concept of “good faith,” which was sufficient reasoning for the High Court to retroactively legalize the theft of private Palestinian land. This same line of argumentation did not protect the residents of Umm al-Hiran, a Bedouin village in the Negev/Naqab, from being threatened with destruction and expulsion, even though they were physically placed where the village exists today in the 1950s by the military government after it expelled them from their original land, on which Kibbutz Shoval now sits. Although the state itself was the one to move them to their new location, the residents of Umm al-Hiran have lived for decades without basic infrastructure such as water and electricity — that is, until the state decided to destroy the village in order to build Hiran, a town for Jews alone, on its ruins. Unlike the settlers of Mitzpe Kramim, the residents of Umm al-Hiran did not take over land that did not belong to them, nor did they settle on private land that belonged to others. And yet, the state did not hesitate to brutally deport them — even killing a local resident, Yacoub Abu al-Qi’an, in the process. The same court that will allow the residents of Mitzpe Kramim to remain on land it itself admits does not belong to them did not hesitate to legalize the cleansing of Umm al-Hiran. Because, after all, in the apartheid regime, even the concept of “good faith” applies solely to Jewish citizens.”

Settlers Acquire Another Home in Downtown Hebron

On July 28th, a settler group called Harchvi announced it has purchased a three-story house in central Hebron, very close to the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and on the Palestinian side of a key IDF checkpoint (the “Pharmacy” checkpoint), which Israeli Jews are supposed to be prohibited from crossing. The group was granted a purchase agreement by the Israeli Defense Ministry this week, which seemingly legitimizes the settlers claim to have purchased the property – but it is not a final determination of the legality of the transaction. This is the second such house in Hebron that settlers have claimed to have purchased from Palestinians owners this year.

Providing more detail on the status of the house, Peace Now writes:

“Peace Now has no information regarding the alleged deal in this case. We know from many other cases in Hebron and in the West Bank that these are dubious purchases, which are sometimes based on forgery or the purchase of only small parts of the property. It almost always turns out that the settlers may have managed to acquire the rights from one person, but the rest of the rights holders did not agree and the issue gets to courts for lengthy hearings. When settlers entered the Za’atari house in March 2018, the case got to the courts and the legal argument is still pending, but the settlers are still in the house. Every purchase of land in the territories requires the approval of the Minister of Defense – according to the law in the Occupied Territories, in order to make a transaction and register it in the land registry, a transaction permit from the Civil Administration is required. Any such transaction-permit requires the prior approval of the Minister of Defense. In this case, it is hard to believe that the settlers have a transaction permit from the Minister of Defense. In all previous cases the settlers hurry to establish a fact on the ground, enter the house and only then submit applications for registration of purchase, and only then does it come to the Defense Minister’s approval. The defense minister can refuse and prevent the execution of the deal.”

In addition to the settlement activity in Hebron that the state of Israel has formally (and publicly) sanctioned, +972 Magazine reports this week that over the past month settlers have been bulldozing Palestinian stores that have been inaccessible to their owners for more than 20 years under Israel closure orders. Though the Israeli Civil Administration has denied authorizing the settlers’ destruction of the stores over the past month, one of the Palestinian shop owners, Tareq Al-Kiyal, raises the point that “Nothing moves in the Old City — and certainly no bulldozers come in and destroy buildings — without a green light from the army.” Palestinians have filed a police report regarding the damage to the stores, which they believe were demolished by settlers in order to expand the nearby settlement enclave, Avraham Avinu.

The shops are in an area referred to as the Kiyal Market, which was “temporarily” shuttered by the Israeli army in 2001 during the Second Intifada. Since then, Palestinians have been forbidden from reopening the shops and cannot even enter their shops to remove valuable equipment. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers have systematically looted the stores, and have been using the buildings for warehouses, recreational spaces, and even as housing.

Elad Closes Palestinian Access Road Near Sambuski Cemetary in Silwan

Emek Shaveh reports that the Elad settler group has blocked an access road near the Sambuski cemetery in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, a move which blocks car traffic to the Wadi Rababa area of Silwan where some 150 Palestinian families live. Palestinian residents, in partnership with Emek Shaveh, have appealed to several Israeli authoritative bodies (including the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority, the Jerusalem Municipality, and the Israeli police) to remove the boulders blocking the road, but Elad has failed to cooperate with efforts to negotiate a solution and has instead continued their work at the site. Emek Shaveh reports that the ongoing blockage of the road has led to daily friction between Palestinians and Elad employees.

The Sambuski cemetery is deeply integrated into Elad’s overarching, comprehensive plan to control the Silwan neighborhood. However, the cemetery was a relatively unknown, neglected site until recent years. In 2020, the Trump “Peace to Prosperity” plan identified the Sambuski cemetery as a place of prime historical and religious importance to Israel, elevating the status of the cemetery. The Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh – which has a special expertise on archaeology and the way archeology has been weaponized to serve the political agenda of the settlers and the state – wrote a report on exactly how the Trump “Vision” supports settler efforts to use Jerusalem’s history and antiquities to promote Israeli-Jewish hegemony and control over the city.

Emek Shaveh explains how the cemetery is connected to other settler endeavors in Silwan:

“For the Elad Foundation the cemetery is a strategic site as it links together two important focal points of its enterprise – the neighborhood of Silwan, home to the City of David archaeological park and specifically to the Pool of Siloam at the southern tip of the site, and the Hinnom Valley an area which Elad has been developing for the past two years (more below).”

This Week in Area C, Part 1: JNF Approves Purchase of Palestinian Land In Jordan Valley While High Court Weighs Petition

At the urging of the Israeli government, the Board of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) approved the allocation of $18 million for the purchase of 250 acres (1,000 dunams) of Palestinian-owned land in the Jordan Valley, land that is the subject of a petition with the High Court of Justice.

Israel has controlled the land in question since issuing a military closure order in 1969. In the 1980s, the World Zionist Organization then allocated the land (which is privately owned by Palestinians) to settlers without any documentation of either having received control of the land from the government, or documentation allocating the land to the settlers. Since then, settlers have developed the land into profitable date farms. In 2018, several Palestinian landowners have filed a petition with the High Court of Justice to have the settlers removed from the area and the land returned to their control. In a contentious court hearing in June 2022, in which the State conceded that it does not know how or why the settlers were allocated the land in the first place, High Court Justice Esther Hayut told the State lawyer: “Given that you cannot explain how the land was given to those to whom it was given, does that give them the right to remain there forever?”

The JNF – via its subsidiary group Himnuta, which handles West Bank transactions – allegedly secured a deal with a Palestinian landowner to purchase the land in phases, starting with a smaller plot in 2018. Further phases of the the transaction were canceled due to criticism of the JNF’s involvement in land purchases in the occupied West Bank at the time. The deal is now back in process at the request of the Isareli Defense Ministry in order to finalize the transaction before the High Court.

This Week in Area C, Part 2: Regavim Files Petition Pushing for Immediate Demolition of Palestinian Construction in Area C

The settler group Regavim filed a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice seeking to change operational procedures within the Civil Administration so that Palestinian construction in Area C can be immediately demolished – eliminating any chance for Palestinian landowners to challenge the demolition of their property – if it is believed to be illegal. Regavim calls it “absurd” that the Civil Administration would allow Palestinians a chance to assert their legal rights to build on land in Area C before demolition is carried out.

While settlers push for faster demolition of illegal (under Israeli law) Palestinian construction in Area C, a new piece by +972 Magazine reveals that an Israeli official who is in charge of handing out demolition orders against Palestinian buildings in the Massaffer Yatta region, himself lives in an illegally built home in an illegally built outpost. This only furthers the clear message that settler groups are not interested in ensuring the faithful enforcement of Israeli law, but are rather interested in wielding Israeli law as a weapon to displace and replace Palestinians.

This Week in Area C, Part 3: Settlers Continue to Occupy Six Sites After Recent Attempt to Establish New Outposts En Masse

According to an op-ed by Arlene Kushner, settlers continue to ”maintain a presence” at six sites located in Area C where they are planning to establish new outposts. These are the same sites that were part of a large-scale effort two weeks ago, led by the Nahala settler movement, to establish six new outposts all at once. That effort was thwarted by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who ordered Israeli security forces to prevent and remove settlers from the sites.

The determination of settlers to violate the law is unsurprising, in the ensuing hours after the failed operation a leader of the Nahala Movement, Daniela Weiss, told Haaretz:

“We’ll be back, of course. We’ll try to come back in a day or two. If it’s this Shabbat, I can’t say. We’re taking it one step at a time.”

Groups Petition to Cancel New Israeli-Led Archeological Dig in the West Bank Citing Legal Questions

The Israeli NGOs Haqel and Emek Shaveh report that on July 25th, an Israeli archaeologist launched a new excavation of the “Tel Tibnah” site in the Ramallah district, with sponsorship from the Israeli Bar-Ilan University. The NGOs jointly raised concerns about the political motivation behind the excavation, given “several fundamental legal and ethical issues” with the dig. The groups have called for the immediate cancellation of the excavation.

Haqel and Emek Shaveh further explain:

To the best of our knowledge, the site is situated on private and public lands of three Palestinian villages: Deir-Nisham, Beit Rima and Nebi Salah, and lies in proximity to the village of Abud. These lands are used by the local Palestinian population for agriculture and herding. In addition, within the site there is a spring that serves for drinking and irrigation. Initiating archaeological projects on privately owned land, even if these are declared as archaeological sites, demands that notification be given to the owners of these lands and their approval is required in advance. Entering private property without the permission of the owner is defined as a criminal act of incursion, even more so when conducting actions that might damage property and prevent access to the property, as is a frequent occurrence throughout the West Bank. The local residents unambiguously submitted their objection to the proposed excavations which will have a dramatic effect on their lives, impact their freedom of movement and violate their property rights. So far, this objection has not been taken into consideration.

The main question at stake is the State of Israel’s range of legitimate courses of action and that of Israeli academia. Initiation of an academic archaeological excavation serves, by nature, a scientific-academic motivation. This project does not serve an immediate necessity or mitigate against a pending danger, and does not meet the criteria as a “salvage excavation”, nor does it serve the local population living around the site. Any attempt to “govern” archaeological sites that are not within the sovereign borders of Israel is a political act and not a scientific one.

In addition, the claims of “antiquity robbery” should not justify state actions, and the political act should not be concealed as an archaeological one. The erosion of the distinction between heritage protection on the one hand and settlement and annexation on the other, threatens the future of archaeology.”

As FMEP has chronicled, settlers and their allies are intent on taking control of archaeological sites in the West Bank, and and seizing artifacts that are currently under Palestinian control. Settlers claim the sites are neglected and/or damaged. To that end, the settler groups known as “the Shilo Forum” and the “Shomrim al HaNetzach” (“Preservers of the Eternal”) — see background on these groups here — issued a report surveying 365 sites in the West Bank and arguing that the Palestinian Authority is moving to “erase all traces of Israel’s ancient Jewish heritage.” The accusations were in addition to allegations of neglect, mismanagement, and intentional damage. The report is part of the organizations’ campaign to push the Israeli government to assert control over these sites.

Bonus Reads

“Saving Masafer Yatta: The Fight Against Expulsion” (Mondoweiss)
“Military Rule: Testimonies of soldiers from the Civil Administration, Gaza DCL and COGAT (2011-2021)” (Breaking the Silence)
“Palestinian family encircled by Israeli settlement” (Al-Monitor)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

January 14, 2022

Israeli Attorney General Supports Settler-Led Dispossession of the Sumreen Family in Silwan
Tender Published for 300 New Units in East Jerusalem Settlement of East Talpiyot
Israel to Advance Expansion of East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo
Israel Advances Plan that Will Pave Way for Expansion of East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave of Nof Zion
IDF Evacuates Oz Zion Outpost (Again)
Fight Over Homesh Outpost & Yeshiva Continues (Both Physically and Politically)
Settlers Seek Outpost Gains from Divided & Fragile Government (With Some Success)
Construction Begins on Key Stretch of the “Tunnels Road” for Settlements South of Jerusalem
Israel Gives U.S. Army Officers Tour of Hebron Led by Settlement Spokesman
Further Reading

Israeli Attorney General Supports Settler-Led Dispossession of the Sumreen Family in Silwan

On January 9th, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit submitted a legal opinion to the Supreme Court arguing in support of the immediate eviction of the Sumreen family from their home of 60+ years in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The Supreme Court is expected to announce its next steps on the case in the coming days, which might include setting a new hearing date to again consider legal arguments from both sides (now that the Attorney General has weighed in).

Map by Peace Now (click to expand)

The case to evict the Sumreen family, spearheaded by the JNF, with the secret funding/backing of the Elad settler group, is a key test of the State’s use of the Absentee Property Law to seize Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. If dispossessed of their home, the Sumreen family case sets a broader precedent for many other ongoing eviction cases in Silwan that could result in the mass displacement of Palestinians in favor of settlers.

In his opinion, the Attorney General did not address the broader political context of widespread dispossession of Palestinians in Silwan, or legally dubious actions on the part of the Elad settler group and the Jewish National Fund in having the property declared to be absentee (see a detailed history of that scandal here) in order to take control over it. Instead, the Attorney General decided simply that there is no new basis on which to overturn the 1999 ruling that legitimized the JNF’s ownership of the home, and that the Sumreen family does not have a legal right to reside there.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“Instead of intervening and doing justice, the Israeli government, through the Attorney General, becomes a direct partner in crime and unforgivable injustice. The Attorney General chooses to ignore the context and the injustice behind the eviction suit and dives into quasi-legal questions to help settlers take over another property in Silwan. The Government’s fingerprints are smeared all over the Sumerin case. This is a political move in which government mechanisms such as the Custodian of Absentee Property and the Israel Land Administration and the JNF have been utilized in order to dispossess Palestinians of their property in East Jerusalem and replace them with settlers.”

It’s worth noting that the Sumreen house is located only a very short distance from the Al-Aqsa Mosque (approximately 10 meters) at the entrance to the Silwan neighborhood, and is adjacent to the “City of David” visitors center built and operated by the Elad settlers. The home is also located in the middle of what today has been designed by Israel as “the City of David National Park.” The entire area is managed by the radical Elad settler organization, which for years has also been pursuing the eviction of Palestinians from the homes in Silwan. For nearly three decades, the Sumreen family has been forced to battle for legal ownership of their home, after the state of Israel, prompted repeatedly by the JNF, declared the Sumreen’s home to be “absentee” property, despite the fact that this was manifestly not the case. Under that designation – which was not communicated to the Sumreen family – Israeli law permitted the State to take over the rights to the building. The State then sold the rights to the home to the JNF in 1991. The JNF has pursued the eviction of the Sumreen family ever since. Israeli courts ruled in favor of the Sumreen family’s ownership claims to the home for years, until a September 2019 ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court granted ownership of the family’s home to the JNF, a decision the family immediately appealed to the Jerusalem District Court.

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

Tender Published for 300 New Units in East Jerusalem Settlement of East Talpiyot

On January 5th the Israel Lands Authority published a tender for the construction of 300 settlement units in the East Talpiyot settlement, located in East Jerusalem. Ir Amim reports the tender is scheduled to be opened for bids on February 14th.

The new units will expand the built-up footprint of East Talpiyot in the direction of the Palestinian neighborhood of Sur Baher, a neighborhood that is facing multiple new settlement plans that encroach on its historic land (including the Givat HaMatos, Har Homa, and Lower Aqueduct plans). Sur Baher has also been targeted by the Israeli Custodian General in its efforts to gain control over more land that was owned by Jews previous to 1948.

Israel to Advance Expansion of East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo

On January 10th the Jerusalem District Planning Committee convened to discuss two plans that would add 1,538 settlement units to the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem. The plans are being advanced under the banner of “urban renewal” and will involve demolishing existing settlement units and replacing 470 existing settlement units with 2,008 new units (representing a net expansion of the settlement by 1,538 units). Ir Amim notes that, “while the plans will not necessarily enlarge Gilo territorially, it will increase the Israeli population in the settlement and hence the number of Israelis living in East Jerusalem.”

Israel Advances Plan that Will Pave Way for Expansion of East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave of Nof Zion

Map by Ir Amim (click to expand)

On January 11th, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee held a meeting to discuss public objections to a plan connected to the expansion of Nof Zion, a settlement enclave located inside the Palestinian East Jerualem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber. One such objection was filed by Palestinian residents of Jabal Mukaber with assistance from Ir Amim. That objection argues that the plan is an affront to the planning needs of the local community and continues Israel’s systematic, city-wide discrimination against the housing, educational, and service-based needs of Palestinian neighborhoods. The Committee closed the meeting without reaching a decision, and has scheduled further private (closed to the public) continuation of its discussion of the plan.

The plan under consideration provides for the construction of a large, new Israeli police station on the border of Jabal Mukhaber neighborhood, on a plot of land that is across the street from the existing police station. The new station, according to Ir Amim, will “constitute a massive security headquarters and border police base, replete with detention facilities and laboratories.” Under the plan, after the new station is built the site of the current station will be designated for public buildings; however, Ir Amim warns that the land is currently allocated for the construction of hotels directly connected to plans to expand the Nof Zion settlement enclave. The relocation of the police station is a step towards the construction of those two hotels, which is part of the larger plan to expand Nof Zion to include the construction of commercial centers, educational institutions, and a sports field.

Ir Amim comments:

“In light of the dearth of public buildings and/or public spaces in the neighborhood, the objection [to the police facility plan] underscores the complete planning error and misuse of the respective plot of land. Rather than allocating the space to meet the dire public needs of the community, the authorities see it fit to utilize the land for a massive security base on the edge of the neighborhood. According to the objection [filed by Ir Amim and Palestinian residents], a plan of such magnitude implies that members of the community are seen as constituting a ‘threat’ rather than actual residents of Jerusalem entitled to equal socioeconomic rights and equitable access to municipal services. The depletion and appropriation of public spaces in East Jerusalem to serve Israeli interests and the expansion of setter enclaves in Palestinian neighborhoods not only erode the fabric of these communities, but severely impinge on Palestinian individual and collective rights and further entrench Israeli control of East Jerusalem.”

Israel has been working consistently to expand and entrench Nof Zion — which it should be underscored is an enclave located wholly inside a Palestinian neighborhood. On July 8, 2021 settlers and their allies held a cornerstone-laying ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on hundreds of new units in Nof Zion. The new construction is just preliminary work on a project that will triple the settlement in size and make it the largest settlement enclave in East Jerusalem.

As a reminder: In 2017, the Israeli government approved a plan to build a new synagogue and mikveh in Nof Zion on private Palestinian land that was expropriated from the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in 2016. Then, in September 2017, rumors emerged that the government was set to issue 176 building permits for the already-approved project. According to Ir Amim, those permits were ultimately issued in April 2019.

IDF Evacuates Oz Zion Outpost (Again)

On January 10th, settlers sought to obstruct Israeli forces that were dismantling structures at the unauthorized outpost site called Oz Zion, located between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Settlers reportedly chained themselves to structures at the scene, and clashed with Israeli forces when they arrived to remove them.

Oz Zion has been dismantled by the IDF several times in the past (most recently in June 2021). Yet, the settlers – who have violently resisted Israeli forces carrying out the demolition – have repeatedly been allowed to reestablish it. It is one of the outposts for which a standing demolition order was recently re-issued by the IDF.

Fight Over Homesh Outpost & Yeshiva Continues (Both Physically and Politically)

On January 10th, settlers clashed with Israeli forces attempting to confiscate property from the illegal yeshiva settlers have established at the site of the evacuated settlement of Homesh — a yeshiva that the IDF continues to permit settlers to visit and operate. It’s worth recalling the great lengths to which the IDF has gone to offer protection for the settlers to access the yeshiva, at the cost of the freedom of movement and obstruction of normal life to entire nearby Palestinian villages.

In the wake of the killing last month of a settler connected to the illegal yeshiva, national furor – spearheaded by settlers protesting in front of the Prime Minister’s residence – has kept the heat on the government over the fate of the Homesh outpost and yeshiva. Key settler leaders are threatening to bring down the current coalition if the yeshiva is dismantled. While the government has not clearly signaled what it intends to do with the yeshiva, settlers and their political allies outside of the governing coalition are now aggressively pushing the government to undertake hugely consequential efforts on behalf of the settlements — including but not limited to re-establishing the settlement of Homesh and normalizing the status of the illegal yeshiva at the site — in order to prove it allegiance. See below for more details.

Settlers Seek Outpost Gains from Divided & Fragile Government (With Some Success)

As part of their campaign to push the government to authorize the Homesh yeshiva and reestablish the Homesh settlement, key settler leaders are raising at least two additional major initiatives in their aggressive push on the government to compensate the settlers in response to the recent death of settler Yehuda Dimentan.

Those two additional demands by the settlers – a contingent of whom are encamped in front of Prime Minister Bennett’s residence – are:

To pass a bill – or act unilaterally – to connect unauthorized outposts to the Israeli electric and water grids. To that end, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked reportedly held a meeting on this topic on January 9th. The settler-run news outlet Artuz Sheva optimistically reports that dozens of outposts might meet Israeli criteria for being connected to Israeli infrastructure, and that Gantz would support the move if the Defense Ministry Legal Advisor gives it an OK. This has been a longtime demand of settlers, and has typically included the demand to connect outposts to Israeli water, sewer, power, garbage collection, and other municipal services. Doing so would further entrench the permanence of these outposts and furthers the de facto annexation of Palestinian land. It would also continue and expand on Israel’s long practice of copiously rewarding settlers for breaking Israeli law (by illegally building outposts), and directly incentivizing further settler lawbreaking.
To more aggressively police Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank (some 60% of the land). This demand is grounded in an Orwellian twisting of reality to treat Palestinian construction on Palestinian private land in Area C without permits required by Israel (permits Israel consistently refuses to issue) as theft of Israeli land. For more on this long running, and particularly pernicious, tactic of the settlement movement, see FMEP’s previous reporting.

Construction Begins on Key Stretch of the “Tunnels Road” for Settlements South of Jerusalem

Arutz Sheva reports (gleefully) that ground has been broken on a final stretch of the new tunnel road that will connect settlements to the south of Jerusalem (the Etzion settlement bloc) more seamlessly to the heart of the city. The tunnel is part of Highway 60, which Israel has already begun work to widen, which runs from Jerusalem all the way to the Kiryat Arba in Hebron.

In a deeply researched report on how infrastructure like roads is a means for settlement expansion and annexation, Breaking the Silence explains:

“While Israeli authorities justify many of the projects described in this document by claiming that they serve both the settler and the Palestinian populations in the West Bank, it is important to note that these roads are designed with Israeli, not Palestinian, interests in mind. Many of the roads that are technically open to Palestinian traffic are not intended to lead to locations that are useful to Palestinians.16 Instead, these roads are primarily designed to connect settlements to Israel proper (and thus employment and other services) via lateral roads, rather than to connect Palestinian communities to one another. Further, roads intended to connect Israeli settlements to Jerusalem (many of which are currently under construction) do not serve West Bank Palestinians outside of Jerusalem, as they are not allowed to enter Jerusalem without a permit. In addition, an extensive system of checkpoints and roadblocks allows Israel to control access to bypass roads and the main West Bank highways, and it can restrict Palestinian access when it so chooses.

This prejudice against Palestinian development is even starker when one considers that, according to an official Israeli projection, the expected Palestinian population in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) in 2040 is 4,600,000 individuals. Even if the vision of settler leaders to arrive at 1,000,000 settlers is realized by 2040, the Palestinian population would still be four times the size of the settler one. Despite this discrepancy, priority is still given to settler infrastructure development.

West Bank road and transportation development creates facts on the ground that constitute a significant entrenchment of the de facto annexation already taking place in the West Bank and will enable massive settlement growth in the years to come. By strengthening Israel’s hold on West Bank territory, aiding settlement growth, and fragmenting Palestinian land, this infrastructure growth poses a significant barrier to ending the occupation and achieving an equitable and peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Israel Gives U.S. Army Officers Tour of Hebron Led by Settlement Spokesman

Raising many eyebrows, the secretariat of the Israeli Central Command reportedly arranged a settler-led tour of Hebron for a delegation of U.S. army officers. The full-day tour designed by the settlers included a visit to the Tomb of the Patriarchs/al-Ibrahimi Mosque and a visit to the settler-run museum (in the Beit Hadassah enclave). The visit empowered settlers to present their version of the religious, historic, geo-political, and security significance of Hebron (including with respect both to settlers/settlements, and presenting Palestinians through the settler lens). The U.S. delegation did not engage any Palestinians while in Hebron, creating an obvious and problematic imbalance in perspective on all matters.

Haaretz reports that the Israeli army has refrained from engaging the settlers for diplomatic tours of Hebron in recent years. In a statement to Haaretz about the tour, the IDF issued a bland statement saying:

“Last week, a few U.S. army officers came for a tour of the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Beit Hadassah led by the commander of the Central Command, for the purpose of learning about the history of the site. As part of the ongoing tours that are held regularly, the American delegation meets with various people in the State of Israel as well as in the Palestinian Authority. This is in order to learn about the area in the best way possible. Dr. Noam Arnon [a far-right-wing settler activist and spokesman for the Hebron settlements] was chosen to guide this tour. The tour was held according to the established regulations in the IDF.”

Israel to Advance Atarot Settlement Plan

At its upcoming meeting scheduled for December 6th, the Israeli Interior Ministry District Planning Committee is set to approve the Atarot settlement plan for public deposit.

As a reminder, the Atarot plan calls for a huge new settlement on the site of the defunct Qalandiya Airport, located on a sliver of land between Ramallah and Jerusalem. In its current form, the plan provides for up to 9,000 residential units for ultra-Orthodox Jews (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 6, this means housing for 54,000 people), as well as synagogues, ritual baths (mikvehs), commercial properties, offices and work spaces, a hotel, and a water reservoir. If built, the Atarot settlement will effectively be an Israeli city surrounded by Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods on three sides and Ramallah to its north. Geopolitically, it will have a similar impact to E-1 in terms of dismembering the West Bank and cutting it off from Jerusalem. For more on the Atarot settlement plan, please see here.

The Jerusalem District Planning Committee previously signaled its intent to advance the Atarot settlement plan, most notably by placing it on the December 6th agenda. After apparent pushback from the Biden Administration, on November 25th the plan was suddenly removed from the December 6th agenda, reportedly in fulfillment of a promise to the U.S. to freeze the project. That removal, however, proved short-lived. On November 28th, the Atarot plan reappeared on the agenda, confirming earlier comments Bennett made to the settler-run news outlet Arutz Sheva saying that the plan will indeed be discussed on December 6th. Apparently settling the matter, an Israeli diplomatic source said that the government will act on the plan by approving it for deposit for public review, while at the same time offering the U.S. a rhetorical commitment (but nothing more) that there will be no further advancement in the planning process for at least a year.

Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran cautions:

“‘…please, don’t buy any ‘promise’ that ‘we will not build’ (anyway the planning process takes a while, and even if they work hard and fast they can’t start to build Atarot in less than 3-4 years), what we need is clear: Don’t promote the plan; Shelve it.’ Ofran separately told The Los Angeles Times, ‘As soon as [the committee] approve[s] it, it’s like a snowball.’”

Ir Amim also warns:

“While the Israeli authorities may attempt to relegate the upcoming discussion as a prosaic, bureaucratic step in a lengthy approval process, it is a necessary stage in the plan’s final approval and indeed advances the plan one step closer to full validation.”

For further information about the Atarot plan – and what has transpired over the past week – please see the following two podcasts:

“The Settlement That Wasn’t But Now Is” ft. Daniel Seidemann & Evan Gottesman (Terrestrial Jerusalem Podcast – 11/30/2021)
“Scorched Earth & Settlements in Jerusalem” ft. Daniel Seidemann and Kristin McCarthy (FMEP podcast – 12/2/2021)

New Israeli President Kicks Off Hanukkah with Settlers in Hebron, Sparking Clashes and Raising Ire

Isaac Herzog – the former head of the Jewish Agency who was sworn in as the new Israeli President in July 2021 – opted to make a highly political statement by attending a celebration of the first night of Hanukkah in Hebron, at the Tomb of the Patriarchs/al-Ibrahimi Mosque. Herzog’s choice is correctly understood to be an intentional embrace and legitimization of settlers in Hebron, and of the apartheid reality Palestinians experience everyday. In his speech at the event, Herzog emphasized recognition of “the historical affinity of the Jewish people to Hebron, to the Cave of the Patriarchs,” and spoke about the 1929 massacre of Jews in Hebron. He said nothing about Palestinian links to the city, the 1993 Hebron Massacre, or anything else related to Palestinian equities in the city.

Palestinian and Israeli activists protested the event, which led to clashes with the IDF.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry responded:

“The Israeli government bears full and direct responsibility for this event…[this is] a defiant move aimed at embracing the settlement enterprise and a blatant violation of international law and the international effort to curb unilateral measures.”

MK Ayman Odeh (Joint List) tweeted:

“Herzog did not go to light the first candle, he went to light Hebron…Whoever celebrates with fans of the killer Goldstein cannot be the president of all the citizens of the country.”

Peace Now, commenting on Herzog’s activities, said:

“[Hebron is] the ugliest face of Israeli control over the territories..It is inconceivable that the president, who is supposed to be a unifying figure, would choose, of all places, to light a candle in a place that has become a stronghold of oppression and violence.”

Commenting on the IDF’s preventing protests of Herzog’s appearance, Peace Now also said:

“While the president lights a candle with Baruch Marzel and the Kahanists, security forces are preventing law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to protest”.

In speculating that Herzog’s appearance in Hebron is indicative of his higher political ambitions [to become Prime Minister], Israeli analyst Anshel Pfeffer writes:

“Herzog’s decision to light the first candle of Hanukkah on Sunday night with the settlers of Hebron, [Kahanist MK] Ben-Gvir’s core constituency, should come as no surprise to anyone. These were the kind of people he courted before being elected president and he’s not about to shun them now, or anytime… The visit to Hebron is not an afterthought or a symbolic gesture of ‘unity.’ This was the very first Hanukkah-lighting of Herzog’s presidency, and his choice of venue signals how he intends to build his political brand throughout his term and beyond.”

The Haaretz Editorial Board – in an editorial entitled “Herzog Decided He Wants to Be the President of the Settlements. It’s Not Too Late to Change It” – pleaded with Herzog to cancel his plan, writing:

“Of all the places in Israel, the president chose Hebron, the ultimate symbol of the ugliness and brutality of the occupation and the violence and domineering of the settlers.

“The visit by Israel’s No. 1 citizen to that place – most of whose Palestinian inhabitants have been forced to flee in fear of the settlers and abandon their homes and stores, turning the heart of Hebron into a ghost town – is tantamount to granting official legitimacy to the appalling injustices perpetrated there every day, both before and after Dr. Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Arab worshipers in the mosque at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

“In no other place in the West Bank is Israeli apartheid so horrifyingly flagrant: segregated streets on which Palestinians are prohibited from walking; vehicle entry barred to the Palestinians still living there; checkpoints at every turn – only for Palestinians, of course. Violence and humiliation are the daily fare of every Palestinian resident at the hands of the settlers and their children, as well as the army and Border Patrol personnel who are stationed on every corner.

“That is where Herzog believes he must go. His planned visit to Hebron is a gesture of recognition of and solidarity with the most violent settlers and additional proof that occupied Hebron has been annexed to Israel, at least de facto. Otherwise, the president has no reason to go there.”

Court OKs Demolition of Palestinian Homes in Wadi Yasul (Silwan)

Map by Ir Amim

On November 28th the Jerusalem District Court cleared the way for the immediate demolition of 58 Palestinian homes in the Wadi Yasul section of the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem – adjacent to an area known as the “Peace Forest”. The basis for the order is the Israeli claim that the homes lack Israel-issued building permits. The Court rejected an appeal to continue freezing demolition orders, filed by Palestinian homeowners, ruling that demolition orders can no longer be justifiably suspended because there appeared to be no prospect of Israel legalizing the homes, despite a 15-year effort on the part of Wadi Yasul’s residents to advance planning schemes that could have enabled Israel to rezone the land and legalize the homes.

An attorney representing the Palestinian homeowners told Haaretz:

“The residents have spent millions of shekels on these plans, but in the end, [city officials] broke their promises, posed insurmountable obstacles and insist on implementing the demolition orders and throwing the families out onto the street with no alternative.”

The brutal outcome Israel is meting out to the Palestinian residents of Wadi Yasul stands in stark contrast to the Israeli State and judicial system’s treatment of illegal settler construction in the same area — a reality that underscores the systematic discrimination that characterizes Israeli planning policies and enforcement facing Palestinians in Jerusalem. While pursuing the demolition of Palestinian construction and refusing efforts to address the issue, FMEP reported in 2019 how the Israeli government is working hand-in-hand with Israeli settlers to pursue every avenue to secure the retroactive legalization of the Elad settler group’s illegal construction. Even more brazenly, Israeli officials have been working to rezone the “Peace Forest” [something it refuses to do for Palestinians] in order to allow the Elad settler group to build more infrastructure in the area, including a tourist zipline and a promenade meant to connect settlement enclaves in the area.

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

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

Ir Amim explains:

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

In a 2019 report on Wadi Yasul, B’Tselem told the story of what’s transpiring there:

“The residents of Wadi Yasul built [their homes] adjacent to a forest, also located on privately owned land that was expropriated from its Palestinian owners in 1970. In 1977, the Jerusalem Municipality zoned the forest and the area where Wadi Yasul was later established as a green space, where construction is prohibited.

“In 2004, the neighborhood’s residents submitted a detailed plan to the District Planning and Building Committee for retroactive authorization of their homes. The committee rejected the plan in 2008, citing incompatibility with the Jerusalem 2000 Outline Plan, which states that the area where the neighborhood was built must remain a green space.

“At the same time, the municipality and the JNF (Jewish National Fund) – the body in charge of managing the forest – gave their approval to settler organization El-Ad to move forward with plans for group campgrounds, including building the longest recreational zipline in Israel. Some of the facilities have already been built in the forest, without building permits. While the city did issue demolition orders against them, it has refrained from following through.

“In contrast, over the last decade, the city has filed indictments with the Court of Local Affairs against all Wadi Yasul homeowners. The court then issued demolition orders for all of the homes and imposed heavy fines, fining each family tens of thousands of shekels. Three of the families appealed these decisions with the District Court. The appeals were dismissed in April on the grounds that “there are no clear and near planning prospects” for the approval of a plan that would see the appellants’ homes, or other homes in the neighborhood, approved. An appeal the families filed with the Supreme Court was also rejected. In late April, 47 other families filed a motion with the District Court seeking an interim injunction staying execution of the demolition orders. The court’s decision is still pending. Consequently, all of the homes in the neighborhood are still under immediate threat of demolition.

“Ever since 1967, planning policy in Jerusalem has been geared toward establishing and maintaining a Jewish demographic majority in the city. Under this policy, it is nearly impossible to obtain a building permit in Palestinian neighborhoods. The outline plans the city has prepared for these neighborhoods are largely aimed at restricting and limiting building opportunities in Palestinian neighborhoods. One way the plans do so is by designating vast areas as open green spaces, thereby barring Palestinians from building there. The resulting housing shortage forces Palestinian residents to build without permits.”

“Day of Destruction” – Israel Demolitions in East Jerusalem & West Bank

On November 23rd, Israeli forces carried out a demolition campaign targeting Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, under the pretense that these homes lack Israeli-required Israeli-issued building permits (permits Israel systematically refuses to issue to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in Area C). As a result of these demolitions, 22 people, including 15 children, were rendered homeless in a single day.

The demolitions included:

3 homes in the Wadi al-Hummus neighborhood of East Jerusalem. One of the buildings was a multi-unit apartment buildings;
1 home and a burial building (perhaps a funeral home) in villages in the South Hebron Hills;
1 tent and 3 livestock structures belonging to bedouin families living east of Ramallah;
An agricultural road near Nablus. The road was used by the residents of ‘Asirah al-Shamaliyah to reach their farmland and also connects the town to Nablus.

B’Tselem writes:

“The wave of demolitions expresses the perception of the Israeli regime, which holds that land is a resource intended primarily to serve the Jewish population. This regime uses a variety of administrative, planning and bureaucratic tools to implement this concept. Governments come and go, but the apartheid regime remains untouched.”

Government Contradictions Delay Final Decision on Jerusalem Cable Car Project

On November 28th, the Israeli High Court of Justice held what was scheduled to be the final hearing to determine the fate of the Jerusalem cable car project — a project which has been promoted by the government and the Elad settler organization until this point. But instead of reaching a decision, the Court ended up giving the Israeli government a 21-day extension, by the end of which the government must explain its position on the project.

The proximate cause of the Court’s action was Israeli Minister of Transportation Merav Michaeli’s (Labor) statement, delivered two days before the Court hearing, saying that “the cable car has no significant transportation role, and the harm will exceed the benefits.” That statement contradicts and completely undermines the rationale for the project that the government has put forward until this point — i.e., that the cable car will provide a legitimate transportation benefit. Given Michaeli’s statement, the Court issued its order for the State to clarify where it stands.

Commenting on the Court’s action, the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh – which specializes in archaeology – said:

“We are pleased that after three years, the transport minister has said what we have been saying all along: that the Jerusalem cable car project is not a transportation project and is not an answer to the traffic issues near the Old City. We believe that its value for tourism has also been greatly misrepresented and although the plan is being advanced by the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Tourism Ministry it will primarily benefit a powerful interest group (the Elad Foundation) by transporting thousands of tourists to its hub at the City of David to the detriment of the historic city and its residents. We hope that the judges will rule that the approval process for the cable car plan severely undermined principles of good governance and on those grounds decide to put a stop to the plan.”

As a reminder, the Jerusalem cable car project is an initiative backed by the powerful, state-backed Elad settler group and advanced by the Israeli Tourism Ministry. The State of Israel – which has pushed the project forward in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and despite commitments by the government to focus on public health matters only – was previously forced to publicly admit that the implementation of the cable car project will require the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

While public efforts to “sell” the cable car plan have focused on its purported role in helping to grow Jerusalem’s tourism industry or in serving supposedly vital transportation needs, in reality the purpose of the project is to further entrench settler control in Silwan, via archeology and tourism sites, while simultaneously delegitimizing, dispossessing, and erasing the Palestinian presence there. Notably, the cable car line is slated to terminate at the settler-run Kedem Center compound (Elad’s large tourism center, currently under construction at the entrance of the Silwan neighborhood, in the shadows of the Old City’s walls and Al-Aqsa Mosque).

Emek Shaveh and other non-governmental organizations, including Who Profits and Terrestrial Jerusalem, have repeatedly challenged (and provided evidence discrediting) the government’s contention that the cable car will serve a legitimate transportation need in Jerusalem, and have clearly enumerated the obvious political drivers behind the plan, the archeological heresies it validates, and the severe negative impacts the cable car project will have on Palestinian residents of Silwan.

Knesset Holds Hearing on Settler Terrorism

On November 22nd a group of Knesset members – all hailing from political parties considered to be part of the Israeli Left – convened a hearing on settler violence against Palestinians.

As part of the hearing, several experts were asked to testify, including Ali Awad, a journalist and anti-settlement activist in the South Hebron Hills. Awad testified regarding his experience growing up in Tuba (read about that here), saying:

“I grew up in Tuba in the South Hebron Hills, under the threat of settlers my whole life. The military and settlers are working to steal our resources, rob us of our freedom, and take our land. There is full cooperation between the settlers and the army” [paraphrased by Breaking the Silence]

Peace Now Executive Director Shaqued Morag also testified, and emphasized that unauthorized outposts radiate settler terrorism and violence, serving as a tool for settlers (and the state) to take over more and more land.

A group of retired Israeli commanders – called Commanders for Israeli Security – delivered a written testimony for the hearing, writing:

“Groups of settlers have been perpetrating deadly acts of violence against Palestinians — for the most part helpless villagers — in areas under our control…This is completely unacceptable from an ethical and humanitarian perspective, and it stands in contradiction to Israel’s Jewish values.”

The hearing was not without controversy, as it was held the one day after a Palestinian killed one Jewish Israeli and injured four others in a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem. Right-wing members of the Knesset, including Kahanist MK Ben Gvir, asked for the hearing on settler violence to be cancelled altogether. When it was allowed to proceed, Ben Gvir used the podium to shout his criticism of the Knesset members who organized the hearing, eventually resulting in his removal from the hearing room.

Decrying the lack of participation of many MKs, Meretz Party Chairman Nitzan Horowitz said:

“Their silence and lack of interest is tantamount to the endorsement and encouragement of continued violence.”

Horowitz also said:

“Some people in the Knesset minimize its existence or even deny it entirely. I invite them to visit the area, to meet with the victims of this violence, and to see the photos and video clips they produce.’’

Bonus Reads

“Highway of hope and heartbreak” (Washington Post)
“The Gaza Bantustan – Israeli Apartheid in the Gaza Strip” (Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights)
“‘Hate crime’ attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians spike in the West Bank” (Washington Post)
“Democratic Lawmakers Warn Against ‘Doomsday’ Israeli Settlement Plan” (Haaretz)
“‘The occupation is trying to uproot us. Art can bring us back’” (+972 Magazine)
“Israelis attacked, car set on fire after entering Ramallah” (i24 News)
“The Long Reach of Restraint: For Israel’s Supreme Court, to exercise power might be to lose it.” (Jewish Currents // Elisheva Goldberg)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

October 22, 2021

Israel to Advance Plans for Nearly 3,000 Settlement Units & 1,300 Palestinian Homes in Area C
Israeli Supreme Court to Hold Hearing on Batan al-Hawa, Silwan Dispossession Cases Next Week; AG Declines Intervention
Israel Begins Construction on New Settlement in Downtown Hebron
Israel Advances “Silicon Wadi” Project in East Jerusalem
Recap: Israel Advances Settlement Plans Across Greater Jerusalem Area
Recap: Court Pushes for Palestinians to “Compromise” with Settlers in Sheikh Jarrah
New Report: State-Backed Settler “Tourism” Projects in East Jerusalem
Bonus Reads

Israel to Advance Plans for Nearly 3,000 Settlement Units & 1,300 Palestinian Homes in Area C

The Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Council will convene next week — for the first time since Bennett and Biden took over leadership in Israel and the U.S., respectively — to advance the construction of 2,862 new settlement units (of which 1,231 will be eligible to receive final approval). These plans include the retroactive legalization of two unauthorized outposts (Mitzpe Danny and Haroeh Haivri), which should be properly understood as the creation of two new settlements.

Peace Now data

In addition, reports suggest that Israel will also advance plans for 1,303 Palestinian homes in Area C – about half of which, importantly, are already built. A majority of these units have been awaiting Israeli approval for many, many years. If approved, the permits under consideration next week for Palestinians will be the first of any significant quantity issued by Israel since, at least, 2009 (data from before this period has not been released by the Israeli government). Between 2009 and 2018, Israel issued a total of 98 building permits to Palestinians according to data released by the Israeli government in response to a freedom of information request submitted by Bimkom.

As a reminder, Area C is the 60% of the West Bank over which Israel enjoys absolute authority. For years Israel has systematically denied Palestinians the right to build on land in Area C that even Israel recognizes is privately owned by them, At the same time, it has continuously promoted the expansion of settlements and unauthorized outposts, while systematically demolishing Palestinian private construction. In terms of numbers: between 2016 to 2018, Israel issued only 21 building permits to Palestinians in Area C, while issuing 2,147 demolition orders against Palestinians during.

Commenting on the Planning Council agenda’s Peace Now observed:

“The approval of a handful of plans for the Palestinians is only a fig leaf intended to try to reduce criticism of the government. For years, Israel has pursued a policy of blatant discrimination that does not allow almost any construction for Palestinians in Area C, while in the settlements it encourages and promotes the construction of thousands of housing units each year for Israelis. The approval of a few hundred housing units for Palestinians can not cover up discrimination and does not change the fact that Israel maintains an illegal regime of occupation and discrimination in the territories.”

It is worth noting that many of the settlement units and Palestinian permits on next week’s agenda were expected to have been advanced earlier this year, in August 2021, but the High Planning Council never convened to do so.

Below are lists of settlement plans expected to be given final approval and plans expected to be advanced next week (italicized plans represent those which appear to have been added to the slate of plans that were expected to be advanced in August 2021).

Settlement plans expected to be granted final approval include:

629 units, including the retroactive legalization of 61 units, in the Eli settlement – located south of Nablus and southeast of the Ariel settlement in the central West Bank. Though the Eli settlement previously received Israeli government approval, a “Master Plan” – which officially zones land for distinct purposes (residential, commercial, public) – has never been issued for Eli, meaning all construction there is illegal under Israeli law;
286 units in the Har Bracha settlement, located south of Nablus. If implemented, these new units will double the size of Har Bracha;
224 units in the Talmon settlement, located west of Ramallah;
146 units in the Kfar Etzion settlement, located between Bethlehem and Hebron and on the Israeli side of the planned route of the barrier (which is not yet built in this area);
110 units in the Alon Shvut settlement, located just north of the Kfar Etzion settlement and between Bethlehem and Hebron;
82 units in the Karnei Shomron settlement, located in the northern West Bank, east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya. Israel has openly declared its intention to continue expanding settlements in this area with the stated goal of bringing 1 million settlers to live in the area.;
52 units in the Beit El settlement, located in the heart of the northern West Bank [as a reminder, former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has deep ties to the Beit El settlement]; Construction on 350 new units in Beit El began earlier this year;
42 units in the Givat Zeev settlement, located south of Ramallah in an area that is on the Israeli side of the barrier;
24 units in the Haroeh Haivri outpost, a plan that will effectively grant retroactive legalization to this outpost. The Haroeh Haivri outpost is located just east of Jerusalem, within eyesight of the Khan al-Ahmar community, which Israel is threatening to demolish (forcibly relocating the Palestinian bedouin community that has lived there since the 1950s) — ostensibly because the structures in Khan al Ahmar were built without necessary Israeli approvals. The Haroah Haivri outpost was also built without the necessary Israeli approvals, but instead of demolishing the construction, Israel is moving to retroactively legalize it — demonstrating once again that, when it comes to administering the occupation, Israel prefers “rule by law” – where law is turned into a tool to elevate the rights/interests of one party over another, over the democratic rule of law.;
14 units in the Ma’aleh Mikhmash settlement, a plan that will effectively grant retroactive legalization to one of Ma’aleh Mikhmash’s outposts – – Mitzpe Danny;
10 units in the Barkan settlement, located about half way between the Ariel settlement and the cluster of settlements slated to be united into a “super settlement” area (Oranit, Elkana, Shiva Tikva, and others);
5 units in the Shima’a settlement, located in the southern tip of the West Bank;
7 units in the Peduel settlement, located in the northern West Bank and part of a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley.

Settlement plans expected to be approved for deposit (an earlier stage in the planning process) include:

399 units in the Revava settlement, located just east of the Barkan settlement and west of the Ariel settlement, in a string of settlements and unauthorized outposts – most notably Ariel – extending from the Green Line into the very heart of the West Bank and on towards the Jordan Valley.
380 units in the Kedumim settlement, located just east of Nablus. Israeli MK Bezalel Smotrich lives in the Kedumim settlement on a section of land in the settlement that has been found to be privately owned by Palestinians.;
100 units in the Elon Moreh settlement, located east of Nablus (for background on the significance of the Elon Moreh settlement, please see here);
100 units in the Sansana settlement, located on the southern tip of the West Bank on the Israeli side of the separation barrier;
73 units in the Givat Zeev settlement, which is also expected to receive final approval for 42 units. Givat Zeev is located south of Ramallah in an area that is on the Israeli side of the barrier;
68 units in the Tene settlement, located on the southern tip of the West Bank;
45 units in the Vered Yericho settlement, located just west of the Palestinian city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley;
27 units in the Karnei Shomron settlement, which is also expected to receive final approval for 82 units. Karnei Shomron is located in the northern West Bank, east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya. Israel has openly declared its intention to continue expanding settlements in this area with the stated goal of bringing 1 million settlers to live in the area.;
18 units in the Alon Shvut settlement, which is also expected to receive final approval for 110 units. Alon Shvut is located just north of the Kfar Etzion settlement and between Bethlehem and Hebron;
10 units in the Tal Menashe settlement, located located on the tip of the northern West Bank, inside the “seam zone” between the 1967 Green Line and the Israel separation barrier, which was constructed along a route designed to keep as many settlements and as much adjacent land as possible on the Israeli side of the wall/fence.
7 units in the Hermesh settlement, located in the northern West Bank;
4 units in the Efrat settlement, located south of Bethlehem, inside a settlement block that cuts deep into the West Bank. Efrat’s location and the route of the barrier wall around it, have literally severed the route of Highway 60 south of Bethlehem, cutting off Bethlehem and Jerusalem from the southern West Bank. The economic, political, and social impacts of the closure of Highway 60 at the Efrat settlement (there is literally a wall built across the highway) have been severe for the Palestinian population.

Peace Now reports that the Planning Council will also consider advancing the following plans for Palestinian homes:

270 houses in the Bir al-Bash village, located south of Jenin in the northern West Bank;
270 houses in the Al-Ma’asara village, located south of Bethlehem;
233 houses in the the Almasqufa village, located near Tulkarem in the northern West Bank;
200 houses in the Dkeika village in the South Hebron Hills;
170 houses in the Khirbet Abdallah Younas village, located in the Jenin area;
160 houses in the Abba a-Sharqiya village, also located south of Jenin in the northern West Bank;

Israeli Supreme Court to Hold Hearing on Batan al-Hawa, Silwan Dispossession Cases Next Week; AG Declines Intervention

On October 25th, the Israeli Supreme Court is scheduled to hold an important hearing on the case of the Palestinian Duweik family which is under threat of being dispossessed of their longtime home in the Batan al-Hawa section of the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem by the Ateret Cohanim settler organization.

In advance of that hearing – and after repeated extensions on a Court-ordered deadline – the Israeli Attorney General finally submitted his position on the case to the Court. The document submitted by the Attorney General was only 1 page, and simply stated that the case does not merit intervention either on the specific case of the Duweik family or regarding the wider legal principle at stake, which threatens an additional 85 families living under threat of eviction in Batan al-Hawa.

Ir Amim writes:

“Among the 85 families facing eviction, the Duweik family case is the first to reach the Supreme Court level, and its outcome will inevitably set a precedent, significantly impacting the rest of the cases in the neighborhood…As in the eviction cases in Sheikh Jarrah, the Attorney General and by extension, the government, was given a rare opportunity to take a moral stand by providing a legal opinion and policy position to help prevent the mass displacement of these families. Yet, at this point, the Attorney General’s response appears to imply that he has declined to intervene. Now, the decision concerning the fate of these families seems to lie solely in the hands of the Supreme Court. The rights of Palestinians to housing and shelter and the right to family and community life are fundamental and must be upheld. The same discriminatory legal system, which led to the confiscation of these families’ original homes in 1948, is now being exploited 73 years later to displace them for a second time from their current homes in which they have lived for decades. The Supreme Court has the power to make a principled and just decision to uphold the rights of these families to remain safely in their homes, free from the constant threat of being forcibly uprooted and driven from their homes and communities.”

Peace Now said in response to the AG’s decision to not intervene:

“The Attorney General’s response actually says that for the Israeli government, there is no problem to kick hundreds of residents out from their homes, on the basis of a discriminatory law, in favor of a settlement. The government was given an opportunity here to try to prevent moral injustice and political folly, but instead of taking a stand, it chose to remain on the sidelines, as if Silwan’s story, like that of Sheikh Jarrah, was a legal matter and not a political one.”

In July 2021, Peace Now assembled a coalition of Israeli lawyers to submit an amicus brief to the Court regarding the Duweik case. Peace Now summarizes:

“The brief addresses an approach that has emerged in international jurisprudence on human rights law which puts an emphasis on group vulnerability of occupants facing eviction and institutional, systemic discrimination against them. Where these are present, in certain circumstances, the occupants’ rights, stemming from the human right to housing and specifically, to live in their home and their family’s home – trump the right of the original owner or their substitute to regain possession of the property.

The brief reaches the conclusion that in the Duweik case, the occupants’ property rights and their right to housing supersede the right of the settlers acting on behalf of the pre-1948 original owners to receive possession of the property, based on the following:

1 – The fact that Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are underprivileged, vulnerable and subjected to discrimination in every aspect of life, and particularly the fact that Israeli law on the restitution of property that changed hands due to wars, openly and deliberately discriminates against them;

2 – The fact that the family entered the property in good faith and/or in accordance with the law applicable at the time, and has developed a legitimate expectation to continue residing in it permanently and without interruption;

3 – The imbalance between the devastating harm the family would suffer and the minor damage the Benvenisti charitable endowment (represented by the settlers), which claims ownership of the property, would sustain, which clearly tips the scales in favor of the family.

In other words, according to the brief, even if the court finds the settlers do, in fact, have ownership, they are not necessarily entitled to remedy in the form of the families’ eviction from their homes, but rather to compensation from the state.”

Israel Begins Construction on New Settlement in Downtown Hebron

Peace Now reports that construction has begun on 31 new settlement units at the site of an old bus station previously repurposed as an IDF base, located in the heart of the Old City of Hebron on the infamous Shuhada street. This is a new settler enclave in the city and is, in effect, a new urban settlement, disconnected from already existing settlements in the city. It will be the first new settlement construction approved in downtown Hebron – where Palestinians already live under apartheid conditions – since 2002.

Peace Now said in a statement:

“The government is acting like an annexation government, not as a change government. Since the 1980s, no government has dared to build a new settlement in the heart of the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, with the exception of one building built under the auspices of the second intifada in 2001. The Defense Minister has to stop construction, even if the plan was approved by the previous government. The settlement in Hebron is the ugly face of Israeli control of the territories. The moral and political price of having a settlement in Hebron is unbearable.”

As a reminder: in October 2017, the Israeli Civil Administration approved a building permit for the 31 units, on the condition that the Palestinian municipality of Hebron and others would have the opportunity to file objections to the plan. Soon after, two appeals were filed with the Defense Ministry: one by the Palestinian municipality of Hebron and one by the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now. The legal objections were based on the legally questionable process by which Israel made land in downtown Hebron available for settlement construction. Located in the Israeli-controlled H-2 area of Hebron (where 500 Israeli settlers live amongst 40,000 Palestinians), Israel seized the land in the 1980s from the Hebron Municipality, for military purposes. In 2007, the Civil Administration’s Legal Advisor issued an opinion stating that once Israel is done using the land for military purposes, it must be returned to the Hebron Municipality, which has protected tenancy rights to the land. Nonetheless, in 2015, the Israeli Civil Administration, with the consent of the Minister of Defense, quietly authorized the Housing Ministry to plan the area for Israeli settlement use, paving the way for that same ministry to subsequently present the plan for the 31 units.

In October 2018, with the legal challenges still pending, the Israeli Cabinet voted to expedite the planning of the new settlement and allocated approximately $6.1 million (NIS 22 million) for the project, which will require Israel to significantly renovate the bus station/military base in order to build the 31 new settlement housing units, as well as a kindergarten, and “public areas” for the new settler residents. Peace Now explains:

“The approval of the building permit in the heart of Hebron is an extraordinary move not only because it is a new settlement in Hebron for the first time since 2001, but because it indicates a significant change in Israeli legal interpretation of what is allowed and forbidden in occupied territory. The area in question was owned by Jews before 1948, and it was leased by the Jordanian government in protected tenancy to the Hebron municipality for the purpose of establishing the central bus station. Since 1967, the Israeli authorities managed the land and continued the lease to the Hebron municipality, until in the 1980s when the area was seized for military purposes, the bus station was closed and a military base was established there. A legal opinion of the Judea and Samaria Attorney General on the issue in 2007 emphatically stated that by law the municipality’s protected lease must not be revoked.”

Israel Advances “Silicon Wadi” Project in East Jerusalem

On October 13th, the Jerusalem Local Planning Committee met to initiate the planning process for the “Silicon Wadi” project, which was initiated by the Jerusalem Municipality and outlines plans to build a large industrial zone for hi-tech, commercial, and hospitality businesses in the heart of East Jerusalem’s Wadi Joz neighborhood. The project requires the demolition of some 200 Palestinian-owned businesses that currently operate in the area; dozens of demolition notices for which were issued in November 2020.

Ir Amim writes:

“Beyond the devastating impact of widespread demolitions of existing businesses and structures, the plan also raises concerns that the Israeli authorities will exploit the planning procedures to locate alleged Palestinian absentee properties and transfer lands into the hands of the State. It should also be noted that while Israel focuses on bolstering employment and economic activity in East Jerusalem, it simultaneously continues to suppress residential development in Palestinian neighborhoods. As with nearly all outline plans advanced in East Jerusalem in recent years, the Wadi Joz business park plan only allocates a marginal amount for residential use, which hardly meets the acute housing needs of the Palestinian population. Rather than undertaking measures to rectify the housing crisis, these plans only exacerbate the current situation and perpetuate the residential planning stranglehold, which ultimately serves to push Palestinians out of the city.”

Recap: Israel Advances Settlement Plans Across Greater Jerusalem Area

Over the past two weeks, the government of Israel has advanced four highly controversial and politically consequential settlement plans in the Greater Jerusalem area:

The Givat Hamatos Settlement: On October 13th, the Jerusalem Local Planning Committee approved the expropriation of lands designated for public use in the Givat Hamatos area for the construction of roads, public buildings and the development of open space for the planned new settlement/neighborhood. For more on the Givat Hamatos settlement plan, please see here.
Map by Haaretz
The E-1 Settlement: The Israel Civil Administration moved forward with advancing plans for the construction of the E-1 settlement, setting a date for a third hearing to discuss public objections to the plan (now set for November 8th). The first hearing was held on October 4th, but Palestinians were denied the ability to participate in that hearing (which was held virtually, making it inaccessible to the many Palestinians affected by the plan who do not have internet access). As a result, the Court scheduled this 3rd hearing (to allow the participation of Palestinians). The second hearing was held on October 18th; at that hearing three objections were presented (one by the Palestinian village of Anata, a second by the Palestinian village of Al-Azariya, and a third joint submission filed by Ir Amim and Peace Now). Ir Amim reports that there was no substantive discussion of these objections, with the Civil Administration panel offering no questions or comments on them. For more on the E-1 settlement plan, please see Terrestrial Jeruaslem’s excellent and thorough reporting.
The Atarot Settlement: The Jerusalem District Planning Committee formally signaled that it will proceed with a hearing on the Atarot settlement plan – scheduled for December 6th – to build a huge new settlement on the site of the former Qalandiya airport (located at the northern tip of East Jerusalem). In its current form, the plan provides for up to 9,000 residential units for ultra-Orthodox Jews (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 6, this means housing for 54,000 people), as well as synagogues, ritual baths (mikvehs), commercial properties, offices and work spaces, a hotel, and a water reservoir. If built, the Atarot settlement will effectively be a small Israeli city surrounded by Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods on three sides and Ramallah to its north. Geopolitically, it will have a similar impact to E-1 in terms of dismembering the West Bank and cutting it off from Jerusalem. For more on the Atarot settlement plan, please see here.
The Pisgat Ze’ev Settlement: The Israeli government advanced plans for 470 new settlement units in Pisgat Ze’ev, the largest settlement located in East Jerusalem.

Recap: Court Pushes for Palestinians to “Compromise” with Settlers in Sheikh Jarrah

The Israeli Supreme Court has set November 2nd as the deadline for Palestinian families living at risk of forced displacement in Shiekh Jarrah to decide wether or not to accept a Court-authored deal which would help them – at least temporarily – avoid eviction from their homes, in part by requiring them to recognize settler ownership over the properties.

Under the terms of the Court’s deal, which it is pressuring both parties to accept, the following would take place:

The settler group Nahalat Shimon will be recognized as the owners of the site.
The Palestinians will be recognized as protected tenants and be required to pay an nominal annual rental fee to the attorney of the settlers (in effect recognizing the settlers as the owners) but
- The Palestinians will be able to continue pursuing legal challenges to the underlying ownership of the land
- The Palestinians are permitted to renovate the properties without interference
Settlers will be able to instigate eviction proceedings against Palestinians if they are in violation of the Court’s compromise agreement or in violation of Israel’s tenancy laws.

Terrestrial Jerusalem writes:

“The most problematic element of the settlement relates to the settlers’ ability to institute evictions even if the residents are not in violation of the agreement or of the tenancy laws. The settlers will be entitled to institute such proceedings in the event that the ownership rights are conclusively awarded to them, or after 15 years, the earlier of the two. This can be done if the settlers either wish to personally use the property or to demolish and rebuild. Under these circumstances, the settlers will need to offer the residents alternative equivalent quarters. Palestinian residents might hope settlers reject the deal to avoid having to make an ‘excruciatingly painful decision.’”

According to Terrestrial Jerusalem, the Court has signaled that further negotiations are acceptable, but that if either party rejects the agreement a decision on the eviction cases will be handed down swiftly.

New Report: State-Backed Settler “Tourism” Projects in East Jerusalem

In a new report entitled, “The Valley of Hinnom: Trees and Flowerbeds in the Political Struggle over East Jerusalem,” the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh surveys the multitude of recent “tourism” projects jointly undertaken by the Elad settler organization and the Israeli government in the Ben Hinnom Valley — a strategic area between East and West Jerusalem (stretching past the 1967 Green Line), and located within the area designated by Israel as the Jerusalem “Walls National Park”.

Emek Shaveh writes:

“The nature of the tourism-settlement activity in the Valley of Hinnom conducted jointly by Elad and government authorities is familiar to us from the City of David/Silwan. The series of joint ventures such as the café, the Center for Ancient Agriculture and the cable car in effect hand over large expanses of land to the settlers of the Elad Foundation under the guise of tourism. Although unlike Silwan, the valley is sparsely populated, the activity there must be viewed as an integral part of the struggle for the Old City Basin of Jerusalem and as a means to clear this highly strategic area from the presence of Palestinians.”

In conclusion, we wish to emphasize the following points:

1 – Development in East Jerusalem is almost always driven by political objectives. Recent developments in the Valley of Hinnom are part of the grand plan to change the character and the landscape of the Old City Basin and ought to be considered an integral component of the settlement enterprise in the Palestinian neighborhoods surrounding the Old City.

2 – Halting the destructive development schemes in the areas surrounding the Old City is vital in order to preserve Jerusalem as a multicultural historic city and is indirectly essential for safeguarding the status quo at the holy places.

3 – The Palestinian protests against the expansion of the settlers’ grip over the open spaces such as the Hinnom Valley is part of the struggle by the residents of Silwan and the surrounding neighborhoods to preserve the character of their neighborhoods. In our view, one ought to view the various activities by the settlers and the authorities in the Historic Basin such as the expulsion of residents from their homes, taking over land and the shaping of a historic narrative as part of the same general bid to cement their control over the Historic Basin.”

Bonus Reads

“[PODCAST] The Occupation & the Biden Administration” (FMEP ft. Danny Seidemann and Yehuda Shaul with Lara Friedman and Khaled Elgindy)
“How offshore accounts turned the British Virgin Islands into an east Jerusalem landlord” (JTA)
“Beita residents reach lands for first time since settler takeover” (Al Jazeera)
“After Years of Neighborly Relations, Settlers Try to Foil Recognition of Palestinian Hamlet” (Haaretz)
“Palestinian protests turn deadly as Israel considers the future of a new settlement” (NPR)
“These Palestinian Families Face Eviction From Their East Jerusalem Homes” (Haaretz)
“When Settler Becomes Native” (Jewish Currents)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

August 13, 2021

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 1: Israel Set to Advance 2,259 Settlement Units
The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 2: Israel Announces Intention to Issue 863 Building Permits for Palestinians in Area C
The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 3: Observations on Settlement Policy Coordination Between Governments
Jerusalem District Court Orders 16 Homes to Be Demolished While Delaying – for 6 months – Demolition of Others in Silwan
Israel Begins Work on Settler-Back Project at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs
Atarot Settlement Plan to Be Discussed on December 6th
Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 1: Israel Set to Advance 2,259 Settlement Units

On August 12th, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that the High Planning Council will convene on August 18th to advance 2,259 new settlement units, as part of projects across the West Bank. Of these, 908 units are slated to receive final approval, including many units in areas beyond Israel’s security barrier. This will be the first time that the High Planning Council (HPC) has convened in 10 months, and it will be the first time a large number of settlement units has been advanced since Biden entered the White House. As a reminder, the HPC is a body within the Israeli Civil Administration (which is a part of the Israeli Ministry of Defense) that has authority over construction planning and approvals for both settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank (the HPC does not have authority with respect to settlement construction in East Jerusalem; since Israel annexed the area in 1967, Israeli domestic Israeli planning authorities are in charge there).

The plans expected to receive final approval include:

286 units in the Har Bracha settlement, located south of Nablus. If implemented, these new units will double the size of Har Bracha;
146 units in the Kfar Etzion settlement, located between Bethlehem and Hebron and on the Israeli side of the planned route of the barrier (which is not yet built in this area);
110 units in the Alon Shvut settlement, located just north of the Kfar Etzion settlement and between Bethlehem and Hebron;
82 units in the Karnei Shomron settlement, located in the northern West Bank, east of the Palestinian village of Qalqilya. Israel has openly declared its intention to continue expanding settlements in this area with the stated goal of bringing 1 million settlers to live in the area.;
52 units in the Beit El settlement, located in the heart of the northern West Bank [as a reminder, former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has deep ties to the Beit El settlement]; Construction on 350 new units in Beit El began earlier this year;
42 units in the Givat Zeev settlement, located south of Ramallah in an area that. is on the Israeli side of the barrier;
14 units in the Ma’aleh Mikhmash settlement, located east of Ramallah;
10 units in the Barkan settlement, located about half way between the Ariel settlement and the cluster of settlements slated to be united into a “super settlement” area (Oranit, Elkana, Shiva Tikva, and others).;

Peace Now said:

“The approval of thousands of housing units in the settlements harms the Israeli interest and the chances of reaching peace. It seems that the approval of a handful of plans for the Palestinians is only intended to try to reduce criticism of the government and to please the US administration ahead of Prime Minister Bennett’s expected visit to Washington in the coming weeks. For years, Israel has pursued a policy of blatant discrimination that does not allow almost any construction for Palestinians in Area C, while in the settlements it encourages and promotes the construction of thousands of housing units each year for Israelis. The approval of a few hundred housing units for Palestinians can not cover up discrimination and does not change the fact that Israel maintains an illegal regime of occupation and discrimination in the territories.”

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 2: Israel Announces Intention to Issue 863 Building Permits for Palestinians in Area C

In announcing plans to advance over 2,000 new settlement units, Defense Minister Gantz also announced his intention to issue permits for 863 houses – some of which will be issued for existing structures – for Palestinians living in Area C. Haaretz reports that the permits are being advanced in order to buy the consent of the few members of the Israeli governing coalition that oppose settlement construction, and as “calculated risk” with respect to the Biden administration.

As a reminder, Area C is the 60% of the West Bank where Israel enjoys absolute authority and has systematically denied Palestinian building rights, while promoting the expansion of settlements and unauthorized outposts. If issued, these permits for Palestinians will be the first issued by Israel in years, and the first of any significant size. Only 21 building permits were issued to Palestinians between 2016 to 2018, while 2,147 demolition orders were issued in the same period.

Commenting on the announcement of the planned permits (which, given past experience, there is no reason to assume will ever be issued) Peace Now said:

“It is a very small expansion of the Palestinian villages and a drop in the ocean in terms of real Palestinian development needs.”

Peace Now reports that these permits, if they are ever issued, might be for:

270 houses in the Bir al-Bash village, located south of Jenin in the northern West Bank;
233 houses in the the Almasqufa village, located near Tulkarem in the norhtern West Bank;
160 houses in the Abba a-Sharqiya village, also located south of Jenin in the northern West Bank;
150 houses in the Al-Ma’asara village, located south of Bethlehem; and,
50 houses in the Khirbet Zakariya, also located south of Bethlehem.

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 3: Observations on Settlement Policy Coordination Between Governments

In reporting over the past week, Axios journalist Barak Ravid has documented the efforts by the Israeli and U.S. governments to square conflicting positions with regards to settlement growth.

On the U.S. side, the Biden Administration has appeared to take pains to make room in its official discourse to begrudgingly tolerate settlement construction. While the U.S. has criticized the new batch of settlement advancements, until this week the U.S. had reportedly identified three actions it has asked Israel to refrain from, notably not including settlement expansion. Those three actions are: the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinians from their homes, and the establishment of new outposts in the West Bank. The U.S. is also reportedly asking Israel to take positive steps to stabilize the Palestinian Authority, which is suffering from economic shortfalls and crashing levels of popular support.

For it’s part, Israeli press suggests that the Bennett government reduced the number of upcoming settlement advancements in order to appease the Biden Administration. The Israelis wanted to advance 3,623 plans, but announced a total of 2,259 (a 39% cut according to Jerusalem Post). Axios also reports that the Israeli government is assertively framing its settlement policy as one of restraint, prioritizing settlement projects that address the supposed “natural growth” needs of existing settlements.

“Natural growth” has been used many times in the past by the Israeli government as an argument for why settlements must be allowed to expand. FMEP’s Lara Friedman has debunked this argument many times in the past, explaining:

“While ‘natural growth’ has no formal definition, it has generally been used in the settler context to mean population growth due to births, as contrasted to growth due to immigration from Israel or other places. But in numerical terms (according to Israeli official statistics), taking into account deaths and people migrating out of settlements, births inside the settlements account for approximately 60% of the annual population growth in settlements, while around 40% is immigration from inside Israel or abroad. So clearly population growth in settlements is not simply a matter of births. Perhaps this is why some excuse-makers have expanded ‘natural growth’ to include other ways that families can grow, from non-settler spouses to aged non-settler relatives moving in.

“Regardless of what definition people want to use, the fact is that ‘natural growth’ is not a legitimate argument against a complete freeze in settlement construction. Yes, settlers, like people everywhere, indeed have the right to have babies, and yes, their children indeed have the right to grow up and have families and homes of their own. But nowhere in the world – not in New York, or Paris, or Tel Aviv – do people have an inalienable right to live exactly where they want – in the size home they want, in the neighborhood they want – irrespective of real estate market factors, or any political, economic, zoning, or other considerations that may come into play (including in this case, considerations about actual land ownership). Inside Israel, just like in other countries, people regularly face difficult decisions about where to live, given that major cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are crowded and little affordable housing is available.

“Settlers have the right to have babies and to take in their parents or grandparents. When settler children grow up they have the right to start families and have homes of their own. But the settlers must do what people everywhere must do: reconcile their needs as best as possible to the housing market, which is affected not only by demand but by a myriad of other variables – including, in this case, the fact that settlers have knowingly and voluntarily chosen to make their lives on land that is the subject of a political dispute of global proportions.”

Axios quotes an Israeli government official saying:

“The Biden administration knows we are going to build. We know they don’t like it, and both sides don’t want to reach a confrontation around this issue.”

An Israeli government source summarized the dance going on between the respective governments by saying:

“[The U.S.] will express opposition to this move, but everyone wants this impossible coalition in Israel to hold out… It was clear for Bennett he would not have been able to advance this move after his meeting with [U.S. President Joe] Biden at the end of the month, so as not to damage their relations, and that’s why he had to announce it as early as he did.

Jerusalem District Court Orders 16 Homes to Be Demolished While Delaying – for 6 months – Demolition of Others in Silwan

On August 12th, a Jerusalem Court granted a six-month freeze on demolition orders affecting dozens of Palestinian homes in the al-Bustan section in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. At the same time, the Court cleared the way for the immediate demolition of 16 Palestinian homes in the same area.

A lawyer representing the Palestinians involved in these demolition cases said his clients intend to file for permits for the structures, which were built on land that Palestinians assert they own. Israel argues that the land is public land.

Israel Begins Work on Settler-Back Project at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs

This week, an Israeli crew began construction on a new elevator leading to the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, arguably one of the most sensitive religious sites outside of Jerusalem. The project to install accessible infrastructure at the site has been backed and pushed by settlers for over two decades and provides a means by which the State of Israel has increased its control over the site. The project is roundly opposed by Palestinians along with archaeologists and other experts. The Israeli archeology group Emek Shaveh explains its opposition:

“We claim that while the plan is couched in terms of concern for the disabled and elderly worshippers, in actual fact it is unilaterally advancing changes to a site mired in deep political controversy…The size and characteristics of the structure demonstrate that at issue is not simply a lift for persons with disabilities, but a significant change to the compound. The lift will constitute a change in the status quo and a strengthening of the settlers’ control of the holy site. Ignoring the fact that the site falls under the auspices of the Hebron Municipality is evidence that Israel is further reneging on its commitments to agreements signed in the past with Palestinians.”

Atarot Settlement Plan to Be Discussed on December 6th

As expected, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee has set a date – December 6th – for the advancement of the Atarot settlement plan. This plan would allow for the construction of 9,000 settlement units, to be built on the site of the former Qalandiya airport (located at the northern tip of East Jerusalem).

The Atarot settlement plan dates back to 2007. It was pursued by the Israeli government in 2012 but shelved under pressure from the Obama administration. The plan came back into consideration in April 2017 (a few months following the inauguration of President Trump) when it was rumored to be included on Netanyahu’s master blueprint of settlements for which he was seeking U.S. approval. In February 2020, following the publication of the Trump Plan – which designated the area that would be used for the settlement as a “special tourist zone” for Palestinians – the Atarot settlement plan was formally introduced. In January 2021 then-Prime Minister Netanyahu dangled the advancement of the plan as an incentive for parties to join his flagging coalition in order to remain in power.

In its current form, the plan provides for up to 9,000 residential units for ultra-Orthodox Jews (assuming, conservatively, an average family size of 6, this means housing for 54,000 people), as well as synagogues, ritual baths (mikvehs), commercial properties, offices and work spaces, a hotel, and a water reservoir. If built, the Atarot settlement will effectively be a small Israeli city surrounded by Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhoods on three sides and Ramallah to its north.

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

The Atarot airport site is an important commodity and, during past negotiations, it was promised to the Palestinians for their state’s future international gateway. Israeli development of the site as a settlement would — by design — not only deprive a future Palestinian state of the only airport in a Palestinian area, but also dismember Palestinian neighborhoods in the northern part of the Jerusalem, 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).

Bonus Reads

“Case Study: How a Settler Law-Breaker Became the #2 Official in Israel’s Ministry of the Interior” (FMEP // Lara Friedman w/ Dror Etkes)
“Senior Israeli Official’s Appointment Approved Despite Demolition Order for His Settlement Home” (Haaretz)
“In Sheikh Jarrah, anonymous actors and an absent state have created a powder keg” (The Times of Israel)
“The Fight for Palestine’s Sheikh Jarrah Isn’t Over” (Jacobin)
“ICC Mulls Probing Israel Over Razing Palestinian Homes in Jordan Valley” (Haaretz)
“81 Palestinian homes demolished by Israel in East Jerusalem in 2021” (Middle East Monitor)
“Jewish claim of land ownership in occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood displaces five Palestinian families” (WAFA)

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

July 30, 2021

Sheikh Jarrah Updates: Court Issues Delays for Three Cases; Bennett Reportedly Considering Delaying Four Others
In First Since Settlement Regulation Law Was Overturned, Israel Announces Intent to Demolish Settlement Buildings on Privately Owned Palestinian Land
Elad Settler Group Loses Control Over East Jerusalem Holy Site/Archaeological Park
Knesset Votes Down West Bank Annexation Bill, Condemns Ben & Jerry’s
State Allows (& Funds) “Farming Outposts” to Graze Huge Tracts of West Bank Land
Outpost Activity Continues in the South Hebron Hills
Israeli Army Let Settlers Stay at Abandoned Base Despite Knowing Plans for Illegal Outpost
Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Sheikh Jarrah Updates: Court Issues Delays for Three Cases; Bennett Reportedly Considering Delaying Four Others

On July 29th, the Israeli Supreme Court issued notices delaying the forcible displacement of three families (Dajani, Hammad, and Dahoudi) from their longtime homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The eviction orders were set to become enforceable on Sunday August 1st, but the Court has halted the evictions while an appeal filed by the Palestinian families is dealt with.

Also sheduled for August 2nd, the Supreme Court is currently set to hold a final hearing to decide on the fate of four other Palestinian families (Jaouni, Iskafi, al-Kurd, and al-Qadi) facing forcible eviction in Sheikh Jarrah. According to press reports, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is considering delaying the final hearing (thus stopping the evictions for the time being). Notably, reports suggest Bennett is looking not to cancel the evictions but only to postpone a final decision on them – a postponement that could be reversed at any time at the whim of the Prime Minister (for example, when the world’s attention is elsewhere).

In an op-ed in The Guardian, Mohammad El-Kurd – whose family is facing eviction – powerfully wrote:

“On 2 August, the Israeli supreme court, whose jurisdiction over the eastern part of Jerusalem defies international law, is set to decide whether it will allow the appeal of my family and three others – a last legal obstacle before we can be expelled. There have been postponements before. Palestinians are accustomed to this kind of stalling; it tests our stamina. But we are as stubborn as anyone else faced with the prospect of losing their home – their life, their memories – to those using force, intimidation and biased laws. In the face of this cruelty, and despite teargas and skunk water, we are resisting. We cannot allow them to steal our homes once more, and we refuse to continue living in refugee camps while colonisers live in our houses. We cannot let them throw more of us on to the streets. We are tired of being turned into a refugee population, neighbourhood after neighbourhood, one home at a time. I have no faith in the Israeli judicial system; it is a part of the settler-colonial state, built by settlers for settlers. Nor do I expect any of the international governments who have been deeply complicit in Israel’s colonial enterprise to intervene on our behalf. But I do have faith in those people around the world who protest and pressure their governments to end what is essentially unconditional support for Israeli policies. Impunity and war crimes will not be stopped by statements of condemnation and raised eyebrows. We Palestinians have repeatedly articulated what kind of transformative political measures must be taken – such as civil society boycotts and state-level sanctions. The problem is not ignorance, it is inaction.”

In First Since Settlement Regulation Law Was Overturned, Israel Announces Intent to Demolish Settlement Buildings on Privately Owned Palestinian Land

On July 28th, the Israeli Attorney General’s office informed the High Court of Justice that within three years (!!) it plans to carry out the demolition of two buildings built by settlers on privately owned Palestinian land located inside of the Eli settlement, in the context of a petition filed in 2011 by Palestinian land owners with the assistance of Yesh Din and Bimkom. Notably, the underlying legal petition sought the demolition of a total of 20 buildings constructed illegally on private Palestinian land, 18 of which Israel granted retroactive legalization in February 2020.

According to the Jerusalem Post, this is the first instance of the Court resuming looking at a case of this kind since the Settlement Regulation Law was overturned by the Court in June 2020. Previously, all cases involving illegal construction inside of settlements had been frozen while the Court considered the constitutionality of the law, which sought to create a legal basis by which Israel would be able to grant retroactive legalization to outposts and settlement structures built on land that even Israel acknowledges is privately owned by Palestinians.

In resuming its consideration of the case, the Court first asked to be updated on the State’s reexamination of the status of the land in hopes of finding a means by which to retroactively legalize the illegal construction, despite the fact that a previous government effort confirmed that the two buildings fall outside of the boundaries of state-owned land. With no other avenue available to “legalize” the construction, the State informed the Court this week that it intends to demolish the structures after the three years, which it claimed was the amount of time required to provide new housing for the four affected settler families [demonstrating, as always, that settler law-breakers are never punished and always rewarded]. This long delay also suggests that the State will continue to look for new ways to avoid demolishing the homes.

Leaders of the Land of Israel Lobby in the Knesset, MKs Yoav Kisch and Orit Strock, told Israel Hayom:

“This week, the government informed the High Court of Justice that it agrees to demolish the homes of four families in Eli. This is a horrifying, shocking announcement. Rather than preventing the destruction of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, the government is busy regulating the illegal construction crimes in the Bedouin sector. This is a badge of shame for the government, which is freezing construction, as well as going back on all its promises to regulate [settlements] and also demolishing Jews’ homes.”

Yisrael Gantz – who heads the Benyamim settler regional council – said:

“We are surprised that the government is falling in line with the Arab petitioners and announcing that it will, heaven forbid, demolish two homes where families have been living for years, which are part of a living, vibrant neighborhood. Razing a home whose status was legal and which a new review by the Civil Administration left outside the settlement’s borders is a new low in crimes against settlement in Judea and Samaria. These two homes are just a preview. We have hundreds of homes with similar status in the Binyamin settlements and thousands throughout the settlements as a whole that suddenly found themselves outside the new ‘blue lines’ drawn in the Civil Administration’s work. No normal country would demolish homes in a situation like this.”

Elad Settler Group Loses Control Over East Jerusalem Holy Site/Archaeological Park

On July 1st, the State of Israel re-asserted control over a significant and highly sensitive archaeological and holy site – the Davidson Archaeological Park – located just outside of the walls of the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif. The park, which includes most notably tunnels that run directly from the Western Wall plaza to the settler-run Davidson Center in Silawn – had been run by the Elad settler organization since 2018, when the State willingly transferred its authority to Elad to operate the park.

In 2015 the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, which is made up of archeological experts, filed a petition against Elad’s role at the park, arguing that “it is highly problematic to place the running or management of a holy site that is situated alongside the Western Wall foundations in the hands of a private and politicized organization.” Emek Shaveh’s argument mirrored an opinion issued by Israel’s Attorney General which held that holy sites should be managed by the State.

Notably, the end of the state’s contract with Elad regarding the Davidson Park reduces but does not eliminate Elad’s role in managing key sites in Jerusalem. Elad continues to operate the nearby City of David archaeological park (just outside the Old City’s walls), where it has been advancing numerous settlement projects meant to strengthen its control over the area and displace Palestinians.

Emek Shaveh said in a statement:

“We are pleased that the authorities have put an end to a highly problematic arrangement whereby a private right-wing organization is operating an important site situated in perhaps the most sensitive place in the region. We hope that in the future the State will take full responsibility for additional sites which it handed over to the settlers’ foundation. The City of David is, no doubt, the next site that ought to be returned to full management by the State. Emek Shaveh’s case regarding the tunnel linking the Davidson Center to Givati is still ongoing.”

Knesset Votes Down West Bank Annexation Bill, Condemns Ben & Jerry’s

In a July 28th preliminary vote the Knesset rejected, by a relatively slim margin (64 to 50), a bill to annex the entire West Bank. Members of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s ruling party, Yamina, voted against the bill. The bill had been submitted by members of the Likud party, which is now in the opposition after 15 years of being the most powerful party in the country and having had the ability to pass such a bill if desired. One of the bill’s cosponsors, Miki Zohar, said after the vote:

“You promised again and again that you will take action to bring about sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and you once again broke your word,” Zohar said. “You once again proved that you have no ideology and that no values are holy for you except for keeping your cabinet seats.”

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope) responded, saying:

“I heard MK Mikki Zohar relating to the fact that in the last administration, Netanyahu wanted to apply sovereignty but Blue and White prevented him from doing so. And I was just thinking to myself, ‘How far from the truth can you get?’…So you, MK Zohar, party whip for the Likud in the last Knesset, could have brought this bill up in the last Netanyahu government, during the Trump administration, during the amazing window of opportunity – you could have submitted the sovereignty bill and had a majority in the Knesset.”

Around the same time this bill was voted on, 90 members of the Knesset, including Yamina members, signed a letter calling on Ben & Jerry’s to reverse its decision to end sales in the occupied West Bank. The letter refers to settlements as “towns and cities in Israel” – a statement tantamount to a declaration of de facto – if not official – annexation. Notably, 6 MKs – from Labor and Meretz – subsequently removed their names for the letter, claiming that they signed on without seeing the final wording, and that the final wording does not reflect their views.

State Allows (& Funds) “Farming Outposts” to Graze Huge Tracts of West Bank Land

In response to a Peace Now inquiry, the Israeli Agricultural Ministry revealed that it has granted permits to unauthorized (i.e., illegal under even Israel law) agricultural outposts to use over 2,000 acres (8,500 dunams) of land in the West Bank for grazing, in a program which entrenches and expands the outposts’ illegal presence across the West Bank.

Map by Peace Now

And if that wasn’t enough of a scandal, the Ministry confirmed that it provided sizable grants – totalling over $800,000 (2.6 million NIS) over the past few years – to at least three settlement organizations for the purpose of bringing volunteers to these outposts – which, again, are illegal even under Israeli law – to work the land. Notably, these settler organizations publicly boast about their farming activities with respect to a total of 50 farming outposts, suggesting that settlers are making use of far more than the 2,000 acres permitted by the Ministry (the Ministry clarified that it funds activities only related to the areas where settlers are authorized to work — so apparently they see no problem].

Peace Now said:

“The Ministry of Agriculture takes millions of Shekels of public monies and give them to associations which are intrinsically linked to illegal activity. If the government wants to stop more outposts such as “Evyatar” from existing, and to stop the small group of ideological settlers who allow themselves to set facts on the ground that determines the foreign and security policies for Israel, it must change its ways immediately and stop supporting outposts and illegal activities”.

Two of the outposts to which the Agricultural Ministry awarded grazing permits are located in the south Hebron hills, on land that is privately owned by Palestinians. One of those outposts, established by a settler named Shavti Kohslaviski, has active demolition orders issued against it. A third outpost that received grazing permits is located near the Elon Moreh settlement, on a site that is partially privately owned Palestinian land that Israel has made inaccessible to its Palestinian owners but on which settlers regularly trespass .

Israeli Army Let Settlers Stay at Abandoned Base Despite Knowing Plans for Illegal Outpost

Kerem Navot reports that on July 23rd, dozens of settlers were allowed to stay at an abandoned military base in the Jordan Valley with permission of the Israeli army. The Israeli Commander in charge of the area reportedly said that he granted permission for the settlers to hike in the area and spend one night at the army base – – despite the fact that the settlers openly declared their intent to establish a permanent presence there. The settlers left after two nights at the site, though a government source told Haaretz that the problem will continue to linger, saying “the minute the brigade commander allowed this one time, they will go up there regularly, when they feel like it, with or without permission, and the defense establishment will have to start dealing with it.”

Kerem Navot reports:

“The organization that is behind this current takeover attempt is called “Nahala.” Nahala is the same group behind the takeover of Mount Sbeih south of the village of Beita, upon which the outpost of Eviatar was founded two months ago, and operates behind a fictional NGO (which we wrote about not long ago- https://bit.ly/3763yJW). Yes, you understood that correctly: The same people who broke the law when they established the outpost Eviatar, are advancing a new aggressive takeover of lands that do not belong to them, instead of standing trial. Welcome to the West Bank.”

Outpost Activity Continues in the South Hebron Hills

On July 25th, Palestinian media reported that settlers have begun reestablishing an outpost in the south Herbron hills, near the town of Yatta. Settlers had abandoned the outpost a few months ago under regular protests by Palestinians.

On July 27th, the Israeli government dismantled another outpost – called “Beit Dror” by settlers – in the south Hebron hills. There were seven families of settlers living at the outpost in pre-fabricated homes which were removed from the area by cranes. Following the evacuation, the settlers held a cornerstone-laying ceremony at the site, vowing to return and permanently build on the land.

Bonus Reads

“Over 140 Palestinians hurt after Israeli troops attack anti-settlement protesters” (The New Arab)
“A water spring in the occupied Jordan Valley targeted for takeover by Israeli settlers” (WAFA)
“Palestinian teenager killed by Israeli troops in West Bank” (The New Arab)
“Ben & Jerry’s Is Shunning Israeli Settlements. The U.S. Should Too” (DAWN)

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

July 9, 2021

Palestinians Submit Petition Against Settler-Government “Deal” Regarding Evyatar Outpost
Settlers Take Over House in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan [East Jerusalem]
In Ongoing Attempt at Erasure, Israel Demolishes Khirbet Humsa for the Sixth Time
Israel Moves to Dismiss Petitions Delaying Mass Demolitions in Al-Walajah
Construction to Begin on New Units in Nof Zion Settlement Enclave Inside Jabal Al-Mukaber [East Jerusalem]
New Israeli Government, Same Settlement Policy, Despite Including the “Left”
Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Palestinians Submit Petition Against Settler-Government “Deal” Regarding Evyatar Outpost

On July 8th, Palestinians submitted a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice that challenges key agreements the Israeli government and settlers struck last week regarding the Evyatar outpost – which was built by settlers illegally (even under Israeli law) on land Palestinians know as Jabal Sabih. Under the terms of that deal, settlers agreed to leave the outpost on July 9th while the government examines the legal status of the land; the settler-built structures and roads will remain in place while that examination takes place. If the state decides, pursuant to the investigation, that it has a basis on which to declare the site to be “state land,” the settlers will be allowed to return and resume the establishment of what would from that point no longer be an illegal outpost, but a new “legal” settlement.

The petition against the deal is led by the local councils of Beita, Yatma and Qabalan (whose land is impacted by the outpost) and a group of nine individual Palestinian landowners. The petitioners seeks the demolition of all illegal settler structures and infrastructure at Jabal Sabih, and the lifting of a military seizure order for the land issued by the Israeli army in the early 1980s (in order to build a military base at the site, a strategic hilltop in the middle of Beita, Yamta, and Qablan). The petition further seeks an investigation into the officials and entities that assisted the settlers in establishing the outpost, including Defense Minister Gantz, the Israeli Civil Administration, and the settler regional council governing the area (the Shomron Regional Council).

The petitioners also seek to prove to the Court that they are the rightful owners of the Jabal Sabih land. Since the land was not registered under the Jordanian government at the time Israel took control over the West Bank (after which Israel promptly froze the land registration process, making it impossible for Palestinian to register land), the petitioners are using Ottoman tax records as well as aerial photos to document and demonstrate that they own the land and cultivated it prior to the time the area was seized by the Israeli army in the 1980s – based on Israeli security needs, not on declaring the area “state land.” Though by the 1990s the army no longer used Jabal Sabih as an army base, Israel continued to define the area as a closed military zone and continued to actively prevent Palestinians from accessing and cultivating their land. Now, as Palestinians seek to have Israel recognize their ownership, the fact that Israel has forcibly prevented them from cultivating the land might become the basis for Israel declaring that the land qualifies as “state land”, since it has not been actively cultivated for a period of at least 10 years.

Sliman Shahin, one of the two attorneys representing the petitioners, told Haaretz:

“The new government is continuing its predecessors’ policy with a vengeance, encouraging the culture of taking over Palestinian lands in the West Bank. With this agreement the state is enlisting the army as a trustee for the squatters to protect the illegal structures at the outpost.”

Alaa Mahajna, the second attorney involved, added:

“In Evyatar’s case, the government intervened on behalf of the squatters and forced an unprecedented, corrupt mechanism that spits in the face of the law. The government has signaled to the settlers that it’s possible to act like the West Bank is the Wild West.”

Settlers Take Over New Property in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan

On the night of July 1st, Israeli police accompanied a large group of Israeli settlers as they moved into a Palestinian home in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of Silwan, in East Jerusalem. Reports suggest that the large piece of property – including the home, stores, a plot of land, and another building that is currently under construction – was sold by its Palestinian owners to a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who in turn sold it to individuals associated with the Elad settler organization. Those owners had denied selling the home in the days prior to the takeover; the Palestinian citizen of Israel involved as the middle man confirmed buying the house, but claimed he intended to renovate it into a clinic and denied selling it to Elad. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center obtained footage of the Palestinians who lived in the home leaving in a hurry in the early morning hours of July 1st – suggesting that they did indeed sell the home and knew of the transfer of the home to the settlers later that day.

Map by Peace Now

Peace Now, noted the importance of the broader significance of this new settler-controlled site in Silwan, as well as the context in which Palestinians “sell” homes to settlers, writing:

“A settlement within Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem is harmful to Jerusalem and harmful to Israel. Settler houses in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods make it difficult to reach a future peace agreement and a compromise in Jerusalem, and they severely damage Jerusalem’s delicate fabric and regional stability. The so-called “purchase” of Palestinian properties, is an ugly and despicable matter, almost always involves the exploitation of the structural inequalities and the fact that Palestinian residents are discriminated against in all areas of life in Jerusalem…

“Elad has dozens of properties in Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, and the government has handed over the management of one of the most important and sensitive tourist sites in Israel, the “City of David” site. With the help of archeology and tourism as legitimating mechanisms, Elad association gains control of a vast area of Silwan and hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. For more information, see: Settlement under the guise of tourism.

“These days are very tense days in East Jerusalem. More than a thousand residents in Silwan (Batan Al-Hawa) and Sheikh Jarrah are facing eviction claims by settlers; More than a thousand residents of Bustan in Silwan are under threat of demolition of their homes because of government plans to build the “King’s Garden” park on the site. On Tuesday, the municipality demolished a store in the Bustan neighborhood (about 700 meters from the new house that the settlers entered today), and in protest of the residents after the demolition, several residents were arrested a dozen wounded by police sponge bullets and stun grenades.”

In Ongoing Attempt at Erasure, Israel Demolishes Khirbet Humsa for the Sixth Time

Map by OCHA

On July 7th, Israeli border police demolished the tiny Palestinian village of Khirbet Humsa, located in the northern Jordan Valley. The bulldozers leveled some 27 tent homes in addition to all of the village’s agricultural structures. Israeli forces also seized the remnants of those tents and their residents’ personal belongings, in addition to the community’s water tanks and food parcels. This demolition left 70 Palestinians – including 36 children – homeless, and left them and their livestock without shelter, shade, food, or water in the hot summer heat (expected to reach 102/39 degrees that day). This is the sixth time in less than a year that Israel has demolished Khirbet Humsa, the last time being in February.

The Israeli Civil Administration proceeded to dump the confiscated items at the site where the Israeli government has proposed relocating the Khirbet Humsa community, a place called Ein Shibli. The community has continually rejected and resisted this plan for their forced displacement.

B’Tselem writes:

“House demolitions in this community are part of the policy Israel employs throughout the West Bank in an effort to create unbearable living conditions with the ultimate aim of pushing Palestinians to leave their homes, concentrating them in enclaves and taking over their lands. This policy is an attempted forcible transfer of the residents – a war crime under international humanitarian law. The responsibility for this policy lies primarily with the government, which directs it, the top military command, which implements it, and the justices of the Supreme Court, who lend it legal legitimacy. Israel’s actions are also a badge of shame for the international community, which has absolved itself of the obligation to demand Israel respect the human rights of Palestinians living under its control and allowed itself to be satisfied with empty rebukes lacking any practical consequences.”

Khirbet Humsa is located in Area C of the West Bank, in an area of the Jordan Valley that Israel declared a closed military zone even though Palestinians had been living there for decades, and using the land for agriculture and herding. Israel has long used the pretext of military firing zones to pursue the forcible displacement of Palestinians, while simultaneously ignoring (and in some cases openly assisting) settlers to establish a presence in the very same areas. Firing zones constitute nearly 30% of Area C, including the native lands and current homes of 38 Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities.

Israel Moves to Dismiss Petitions Delaying Mass Demolitions in Al-Walajah

Ir Amim reports that the state of Israel filed a motion seeking the dismissal of appeals that have delayed the demolition of 38 homes — housing around 300 people — in the Palestinian village of al-Walajah, located just south of Jerusalem (a small part of the city actually within the expanded municipal borders of Jerusalem), based on the argument the houses were built without the required Israeli permits. The Court has given the Palestinians until July 11th to file a response to the State’s motion to dismiss.

The state’s motion comes four months after it rejected a proposed outline plan for al-Walajah, which was developed by experts working with the community. The plan would have provided a way for the 38 homes facing demolition to retroactively receive Israeli building permits. Israel rarely issues such permits to Palestinians anywhere in Area C. For residents of al-Walajah the situation is even worse: given the fact that the Israeli government has refused to approve an official outline plan for the area, they have zero hope of obtaining the permits required to build on their own land, as without an outline plan permits simply cannot be issued.

In an effort to overcome this obstacle, Palestinians, with the help of planning experts, initiated their own outline plan for this section of Al-Walajah in the hopes of getting it approved by Israeli authorities — to no avail. Israeli authorities have repeatedly refused to approve the resident-backed plan, and have also refrained from initiating their own planning process. The result: Al-Walajah’s residents were left in limbo – that is, until the Jerusalem District Committee, as part of a January 25, 2021 ruling against an outline plan proposed by residents, deemed the area in question — where Palestinians have lived for decades — an “agricultural area” where no building would ever be permitted.

Construction to Begin on New Units in Nof Zion Settlement Enclave Inside Jabal Al-Mukaber [East Jerusalem]

Peace Now reports that on the evening of July 8th, a cornerstone laying ceremony was scheduled to be held to mark the beginning of construction on hundreds of new units in the settlement enclave called Nof Zion, which is located in the center of the Jabal al-Mukaber Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon was scheduled to partake in the celebration

Preliminary work on the expansion of Nof Zion – a project that will triple its size and make it the largest settlement enclave in East Jerusalem – first began in December 2019. The project will add 182 homes to the existing 91 units that were approved for construction in 1994 (and built in the early 2000s). The Israeli government originally approved plans for a total of 395 units but the first phase of construction bankrupted the developer and the remaining building 304 permits were never issued. A drama ensued over the fate of the project, after a Palestinian-American made a bid to buy the development rights. His winning bid was ultimately blocked by right-wing Israelis [with a key role played by Jerusalem settler impresario Aryeh King], who objected to the sale of the property – in a Palestinian neighborhood – to an Arab. Plans then stalled until settlers were able to recruit Australian billionaire Kevin Braimster and Israeli entrepreneur Rami Levy (read about Levy’s settlement superstore empire here), to fund and acquire the rights to the project — preventing its transfer to Palestinians.

Nof Zion received significant investment from the Israeli government in 2017, when the government approved a plan to build a new synagogue and mikveh on private Palestinian land that was expropriated from the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in 2016. Then, in September 2017, rumors emerged that the government was set to issue 176 building permits for the already-approved project. According to Ir Amim, those permits were ultimately issued in April 2019.

Peace Now, in its appeal to Mayor Leon to cancel his attendance at the ceremony, writes:

“Nof Zion is a failed settlement project in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber. The first incarnation of the settlement proved that the vast majority of Israelis are not interested in buying houses in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods and the only ones willing to live there are a minority driven by ideological motives. It so happened, as is well known, that in the end the entrepreneurial company of the project went bankrupt. The fact that the current project is funded by philanthropists is the clear proof that the new project has no economic or real estate interest and does not constitute anything in line for the city’s residents, but only another political attempt to prevent the possibility of compromise and coexistence in Jerusalem.”

New Israeli Government, Same Settlement Policy, Despite Including the “Left”

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) recently told settler leaders that the new Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (Yamina) and alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), will continue the same basic practices of the recent Netanyahu government when it comes to settlement policy. That includes planning to convene the Civil Administration’s High Planning Council (within the Defense Ministry) once per quarter in order to consider settlement construction plans. Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz (Blue & White), publicly criticized Shaked for telling settler leaders about decisions that fall under the authority of his Ministry.

When asked to confirm Shaked’s announcement that the High Planning Council will meet once per quarter, as was the agreed arrangement between Netanyahu and Trump, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry said:

“We will run things as we see fit. [The council] didn’t meet once a quarter in the previous administration. There has been no decision.”

Shaked and Gantz recently clashed over the fate of the unauthorized Evyatar outpost, with Shaked advocating for the community’s permanent settlement and Gantz pushing for enforcement of Israeli law and, thus, the demolition of the outpost. Shaked ultimately won out (see above for details of the Israeli government’s “compromise” with settlers that likely paves the way for Evyatar to become a brand new, “legal” settlement).

Bonus Reads

“The draconian law used by Israel to steal Palestinian land” (Al Jazeera)
“’With God’s Help, We Will Return Legally’: Israeli Settlers Quietly Leave Illegal Outpost” (Haaretz)
“In order to expand settlement, Israelis fence off tract of Palestinian land southwest of Bethlehem” (WAFA)
“Apartheid, the Green Line, and the Need to Overcome Palestinian Fragmentation” (EJIL:Talk // Rania Muhareb)
“US freezes Abraham Fund, as Israel-UAE business ties falter” (Globes)
“Israeli-UAE investment projects in uncertainty as US indefinitely ends support for Abraham Fund” (The New Arab)
“How Israel is automating the occupation of Palestine” (The New Arab)
“U.S. Slams Israel for Razing Home of Palestinian-American Who Murdered an Israeli” (Haaretz)

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

July 2, 2021

Israel Starts Demolitions in Al-Bustan Section of Silwan [East Jerusalem]
New Government, Same Outcome – “Compromise” Opens Door for “Legalizing” Illegal Outpost
Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement Road Through Palestinian Farmland
Palestine Lays Out Key Issues it Wants the Biden Administration to Engage On

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Israel Starts Demolitions in Al-Bustan Section of Silwan [East Jerusalem]

On Tuesday, June 29th, Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian-owned butcher shop in the al-Bustan section of the Silwan section of East Jerusalem. Palestinians protested the demolition and attempted to stop the bulldozer; in response, Israeli police used live fire, rubber coated bullets, and tear gas to disperse protesters, injuring at least thirteen Palestinians.

It is widely feared that the demolition of this business presages the imminent implementation of 86 other demolition orders for the same area (housing around 130 families), based on the fact that, like the now-demolished butcher shop, these homes were built without Israel-issued building permits (permits that Israel systematically denies to Palestinians in East Jerusalem). The warning period on demolition orders affecting 14 of those buildings expired on June 27th, meaning bulldozers can appear any day.

The Israeli government has targeted the al-Bustan neighborhood with wide-scale displacement since 2005, when it initiated demolition proceedings on the basis that the buildings do not have Israeli-issued building permits. Israel further declared the area a “green zone” and banned any new construction there. The backdrop to these moves is an Israeli plan to clear al-Bustan of its Palestinian residents in order to make way for an Israeli archaeological park promoted by settlers (the “King’s Garden,” which would be an extension of the settlers’ “City of David” complex).

Residents have until now managed to fight off demolition on the condition that they were engaging with the Israeli government (the Jerusalem Municipality) to develop planning for alternative housing (to which they could be moved). That planning has been ongoing since 2010. Terrestrial Jerusalem explains:

“As noted, in 2017, the Municipality agreed to suspend demolitions while the residents pursue the approval of a statutory Town Plan. The residents’ Town Plan is being drafted by Dr. Yusuf Jabarin, the Dean of Research at Haifa’s prestigious Technion Institute. The plan is working its way slowly through committee, and it is common that plans of this complexity take many years to approve. The plan is based on 11 principles to which the Municipality and the residents both agreed in 2017, and aspires to balance between the housing needs of the residents, the legitimate need for public spaces, in a manner that will serve the residents of al-Bustan, and not the settlers of Silwan. Initially the Municipality viewed the Plan favorably, but, in recent months, that support appears to have been withdrawn.”

New Government, Same Outcome – “Compromise” Opens Door for “Legalizing” Illegal Outpost

In an entirely predictable manner, the new Israeli government led by Naftali Bennet has reached a “deal” with settlers over the fate of the unauthorized Evyatar outpost. Located just south of Nablus, the site of the outpost has become a locus of Palestinian protest and Israeli military violence. Under the terms of the deal, the settlers will (temporarily) vacate the outpost by Friday, July 2nd, with the understanding that the government will leave in place the settlers’ illegal construction at the site — buildings and roads — while it “examines” the status of the land to see if it can be declared “state land” and therefore legally turned into a settlement (opening the door for the settlers to return). In the interim, under the agreement the outpost will be used as a military base while that examination plays out.

The fact that this “compromise” leaves in place the settlers’ structures and will maintain Israeli control over the site during the “survey” process are clear signals that the government is not concerned with enforcing Israeli law, but rather finding a political solution that works for the settlers. Further, the government of Israel either believes it can, and is determined to, find a pretext to assert that the land on which the outpost stands – known as Jabal Sabih to the Palestinians who have historically cultivated the it – is in fact “state land” which can be used by the state as it sees fit (i.e., give it to the settlers).

In response, the anti-settlement watchdog Yesh Din sent a letter to the Israeli Attorney General outlining exactly how the deal with the settlers contravenes international and Israeli domestic law. In a statement about the letter, Yesh Din says:

“The government’s agreement with the settlers of Evyatar rewards delinquency and grants immunity to those committing offenses, which will act to further embolden violent, lawless settlers to take similar action again in the future, knowing they will, at the very least, face no consequences, and, more likely, be further rewarded with land takeover and settlement expansion. On 1 July 2021, Yesh Din sent a principled letter to Israel’s Attorney General and the Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Defense, denouncing the government’s agreement regarding the outpost of Evyatar as illegal, unconstitutional and morally unacceptable. The letter also demands that an investigation by the police and other relevant authorities be launched into the involvement of the Samaria Regional Council for its part in the outpost’s establishment…

Furthermore, the letter clarifies that the government agreement entails a number of flagrant violations of both local and international laws, including:

In accordance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), it is prohibited to transfer the civilian population of the occupying power to occupied territory (Article 49, Fourth Geneva Convention), an issue that is now also under investigation of the ICC.

Military presence on lands in occupied territory should only be for urgent security necessity. Safeguarding territory for future Israeli civilian presence cannot be considered an urgent security necessity. The fact that the military did not have permanent military presence in that specific area prior the government agreement reinforces that the military did not discern security justifications.

The decision made in advance to allocate lands for a settlement of Evyatar, providing that they will be declared public lands, without considering the needs of the local population in the area, and especially due to the fact that the outpost is located adjacent to three Palestinian towns, is illegal and unreasonable.

The attempt to disregard planning procedures by issuing a special military order to enable the structures on the site is an abuse of power by the military commander.

The agreement provides no legal basis for not enforcing the law on the illegal structures placed in the area.

It is forbidden to allow political whims to undermine the military commander’s discretion.

According to Israeli law, the decision to establish a new settlement in occupied territory requires a government decision, something that did not transpire in this case.”

Settlers squatting illegally at the site are reportedly not entirely satisfied with the deal. A few are threatening to resist removal from the outpost and are continuing to build permanent structures at the site. Part of the discontent relates to earlier reports that the “compromise” would include a commitment by the government to establish a military yeshiva (religious school associated with the IDF) at the site of the outpost, regardless of the outcome of the land status investigation (or even before the outcome is known). In the final deal, the government agreed to establish a yeshiva at the outpost only after the issue of the land’s status is resolved, and only if that issue is decided in the settlers’ favor. However, the settlers are still asserting that the government has agreed to open a military yeshiva at the site immediately, somewhat of a middle road.

Daniella Weiss, a veteran settler leader who is the leader of the group of settlers who established the Evyatar outpost, believes the land survey will confirm the area is “state land” with only minor adjustments to the boundaries of the outpost. She also said that she expects the yeshiva to be open by September, in time for the Jewish High Holidays. Weiss said:

“This government, which has been so sorely criticized, found the noble and uplifting way to talk with us – without over-powering us, but rather with admiration for pioneer builders of the Land. Our goal is not to force the government’s hand, but rather to uplift it. Our achievement is not in going against the government, but rather in bringing it to the place which it itself wants to be.”

The fate of the outpost has posed an early test for Israel’s new governing coalition. Defense Minister Benny Gantz is on the losing side of this issue (where he is joined by the IDF leadership, which similarly wants the outpost dismantled), having insisted just a few days ago that he is the one in charge of deciding the fate of the outpost and that the outpost will be demolished in accordance with Israeli law. Haaretz explains how the negotiations transpired:

“Gantz looked to his right and to his left, and discovered that he was alone. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and ministers Ayelet Shaked and Zeev Elkin had negotiated energetically with the settlers on several channels simultaneously. And members of the government’s left wing kept silent. Thus a compromise was reached without the defense minister or the army even being briefed on the talks in real time. Gantz tried to set red lines, already at the outset of the Bennett-Lapid government, in which he is a kind of fifth wheel. He sought to prevent the settlers from creating facts on the ground by taking over land whose legal status is in doubt without any permission from the state or Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank. Gantz also sought to prevent the capitulation of the left wing to the right wing in the government. But in reality, it seems that the left has already folded, and the right has laid down its own red line against forcible evictions, which would put Bennett in an uncomfortable situation with what remains of his electoral base. Aside, perhaps, from the new coronavirus outbreak, there probably isn’t an issue in which the government has invested more time during its first two weeks in office than the evacuation of Evyatar. The army doesn’t like the compromise, which defies the original recommendations of its Central Command and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. Both wanted a full, rapid evacuation of the outpost, which was established in the heart of a group of Palestinian villages south of Nablus. But senior army officers didn’t visit the scene Tuesday morning, and they understand full well the balance of forces there. The moment the prime minister supports the compromise, the army will salute and carry it out.”

The U.S. State Department offered veiled criticism of the deal, saying:

“We believe it is critical to refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance equal measures of freedom, security and prosperity and a negotiated two-state solution. This certainly includes establishing new outposts which are illegal even under Israeli law.”

Adding more insight on the U.S. position, the Times of Israel reports:

“The Biden administration is willing to give new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett some time before making asks in the Palestinian arena, but it’s not willing to accept complete paralysis and will speak out clearly against unilateral moves, a source said.”

Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement Road Through Palestinian Farmland

Haaretz reports that the Israel is advancing a plan to pave a new road near the Beitar Illit settlement that will cut through agricultural land belonging to (and actively farmed by) the Palestinian village of Wadi Fukin. If paved, in addition to hemming in Palestinians and closing off their access to their land, it is feared that the projects will restrict the flow of water into natural springs used by Palestinians for farming in the area. This would also be the first road to cut into a wooded area.

Palestinians were not directly informed of this plan, but found out after the plan had been filed with the Civil Administration’s planning authorities. Bimkom, an Israeli NGO, filed an appeal three weeks ago seeking to have the plan frozen until residents of Wadi Fukin can be included in the planning process.

One resident of Wadi Fukin, Mohammed Rabah Sukar, said:

“No one from the Civil Administration talked to us or explained exactly where the road will pass. We don’t know to what extent this will damage our lands and people are very confused and frightened by this road.”

Map by Peace Now

The planned road is connected to two other significant settlement plans in the area, both targeting areas located just south of Bethlehem. One of these plans would expand settlement construction on lands near the Wadi Fukin village. The other plan relates to expansion of the Beitar Illit settlement and the construction of a new settlement – called Gv’aot – on land that historically belonged to five Palestinian villages in the Bethlehem area: Jaba, Surif, Wadi Fukin, Husan and Nahalin. In 2014, the Israeli government issued unilateral, mass expropriation orders for the land (which Israeli officials explictly said was in response to a Palestinian terror attack). At the time, Peace Now reported that the move constituted the largest single expropriation of Palestinian land by the Israeli state in over 30 years. It wasn’t until August 2019 that Israeli planning authorities gave final approval to a plan for a new settlement, including 61 housing units and an educational institute. Today, as it stands, the new units have not been constructed, but a small outpost – which calls itself Gv’aot – has been established…on land not allotted by the Israeli government for future settlement construction.

Palestine Lays Out Key Issues it Wants the Biden Administration to Engage On

Haaretz reports that a new Palestinian negotiation team has asked the Biden Administration to facilitate negotiations with Israel over a series of about 30 issues that it believes can meaningfully improve Palestinian lives – – an approach that has come to define how the Biden Administration is seeking to engage on (but not try to solve) the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

The Palestinian team reportedly included the following proposals related to settlements and annexation in their list:

Suspension of all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem;
The evacuation of unauthorized outposts;
The prevention of Israel from controlling land in Area A (where the Palestinian Authority is supposed to have full control, as assigned by the Oslo Accords);.
The construction of an airport in the West Bank;
The development of new tourism projects, including religious tourism projects at sites in Area C (the 60% of the West Bank in which, under Oslo, Israel has complete control); and,
The reopening of Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem.

An anonymous source with knowledge of the Palestinian initiative told Haaretz:

“Not all of the proposals appearing in the document can be implemented at the present time, but even if it would be possible to advance some of the steps, at least in the civilian field, that would provide achievements to the Palestinian public and improve their day-to-day lives.”

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

June 10, 2021

Israeli AG Declines Involvement in Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases, Clearing Way for Supreme Court Ruling
Pending Silwan Dispossession Cases Continue
Israeli Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case on West Bank Land Appropriation for Settlement
Extremists “March of Flags” in Jerusalem Rescheduled for June 15th
IDF Issues Evacuation Notice Against Outpost, Causing Political Stir
Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Israeli AG Declines Involvement in Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases, Clearing Way for Supreme Court Ruling

On June 7th, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit informed the Supreme Court that he will not submit a legal opinion on the cases threatening the immediate displacement of seven Palestinian families (13 households) from their longtime homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. These cases will serve as further precedent for even more widespread dispossession of Palestinians in favor of settlers.

Map by Haaretz

Haaretz reports that Mandelblit believes the Palestninians’ have “too weak” of a case, and that his legal opinion would not prevent their eviction. Haaretz also reports that the political leadership in Israel approves of the Attorney General’s decision to allow the cases to proceed.

Peace Now responded to Mandelblit’s decision:

“Israel’s Attorney General has decided not to give his opinion in the Sheikh Jarrah cases. This means Israeli government is ridding itself of responsibility in matters of discriminatory laws and dispossessing hundreds of Palestinian.”

These Sheikh Jarrah eviction cases – which have been at the center of heightened international attention and outcry – have been in limbo since last month, when the Attorney General was given until June 8th to submit his opinion. Now that Mandelblit has decided against weighing in, the Supreme Court is expected to convene a hearing and issue its ruling on the Palestinians’ appeal before July 20th, which is the last day of the Israeli judicial calendar — notwithstanding the fact that the Supreme Court could delay the hearing under various pretexts, if it was inclined to do so. Commenting on the anticipated quick move by the Supreme Court to hold this final hearing, Terrestrial Jerusalem’s Danny Seidemann tweeted “…The wheels of justice grind slowly, but sometimes we make exceptions. Enough said.”

Ir Amim said:

“The eviction procedures in both Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan largely reflect one another and are predicated on the same discriminatory legal mechanism, which state-sponsored settler groups are exploiting to systemically dispossess Palestinian families and seize their homes for Jewish settlement. A total of 1000 Palestinians – some 300 individuals from Sheikh Jarrah and more than 700 people from Silwan— are under threat of mass displacement. These measures not only constitute a flagrant violation of human rights, but also carry far-reaching, humanitarian, geopolitical, and moral implications. Concerted pressure must be exerted on the Israeli government to end these measures of dispossession and to undertake a sustainable and just solution for the families to remain in their homes.”

In a piece entitled “Israel Is Shirking Its Responsibility for Residents of Sheikh Jarrah,” the Haaretz Editorial Board wrote:

“The enlistment of the state employees, from the attorney general to the last of the policemen, for the benefit of the expulsion and settlement enterprise in Sheikh Jarrah is an embarrassment for Israel. It causes moral damage, harms public diplomacy and poses a security risk to all Israelis. Let us hope the new government will have broader considerations and will order the attorney general to intervene for the sake of common sense and justice.”

Ironically, as the clock ticks down to a final decision by the Court – a decision that will almost certainly mean the expulsion of these Palestinains from their homes — Israel seems to be making a special effort to keep the world’s attention focused on how it treats Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. This effort included arresting (with brutality captured on video) a well-respected Al Jazeera journalist Givara Budeiri, and detaining and interrogating two of the most prominent Paelstinian activists in the world – Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd. The siblings – whose family is one of the seven facing immediate expulsion from their homes – were released following intense interrogation. These high-profile arrests are but a small part of a large wave of arrests Israel is carrying out across Jerusalem and other parts of the country. Budeiri was also released.

Pending Silwan Dispossession Cases Continue

On June 10th an Israeli court in Jerusalem was due to hold a hearing with respect to Palestinian appeals in two cases of pending dispossession of Palestinains of their homes in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The Court instead delayed the hearing on the appeals, rescheduling it to July 8.

In addition to the two cases above, the fate of another 15 Palestinians households in Silwan — all facing eviction/dispossession — awaits the action of Attorney General Mandelblit. The case of eight of those families, all from the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan, is currently before the Supreme Court, which has ordered Mandelblit to give his opinion in the cases, or formally decline to do so, by June 30. How those cases are decided will become the precedent that will decide the fate of another seven Palestinian households whose cases are currently in an Israeli District Court.

One Silwan resident, Zuheir al-Rajabi – whose family’s case was profiled in the New York Times – told Al-Monitor that the Silwan families are also considering taking their case to the International Criminal Court. As a reminder, the ICC is currently considering whether to launch a full fledged investigation into Israeli war crimes – an investigation which would include settlement activity.

Israeli Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case on West Bank Land Appropriation for Settlement

Peace Now reports that on June 7th, the Israeli High Court of Justice held a hearing on a petition filed by Palestinian landowners challenging the allocation of “state land” to the Israeli Ministry of Housing in order to enable to the construction of a new settlement called Givat Eitam on a strategic hilltop – which Palestinians call a-Nahle – located just south of Bethlehem.

Hagit Ofran of Peace Now – which is leading the petition alongside the Palestinian landowners – told FMEP that the hearing concluded with Court giving the State 90 days in which to respond to a proposal to allocate some the land directly involved in the case to the individual petitioners, or whether it will agree to allocate land nearby to the petitioners. This decision by the Court purposefully narrows the scope of Peace Now’s legal challenge by only addressing the case of the land in a-Nahle and the individual petitioners involved. The decision dodges the more fundamental question put forth in the petition challenging Israel’s discriminatory practice of allocating 99.8% of “state land” for settlement purposes. This is the first time the issue of state land allocations to settlements is being challenged in an Israel court.

Map by Peace Now

This petition comes after previous legal efforts have failed to overturn Israel’s declaration of the land of a-Nahle as “state land”. Past attempts to use litigation in Israeli courts to prevent Israel from building new settlements have typically not continued past this point. One reason for this is that in order to challenge how “state land” is allocated, the petitioner must, in effect, concede that the land in question is legitimately “state land” in the first place — something Palestinians do not concede with respect to land seized by Israel. That makes this petition, which is led by Peace Now along with over a dozen Palestinian landowners, novel.

As a reminder, the settlement at the heart of the case is called Givat Eitam by settlers, but it is called “E-2” by anti-settlement watchdogs, in light of its dire geopolitical implications for any future Palestinian state (similar to those of the E-1 settlement on Jerusalem’s eastern flank). The construction of Givat Eitam/E-2 would significantly expand the Efrat settlement in the direction of Bethlehem, effectively cutting Bethlehem off from the southern West Bank and completing the city’s encirclement by Israeli settlements.

Extremists “March of Flags” in Jerusalem Rescheduled for June 15th

Delayed twice in light of Israel’s concerns of violence, the Israeli Security Cabinet voted to give its permission for radical, ultranationalist Israelis to hold a parade – called the March of Flags – on June 15th through the Old City of Jerusalem, ostensibly in celebration of the reunification of East and West Jerusalem following the 1967 War. Hedging, the Security Cabinet made its permission conditional on the route of the parade being approved by the Israeli police.

Israeli police have expressed concern that the provocative parade – which organizers want to have go through Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter, in a deliberate finger-in-the-eye to Palestinians (the provocative overtones of the annual march are never subtle, with racist/Islamophic signs and chants the norm) – could trigger Hamas rocket fire, and have in the past refused to approve the parade route insisted upon by its organizers.

According to press reports, the police have said that it will consider approving a new proposal for a different, less provocative route. However, organizers of the march have rejected this option, stating, “the outline presented to us by the police does not express the purpose of the parade, by the Jewish people, with Israeli flags in the Israeli capital.” Making clear that provocation is the goal, MK Itamar Ben Gvir, a acolyte of Rabbi Meir Kahane – whom police had, for security reasons, explicitly barred from participating in any flag march at this time, or from visiting the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif – held his own protest at Damascus Gate, leading, as he surely hoped, to a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli forces accompanying him (and to the arrest of five Palestinians).

Notably, the parade is currently planned for Tuesday, June 15th – a date that falls two days after a new government is expected to be confirmed and sworn in. Commenting on the timing, a Haaretz analyst noted:

“Instead of approving the march on its original date, Netanyahu made his first decision as opposition leader on Tuesday night: He rolled the hot potato into the hands of prime minister-designate Naftali Bennett. This move may become the first crisis of the fragile unity government: Bennett, who is right-wing, has made it clear that his government would have a ‘soft right’ character and would have a hard time explaining to his voters why he was working to thwart the march.”

IDF Issues Evacuation Notice Against Outpost, Causing Political Stir

Haaretz reports that a group of 200 settlers have re-established an outpost (which they call “Evyatar”) on a strategic hilltop called Mount Sabih, located south of Nablus on lands belonging to the Palestinian villages of Beita, Qabalan, and Yatma. On June 9, the Israeli army issued a military order designating the area as a closed zone, and ordered the settlers (and their security team of guard dogs) to vacate the area within eight days. The IDF said it would demolish/remove the more than 40 structures – including tents, a synagogue, prefab houses, and sanitation facilities – that settlers have installed at the site if the settlers do not remove them voluntarily. A spokesperson for the outpost – Daniella Weiss of the Nahala settler organization – said that 46 settler families (approximately 200 people) have moved to the outpost already, and 75 settler families are “hoping to join them soon.”

Palestinians from the nearby villages to which the land belongs have actively sought to prevent settler incursions into the lands surrounding Beita. During a recent protest against another outpost settlers were trying to establish on lands belonging to Beita, the Israeli army shot and killed two young Palestinians, and wounded 25 others. On June 6th, the army closed off the main entrance to Beita in an attempt to quell Palestinian resistance; Beita remains sealed off as of June 10. As a reminder,

With defiance and pride, a spokesperson for the outpost told Haaretz that the land on which the outpost stands is in the process of being declared “state land” by Israel. The Times of Israel reports that, indeed, the Israeli government regards the land’s status as unclear – and is examining whether it can claim the land as “state land” under the legal pretext that it has not been actively cultivated by Palestinians for a long enough period of time. As a reminder, Palestinians have been prevented from building and farming on this land for decades. In the 1980s, Israel used the hilltop as a “temporary” military base. When the base was removed in the 1990s, Palestinians were prohibited from building on the site – which is in Area C of the West Bank where Israel exercises unilateral power.

If the land is declared as “state land” it could then be allocated to the settlers and the outpost could be retroactively authorized, consistent with the longstanding efforts of the whole of the Israeli government – the Knesset, the Executive, and the Judiciary – which has spared no efforts to find the means by which to issue retroactive authorization to more than 70 outposts scattered throughout the West Bank.

The imminent evacuation of the “Evyatar” outpost has caused controversy in the waning hours of the Netanyahu regime, and might become one of the first points of contention for the incoming government coalition. After the IDF issued an order closing the area and declaring its intent to raze the outpost, Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote a letter to Defense Minister Gantz (who oversees the Civil Administration, which has authority over West Bank building and security) arguing that the outpost should be left alone while the land status is investigated. Gantz rebuffed the letter, writing back that the outpost was built in contravention of Israeli law and the IDF will raze the outpost regardless of the question of land status. The letter from Gantz’s office said: “It is those anomalous characteristics of this case that led to the decision to issue a demarcation order, which followed consultation with all relevant defense and legal authorities.”

Looking forward, Haaretz succinctly explains why the evacuation of this outpost might pose a predicament to the new Israeli government, due to be sworn in over the weekend. Haaretz writes:

“From a legal perspective, the site must be evacuated…But how will [Naftali Bennet] the former director general of the Yesha Council of settlements – who is the prime minister-designate – behave in the face of what remains of his political base?”

Bonus Reads

“Fights over settlements holding up coalition deal signings” (Jerusalem Post)

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

June 3 ,2021

Critical Updates from Silwan & Sheikh Jarrah
Tender Published for Givat Hamatos Groundwork, Even as Petition is Pending
Final Approval Given to Har Homa E Settlement
Expansion of the Beit El Settlement Begins
High Court Bans Settlers from Farming Palestinian Land…But Continues to Deny Palestinians Access
Resources on Israel’s New Prime Minister Naftali Bennet
New Report on Settler Violence Against Palestinians in Area B
Bonus Reads

Comments or questions? Email Kristin McCarthy – kmccarthy@fmep.org.

Critical Updates from Silwan & Sheikh Jarrah

In the weeks since FMEP’s last Settlement & Annexation Report was published (apologies for the gap) there have been several key developments in the cases of forced displacement of families from their longtime homes in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, including new scrutiny of the legal basis on which Israeli settlers claim to own the land and the homes from which they wish to expel Palestinians. It must be recalled that the Israeli Court has for the time being decided to postpone these expulsions – a decision clearly influenced by the fact that Palestinians are currently mobilized and the international community is closely engaged.

At this point, the most pressing eviction cases in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah are awaiting the opinion of the Israeli Attorney General. That position is currently held by Avichai Mandelblit (though this might change under the new governing coalition). The Attorney General’s opinion will carry a tremendous amount of weight in deciding not only the fate of the families facing imminent displacement, but scores of other Palestinian families whose homes are being similarly targeted by settlers. Mandelblit, it is worth recalling, has among other things actively worked to craft legal mechanisms to launder illegal settler construction in the West Bank.

For additional background on the historic and legal context of these cases, see the new, excellent and thorough analysis by the Israeli NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem (PDF available here). To understand why these cases are not a simple real-estate dispute – and why it is improper to call them eviction cases – please see this analysis by Ir Amim’s Amy Cohen and Yudtih Oppenheimer. For updates on settlement-related developments in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, see below.

In Silwan

On June 1st, the Jerusalem Affairs Ministry issued an order to freeze the construction of a “Yeminite heritage center” in the home of an evicted Palestinian family in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan.
- The order was issued in light of a newly launched investigation into the means by which Ateret Cohanim came to manage the “Benvenisti Land Trust,” an historic trust that Ateret Cohanim revived in order to claim ownership of swathes of land in Silwan, and then to initiate eviction proceedings against Palestinians living there. The investigation will have major consequences, not only for the fate of the planned heritage center (to commemorate a small Yemenite Jewish community that lived in the area before 1948), but also for the many eviction cases Ateret Cohanim is pursuing on the basis of its management of the land owned by Benvenisti Trust.
- Haaretz explains the background on why the investigation is being launched: “…in September 2020, the religious trusts registry began investigating the Benvenisti Trust in response to a petition filed in court by the Ir Amim organization. Ir Amim charged that the trust was a shell organization run by Ateret Cohanim for its own purposes, and that these purposes deviated from the founding goals of the trust, which was established in the late 19th century. Around six months ago, Ir Amim also petitioned the court against the planned heritage center, arguing that it was unreasonable for one government agency to be investigating the trust while another government agency was pouring money into it. Moreover, the organization said, it is improper for the state to finance a heritage center on private property that essentially serves Ateret Cohanim’s needs.”
- For background on Ateret Cohanim’s plans to build a heritage center, see FMEP’s August 2018 report.
On May 26th, the Jerusalem District Court delayed the forced displacement of seven Palestinian families from their longtime homes in the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan, awaiting a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court on two related cases.
- All three cases challenge the underlying legal status of the land and the buildings on the land – which the settler organization Ateret Cohanim claims to own via the resuscitation of the Benvenisti land trust.
- The two related cases are awaiting the submission of an opinion by the Israeli Attorney General, and that opinion will be applied to all three cases (and likely any additional cases brought on the same grounds). The Supreme Court ordered the Israeli Attorney General to submit his opinion on one of the cases – the Duweik family case – by May 31st. On June 1st, the Court granted the Attorney General a 30-day extension of that deadline.
- The Ateret Cohanim settler organization has led a campaign to forcibly displace some 100 Palestinian families from the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan, claiming the land is rightfully owned by the Benvenisti Trust, over which Ateret Cohanim members have controlling power.
- Solidarity protests in Silwan have been violently suppressed by the Israeli authorities.
- Qutaiba Odeh, a resident of Silwan whose house is threatened with a demolition order, told Middle East Eye during a protest: “The Israeli settler groups behind the eviction cases in Sheikh Jarrah are the same ones coming after these houses in Silwan. It’s the same shared struggle, against the same occupation. We said save Sheikh Jarrah yesterday, we say save Silwan today.”

In Sheikh Jarrah

Families continue to face the threat of displacement, the next court hearing has been delayed until August 2021, as the Court waits for the Attorney General to offer his opinion on the case, separate from the Silwan cases.
An investigative report by Uri Blau revealed that a New York-based lawyer, Seymour Braun, is financially connected to settler efforts to displace Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. At the same time, the identities of those behind these eviction proceedings remains largely unknown, as they have been concealed by settlers and their backers.
The neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah remains under Israeli-imposed closure, actively (and violently) enforced by Israeli police.
- Ir Amim writes on the closure: “The closure of the neighborhood is seen as an intentional brazen move by the Israeli authorities to suppress Palestinian mobilization and deprive the residents of Sheikh Jarrah of the freedom of expression and the right to protest against their forced displacement. The Palestinian families at risk of eviction are now essentially living inside a cordoned-off, military-like zone. They are subject to ongoing arbitrary harassment and aggressive police measures, marked by forced entry into homes and the use of stun grenades, skunk water, and rubber-tipped bullets against neighborhood residents. With the closure’s intensification, police often force residents to stay in their homes and hostilely remove those sitting outside as is common practice in the neighborhood. Yesterday, a 15-year-old girl was severely wounded inside the confines of her own home when a soldier wantonly fired rubber-tipped bullets into the family’s house.”
- Journalists are reportedly being barred access to the area. Last week, to Palestinian journalists reporting from Sheikh Jarrah were arrested by Israeli authorities; reportedly after 5 days in jail “ the judge at Jerusalem’s Central Court released them on bail of 4,000 shekels ($1,230) each and ordered them to be under house arrest for a month, forbidding them from communicating with each other for 15 days.”

Tender Published for Givat Hamatos Groundwork, Even as Petition is Pending

Ir Amim reports that a private company has gone ahead and published a tender for the construction of roads, electrical infrastructure, and sewage systems at the Givat Hamatos settlement site. The tender is set to close June 6th.

The Israeli High Court has not yet dealt with a petition filed by Ir Amim alleging that the planned construction of government-subsidized housing at Givat Hamatos has discriminatory eligibility guidelines. A hearing was scheduled on May 27th, but was delayed at the request of the State. The hearing has been rescheduled for October 20th, and Ir Amim secured the Court’s condition that applications for Givat Hamatos housing will not be accepted in the intervening period.

Ir Amim writes:

“Publication of the tender is yet another indication that advancement of this new settlement/neighborhood on Givat Hamatos continues to move forward at a heightened pace. In the coming months, wide-scale road construction and infrastructure works are expected to already begin. It is estimated that the building of housing units could commence within two years, even before completion of the infrastructure works…Although advancement of these plans is continuing at full throttle, it is still possible for the government to suspend construction as a result of concerted pressure and opposition. Legal provisions within the tender as well as within Israeli contract law grant the Israeli government the right to rescind contracts should it be within its interest. There is likewise legal precedent for such measures.”

Final Approval Given to Har Homa E Settlement

On May 20th, a notice was published announcing the final approval of a plan to build the Har Homa E settlement in East Jerusalem. This comes on the heels of the conditional final approval granted to the project earlier in May (conditioned on a few minor changes that have since been made). Now that the plan has been published, construction on Har Homa E can begin. Ir Amim notes:

“Since the Har Homa E plan is designated for privately owned land, the planning process does not entail a tendering stage and in principle, the landowners can begin to apply for building permits. However, it is worthwhile noting that the District Committee conditioned the procurement of building permits on the start of expansion of the access road to Har Homa E. Since the road’s expansion is a municipal project, the timing of the work’s commencement is unknown. In addition, construction of new sewerage infrastructure to serve the new neighborhood/settlement is necessary since the location does not border an existing built-up area. The timetable for such construction is likewise unknown.”

Reminder: Although the Har Homa E plan is framed as merely an expansion of the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem, it is more properly understood as a brand new settlement. The plan calls for 540 new settlement units to be built in the area between the Har Homa settlement and the site of the planned Givat Hamatos settlement (tenders for which were issued in January 2021) — an area where the new construction will be non-contiguous with the built-up area of the existing settlement of Har Homa. Meaning that the new construction is a significant step towards completing a ring of Israeli settlements on Jerusalem’s southern edge and towards the encirclement of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

Expansion of the Beit El Settlement Begins

On June 1st, the Beit El settlement hosted a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of 350 new settlement units (housing for approximately 1,750 new settlers, assuming a family size of 5). The ceremony was attended by Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Public Security Minister Amir Ohana (Likud), Education Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud), Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud), and Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin (Likud), in addition to more members of the Knesset.

These units were granted final approval in October 2020, during the Trump Administration. As a reminder, former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has deep ties to the Beit El settlement.

In a 2018 report, B’Tselem assessed the severe impact the Beit El settlement has on the 14,000 Palestinians who live in the nearby Jalazun refugee camp.

High Court Bans Settlers from Farming Palestinian Land…But Continues to Deny Palestinians Access

Following a 13-year legal battle, the Israeli High Court issued an order to evict settlers from 42-acres of land they had been illegally cultivating for in the Shiloh Valley, located in the northern West Bank. Over the course of those 13 years, settlers had established a profitable olive grove and vineyard. With the ruling, the settlers have been ordered to remove all of the olive trees and the vineyard by October 2021.

Yet, despite recognizing the settlers’ actions on the land as illegal, the High Court refused to recognize Palestinians as the rightful owners of the land. Instead, the Court said that it is not in a position to determine ownership because the land was never formally registered. As a reminder, at the start of the occupation Israel closed the land registry in the West Bank to Palestinians. This has meant that Palestinians who were not able to formally register their land before the 1967 War (Jordan was in the process of carrying out such a registration process when the war took place), there is no longer any path to do so. For more, see B’Tselem’s landmark report “Land Grab”, p.52)

Resources on Israel’s New Prime Minister Naftali Bennet

With it now looking all but certain that there will soon be a new Israeli government in place, led by Yamina’s Naftali Bennet, several media outlets have taken a deep dive into Bennet’s past. Longtime Settlement Report readers are likely familiar with Bennet’s intense devotion to annexation and the settlements, but these resources are a well-timed refresher.

“Quick Facts: Naftali Bennett” (IMEU)
“Israel’s likely new government, explained” (+972 Magazine)
“Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel’s potential prime minister?” (Al Jazeera)
“Who is Naftali Bennett, the man who could be Israel’s next prime minister?” (The Times of Israel)
“What to know about Naftali Bennett, the Israeli politician who could succeed Benjamin Netanyahu” (Washington Post)

New Report on Settler Violence Against Palestinians in Area B

A new report by Yesh Din documents and analyzes the crimes committed by settlers in Palestinian communities located in Area B, from 2017 to 2020. In so doing, Yesh Din documents the lawlessness of settlers (who feel safe enough to enter built-up Palestinian areas to attack property and people), the cumulative deleterious effect these attacks have on Palestinian rights and wellbeing, and the abject failure of Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians and to hold Israeli settlers accountable to even Isareli for violations of the law (Israeli law).

Yesh Din writes:

“In recent years, violence perpetrated in Palestinian spaces – village streets, schools, public buildings and even homes – has proliferated. Secluded homes and structures, and those located near settlements, unauthorized outposts or access roads, have become standing, preferred, targets…Attacks on Palestinians and their property take a physical, financial, social and psychological toll on Palestinians, especially when they are widespread. Settlers have a clear advantage over the Palestinians: They are citizens of the country that holds the West Bank under military occupation. They have the protection of the Israeli police and military. Palestinians, on the other hand, are abandoned by the law enforcement system that is tasked with keeping them safe and protecting them from harm. This state of affairs, where one national group dominates another and oppresses it by denying rights, practicing legal segregation and employing different legal systems for each group, is part of Israel’s apartheid regime. This regime’s objective is to entrench and cement Israeli colonization of the West Bank.”

Bonus Reads

“Questions and Answers: Israel’s De Facto Annexation of Palestinian Territory” (Al-Haq)
“An Israeli Winery Guide, With Undertones of Occupation” (Haaretz)
“Irish parliament denounces Israeli West Bank policies as ‘de facto annexation’” (The Times of Israel)
”Mapping Israeli occupation” (Al Jazeera)

Encircling Jerusalem: Israel Advances Settlement Plans Across the City, While Settler Projects Tighten the Noose

Dumping Any Pretense of Respect for Rule of Law, Israeli High Court Reverses Course, Allows Mitzpe Kramim Outpost to be “Legalized”

Settlers Acquire Another Home in Downtown Hebron

Elad Closes Palestinian Access Road Near Sambuski Cemetary in Silwan

This Week in Area C, Part 1: JNF Approves Purchase of Palestinian Land In Jordan Valley While High Court Weighs Petition

This Week in Area C, Part 2: Regavim Files Petition Pushing for Immediate Demolition of Palestinian Construction in Area C

This Week in Area C, Part 3: Settlers Continue to Occupy Six Sites After Recent Attempt to Establish New Outposts En Masse

Groups Petition to Cancel New Israeli-Led Archeological Dig in the West Bank Citing Legal Questions

Bonus Reads

Israeli Attorney General Supports Settler-Led Dispossession of the Sumreen Family in Silwan

Tender Published for 300 New Units in East Jerusalem Settlement of East Talpiyot

Israel to Advance Expansion of East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo

Israel Advances Plan that Will Pave Way for Expansion of East Jerusalem Settlement Enclave of Nof Zion

IDF Evacuates Oz Zion Outpost (Again)

Fight Over Homesh Outpost & Yeshiva Continues (Both Physically and Politically)

Settlers Seek Outpost Gains from Divided & Fragile Government (With Some Success)

Construction Begins on Key Stretch of the “Tunnels Road” for Settlements South of Jerusalem

Israel Gives U.S. Army Officers Tour of Hebron Led by Settlement Spokesman

Further Reading

Israel to Advance Atarot Settlement Plan

New Israeli President Kicks Off Hanukkah with Settlers in Hebron, Sparking Clashes and Raising Ire

Court OKs Demolition of Palestinian Homes in Wadi Yasul (Silwan)

“Day of Destruction” – Israel Demolitions in East Jerusalem & West Bank

Government Contradictions Delay Final Decision on Jerusalem Cable Car Project

Knesset Holds Hearing on Settler Terrorism

Bonus Reads

Israel to Advance Plans for Nearly 3,000 Settlement Units & 1,300 Palestinian Homes in Area C

Israeli Supreme Court to Hold Hearing on Batan al-Hawa, Silwan Dispossession Cases Next Week; AG Declines Intervention

Israel Begins Construction on New Settlement in Downtown Hebron

Israel Advances “Silicon Wadi” Project in East Jerusalem

Recap: Israel Advances Settlement Plans Across Greater Jerusalem Area

Recap: Court Pushes for Palestinians to “Compromise” with Settlers in Sheikh Jarrah

New Report: State-Backed Settler “Tourism” Projects in East Jerusalem

Bonus Reads

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 1: Israel Set to Advance 2,259 Settlement Units

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 2: Israel Announces Intention to Issue 863 Building Permits for Palestinians in Area C

The First Bennett/Biden Settlement Wave, Part 3: Observations on Settlement Policy Coordination Between Governments

Jerusalem District Court Orders 16 Homes to Be Demolished While Delaying – for 6 months – Demolition of Others in Silwan

Israel Begins Work on Settler-Back Project at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs

Atarot Settlement Plan to Be Discussed on December 6th

Bonus Reads

Sheikh Jarrah Updates: Court Issues Delays for Three Cases; Bennett Reportedly Considering Delaying Four Others

In First Since Settlement Regulation Law Was Overturned, Israel Announces Intent to Demolish Settlement Buildings on Privately Owned Palestinian Land

Elad Settler Group Loses Control Over East Jerusalem Holy Site/Archaeological Park

Knesset Votes Down West Bank Annexation Bill, Condemns Ben & Jerry’s

State Allows (& Funds) “Farming Outposts” to Graze Huge Tracts of West Bank Land

Israeli Army Let Settlers Stay at Abandoned Base Despite Knowing Plans for Illegal Outpost

Outpost Activity Continues in the South Hebron Hills

Bonus Reads

Palestinians Submit Petition Against Settler-Government “Deal” Regarding Evyatar Outpost

Settlers Take Over New Property in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan

In Ongoing Attempt at Erasure, Israel Demolishes Khirbet Humsa for the Sixth Time

Israel Moves to Dismiss Petitions Delaying Mass Demolitions in Al-Walajah

Construction to Begin on New Units in Nof Zion Settlement Enclave Inside Jabal Al-Mukaber [East Jerusalem]

New Israeli Government, Same Settlement Policy, Despite Including the “Left”

Bonus Reads

Israel Starts Demolitions in Al-Bustan Section of Silwan [East Jerusalem]

New Government, Same Outcome – “Compromise” Opens Door for “Legalizing” Illegal Outpost

Furthermore, the letter clarifies that the government agreement entails a number of flagrant violations of both local and international laws, including:

In accordance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), it is prohibited to transfer the civilian population of the occupying power to occupied territory (Article 49, Fourth Geneva Convention), an issue that is now also under investigation of the ICC.

The attempt to disregard planning procedures by issuing a special military order to enable the structures on the site is an abuse of power by the military commander.

The agreement provides no legal basis for not enforcing the law on the illegal structures placed in the area.

It is forbidden to allow political whims to undermine the military commander’s discretion.

According to Israeli law, the decision to establish a new settlement in occupied territory requires a government decision, something that did not transpire in this case.”

Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement Road Through Palestinian Farmland

Palestine Lays Out Key Issues it Wants the Biden Administration to Engage On

Israeli AG Declines Involvement in Sheikh Jarrah Dispossession Cases, Clearing Way for Supreme Court Ruling

Pending Silwan Dispossession Cases Continue

Israeli Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case on West Bank Land Appropriation for Settlement

Extremists “March of Flags” in Jerusalem Rescheduled for June 15th

IDF Issues Evacuation Notice Against Outpost, Causing Political Stir

Bonus Reads

Critical Updates from Silwan & Sheikh Jarrah

Tender Published for Givat Hamatos Groundwork, Even as Petition is Pending

Final Approval Given to Har Homa E Settlement

Expansion of the Beit El Settlement Begins

High Court Bans Settlers from Farming Palestinian Land…But Continues to Deny Palestinians Access

Resources on Israel’s New Prime Minister Naftali Bennet

New Report on Settler Violence Against Palestinians in Area B

Bonus Reads