Settlement Report: May 24, 2019

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

May 24, 2019

U.S. Announces Economic Workshop in Bahrain, Palestinians Reject Invitations
Netanyahu Says West Bank Land is Israel’s “Inheritance”
Likud MK Re-Submits Bill to Annex the Jordan Valley
Top Israeli Court Admits West Bank Archaeological Digs Are a Legal Liability, Rules Israel Can Dig in Complete Secrecy to Avoid Repercussions
High Court Override Bill? It’s About Settlements, Stupid
Report: Likud May Support Bill Effectively Annexing the Settlements (by Disempowering Civil Administration)
Israeli Border Police Once Again Demolish Structures in “Tapuach West” Outpost
Video Catches Settlers Attacking Palestinian Town & Torching Fields
Bonus Reads

U.S. Announces Economic Workshop in Bahrain, Palestinians Reject Invitations

On May 19th, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent invitations to Palestinian, Israeli, and Arab business leaders to attend a workshop in Bahrain on June 25-26 aimed at “unleashing the economic potential of the Palestinian private sector.” With near unanimity, notable Palestinian invitees publicly rejected the invitation, while dismantling the notion that an economic horizon for the Palestinians can be divorced from a political one. The sole Palestinian businessman known (as of this publication) to have accepted the U.S. invitation is Ashraf Jabari, who has gained favor amongst U.S. peace envoys for his public partnership with Israeli settlers to form the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce.For more information about Jabari, see last week’s edition of the Settlement Report, and this new piece on Jabari and how his efforts echo the “Village Leagues” model, written by Mitchell Plitnick.

Explaining the fundamental problem of launching an economic peace effort without a political horizon to end the occupation, Sam Bahour wrote in +972 Mag:

“Kushner seems to be missing the point entirely: Israel is addicted to Palestine’s economy, and without overcoming that addiction, there is no chance for any grand ‘business plan’ to succeed. Moreover, his ‘in-depth operational document,’ which he calls ‘realistic, executable…and will lead to both sides being much better off’ is borderline hallucinatory, given the fact that it dismisses the need for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel’s determination to maintain full control of the Palestinian economy for over five decades has become a major hurdle in getting it to realize that its occupation must come to an end. And like recovery from other addictions, this one will require external support. That support needs to be based on third states holding Israel accountable to save it from itself, rather than building a ‘business plan’ to try and paint life under the boot of Israeli military occupation as somehow beautiful. Here, in addition to human rights, we speak of economic rights, too: our rights to our economic assets — land, water, natural gas wells, our Dead Sea and Mediterranean Sea shores, borders, and the like — and the ability to employ them within a Palestinian-defined economic development plan, free from Israeli or donor agendas. Dumping more humanitarian and developmental funds into Palestinian coffers will not solve the conflict.”

Zahi Khouri, a Palestinian-American entrepreneur who owns the Coca-Cola franchise in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said:

“Putting this first is a blatant payoff. You insult the people by talking about their quality of life when you keep them locked up [under the Israeli occupation]…[It is like] trying to strangle a woman while giving her a manicure. In nation-building you start with dignity and freedom. You don’t start by bribing people and buying people.”

Bashar al-Masri, the Palestinian businessman and developer behind the Rawabi city project, wrote on Facebook:

“The idea of economic peace is an old idea that is now suggested differently. As our people previously rejected it, we are rejecting it now.”

Abed Alkarim Ashour, a Palestinian businessman from Gaza, posted on his Facebook page:

“The Bahrain conference aims at selling Palestine for a fistful of dollars – you in invited the wrong person.”

Ibrahim Barham, the founder of a Palestinian electronics and engineering company and a member of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, politely rejected the invitation, telling the Washington Post that he was surprised to even receive an invitation. Barham’s surprise was a common reaction amongst Palestinian invitees, a clear indication that the U.S. did not lay the groundwork for Palestinian buy-in despite a two-year self-described strategy of speaking directly to the Palestinian people over the heads of the Palestinian Authority. For it’s part, the Palestinian Authority officially declined to participate in the conference.

Ashraf Jabari – who FMEP profiled last week – announced that he will attend the conference on behalf of the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce, an initiative Jabari launched from Hebron alongside Israeli settlers. Criticism of Jabari reached a fever pitch following his predictable acceptance of the U.S. invite when a spokesman for the PLO told Reuters that Jabari and any other Palestinian who accepts the invitation are “collaborators.”

The PA Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki spoke at an event in London organized by the prestigious Chatham House during which he explained that Israel’s policies in the West Bank designed to:

“ensure confinement and expansion of Israeli settlers with the objective of maximum land with minimum Palestinians. [Palestinians are] now in the final stages of this master plan that Israel is no longer even trying to hide, and which can only be described as colonialism under the disguise of occupation.”

Notably, the Trump Administration elected to schedule this workshop – entitled “Prosperity to Peace” – to take place at the same time the United Nations is set to hold a pledging conference in support of URWA, the Palestinian refugee agency that the U.S. defunded in January 2018.

Netanyahu Says West Bank Land is Israel’s “Inheritance”

This week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled-down on his pledge to annex the West Bank, lending even a greater sense of inevitability to Israeli annexation. Netanyahu’s latest remarks were in response to a letter warning of the dangers of annexation signed by hundreds of former Israeli security officials. Netanyahu defiantly tweeted his defense of annexation:

“The region in Judea and Samaria are not just a guarantee of Israel’s security — its also the inheritance of our ancestors…The same ‘experts’ supported the Iran nuclear deal and warned that ‘Bibi is taking a wrong turn and ruining the alliance with America.”

The Times of Israel also has new reporting on how settler leaders have are planning to pressure Netanyahu on annexation should he balk at taking action on that front. Reflecting on a pre-election meeting with Netanyahu, Samaria Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan that he expects Netanyahu to start proceeding with annexation plans immediately upon forming the next government. Dagan added:

“And if that does not occur, we know how to fight.”

At that meeting with Netanyahu, Yossi Dagan was joined by Binyamin Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz, Har Hevron Regional Council chairman Yochai Damri and Kiryat Arba-Hebron Local Council chairman Eliyahu Libman. Reportedly they collectively pressed Netanyahu not just on the annexation of settlements, but on the fate of unauthorized and far flung outposts. According to Dagan, Netanyahu promised that he does not distinguish between regulated settlements and unauthorized outposts.

Likud MK Re-Submits Bill to Annex the Jordan Valley

On May 20th, Likud lawmaker Sharran Haskel filed a bill with the Knesset to annex the Jordan Valley to Israel. Haskel also filed the bill in the previous Knesset session, but the bill was put on hold by more senior lawmakers.

The new bill provides that Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley should be subject to a referendum, explaining that Israeli annexation will benefit Palestinians. Haskel said:

“the communities of the Jordan Valley are a strategic and security asset of the first degree..[but] under military jurisdiction… we have come to an unreasonable situation where the residents of the Jordan Valley cannot develop their communities.”

As FMEP has reported, Israeli planning policies in the Jordan Valley are designed and implemented in a way that systematically denies Palestinians the right to develop their communities, while at the same time assisting Israeli settlers to take over an increasing amount of land, and often doing so in contravention of Israeli law.

Top Israeli Court Admits West Bank Archaeological Digs Are a Legal Liability, Rules Israel Can Dig in Complete Secrecy to Avoid Repercussions

In response to a petition for the public disclosure of facts regarding state-run archaeological digs in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Israeli government can continue to conceal basic information about the digs in order to protect national interests, particularly to guard against international repercussions and potential legal suits. The petition – filed by the NGOs Emek Shaveh and Yesh Din – notes that it is illegal under international law for an occupying power to remove archaeological findings from the occupied territory.

Justice Elron, who voted in the state’s favor, argued that revealing the data on the archaeological sites would harm Israel, saying that disclosure of the facts will contribute to:

“undermining [Israel’s] interests in the framework of future negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and could even serve as a tool of attack for parties that seek to harm Israel in the international arena.”

Emek Shaveh explained the ruling’s absurdity:

“The law relates differentially to information inside the Green Line and information in the West Bank, implying that continued Israeli control over the West Bank requires two legal systems under a single government. Justice Baron, in a minority opinion, maintains that the ruling poses a threat to democracy.”

The Court’s ruling also argues that disclosing the name of archaeologists working in the West Bank will expose them to academic and professional boycotts. At least one Supreme Court Justice opposed this point. Justice Barron wrote in her dissent:

“Non-disclosure has the power to silence public debate over the legitimacy of archaeological digs in Judea and Samaria. Public debate could indeed invite criticism of the archaeologists, and perhaps even a boycott, as argued by the respondents. But silencing the debate by concealing the information is no cure for these fears. There is no democracy without a vibrant free market of ideas and opinions, and preventing public debate for fear of criticism, or even of boycotts, poses a real danger to the democratic values Israel espouses. The fear of a slippery slope on this issue is also tangible.”

The Palestinian Authority asserted that Israel’s West Bank excavations are a crime and called for UNESCO and the World Travel & Tourism Council to establish an international fact-finding mission on the matter.

High Court Override Bill? It’s About Settlements, Stupid

As FMEP has long reported, Israeli government officials’ motivation to pass the so-called High Court “override bill” is closely connected to its desire to protect and advance settlements in the West Bank. With possible movement of such legislation in the news this week, Likud MK Miki Zohar tweeted:

“The High Court intervenes in countless decisions, including on settlement in the Land of Israel; we want to put an end to that. We have the political opportunity to do so.”

The latest reporting regarding coalition negotiations over this law (debates over which are inextricably linked to Netanyahu’s plan to shore up his own immunity from criminal prosecution) continues to suggest that the bill will very likely be passed into law.

Former Justice Minister and long-serving Likud member of the Knesset Dan Meridor warned against the override law, saying:

“The idea of an override clause — that we won’t be a democracy, that there will be a dictatorship and the majority can do whatever it wants, that the court can’t say anything and there are no checks and balances — is a dangerous anti-democratic idea. There is not a single parliament in the world without checks and balances.”

Report: Likud May Support Bill Effectively Annexing the Settlements (by Disempowering Civil Administration)

Israeli Radio reports that Likud Party leaders are considering support for a bill, pushed by Bezalel Smotrich in coalition negotiations, that would bring the settlements under domestic Israeli law while leaving the Palestinians under the authority of the Israeli Civil Administration (the arm of the Israeli Defense Ministry that acts as the sovereign authority in the West Bank).

As the inevitability of Israeli annexation grows (and enthusiastic U.S. support for it), it remains to be seen how Israel will enact its annexation. Bringing the settlements under Israeli domestic law is just one way Israel might move forward. For more ways that Israel is already implementing or pursuing de facto annexation of the settlements, see FMEP’s comprehensive tracking.

Israeli Border Police Once Again Demolish Structures in “Tapuach West” Outpost

On May 20th, Israeli forces demolished three illegal structures in the unauthorized Tapuah West outpost, located south of Bethlehem. Three settlers were arrested for interfering in the demolition. A settler who was living in one of the demolished structures told The Times of Israel that it is possible the Samaria Council allowed the demolition to take place in order to build a more expansive settlement project in the area.

In a statement, Samaria Council Chairman Yossi Dagan denied the claim, saying:

“I call upon the government ministers to stop this destruction. On the nearby hills there are hundreds of illegally built Arab homes, yet the government concentrates on a single Jewish home, uprooting it and its inhabitants.”

This is the second time in the past year that Tapuach West outpost has been cleared. In June 2018, settlers violently clashed with the Border Police were met with as they officers 10 structures from the same area. The settler-instigated melee injured 11 Israeli policemen.

Video Catches Settlers Attacking Palestinian Town & Torching Fields

On May 17th, B’Tselem captured video showing masked settlers, believed to be from the notoriously radical Yitzhar settlement, setting two fields on fire and attacking the Palestinian villages of Burin and ‘Asirah al-Qibliyah. B’Tselem says that nearby Israeli soldiers not only failed to stop the attack, but also prevented Palestinians from reaching the flames in order to extinguish them. What’s more, the IDF erroneously blamed Palestinians for setting the fields on fire. The IDF was forced to retract their accusation when video footage proved it was the settlers who committed arson. Settlers later extinguished the flames themselves, reportedly fearing the flames were headed towards their settlement. As of publication, the IDF has not made a single arrest, though the criminals were clearly seen on video, and there has been no news of an investigation.

B’Tselem writes:

“This complete backing from the state authorities is consistent with Israel’s longstanding policy in the West Bank, under which such acts of violence serve its interests and help it achieve its goals.”

Bonus

“Annexation Threat Heightens Woes of Water-Starved West Bank Palestinians” (The National)
“Rights Groups Urge International Community to Stand Against US-Israel Annexation Strategy” (WAFA)
“Despite its Flaws, We Must Fight for the High Court” (+972 Mag)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

January 4, 2019

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

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

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

Map on Twitter by @JacobMagid

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

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

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

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

A plan to build an educational campus and a gas station between the Malakeh Mikhmash settlement and the unauthorized outpost of Mitzpeh Danny. Peace Now writes, “Although this is not a residential program, these buildings also qualify as the establishment of a new settlement complex in the West Bank. The plan covers 140 dunams and will create a permanent presence of hundreds of Israeli students and teachers…During the discussion it was noted that the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council is preparing a plan to regulate the outpost.”
A plan to build a cemetary on an area of “state land” south of the Palestinian city of Qalqilya. The area used to be a closed firing zone, but that military designation was rescinded years back, and the site has since been the subject of settlement planning. Peace Now writes, “The planned cemetery is likely to be the first component on the road to the establishment of an industrial zone, which is also a type of settlement.”

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

Map by WINEP

A plan for 98 units in the unauthorized Ibei Hanachal outpost, which will turn the outpost as a “neighborhood” of the Maale Amos settlement. In reality, the outpost is not contiguous with the built-up area of the Maale Amos settlement, meaning that the implementation of this plan will, in effect, create a distinct new settlement.
A plan for 61 new units in the unauthorized Gva’ot outpost, an outpost originally built in 1999 by the settlers as a “neighborhood” of the Alon Shvut settlement. The settlers built a yeshiva there, but abandoned it not long after. The new settlement plan is for a public building, likely an educational institute with housing.
82 new units in th Ofra settlement. FMEP reported on this plan in the Dec 14th edition of the Settlement Report, in conjunction with the litany of punitive settlement plans advanced by Israel in response to terror attacks. The area where the new units are slated to be built is land that was allegedly purchased by the settlers from its original Palestinian owners.
Plans for two new settlement industrial zones, one near the Beitar Illit settlement and one near the Avnei Hefetz settlement. The latter industrial zone, called Bustani Hefetz, will cover a large area of land (some 730 dunams) and will not be not contiguous with any other settlement. Peace Now writes, “an industrial zone of this scope, which is cut off from any other settlement, in all actuality constitutes a new settlement.”
121 new units in the Yitzhar settlement, where the IDF has been trying to rein in the violence perpetrated by the “Hilltop Youth” settlers, who are based in Yitzhar.
152 new units in the Shavei Shomron settlement.
212 new units in the Har Bracha settlement.
94 new units in the Beit Haggai settlement.
A plan to legalize 75 existing settlement units in the Shvut Rachel settlement, which Israel considers a “neighborhood” of the Shiloh settlement.
100 new units in the Halamish settlement.

Peace Now released a statement saying:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Map by Peace Now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Knesset Speaker & Leaders Call for Annexation of Hebron

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A coordinator for Regavim told the Arutz Sheva outlet:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bonus Reads

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

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

December 21, 2018

Israel Nears Final Move to Carry Out Massive Land Theft to “Regulate” Illegal Outposts
Ministers Back a Bill to Legalize 66 Outposts
In New Legal Opinion, Israeli AG Outlines Strategy for Legalizing Outposts
New Outpost #1 : Settlers & Government Officials Illegally Re-Build Amona Outpost
New Outpost #2: Settlers Build Outpost Overlooking Hebron
More Details on the Plan to Dig a Tunnel Road to the Haresha Outpost
High Court Criticizes State Over Illegal Road on Palestinian Land
New Report Documents Israel’s “Severe and Regular” Violation of International Law in Hebron
High-Rise Settlement Housing Promoted As a Means to Achieve 2020 Settler Vision & As a Solution to Israel’s Affordable Housing Shortage
Fourth Quarter Decline in 2018 Settlement Construction Starts Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

Israel Nears Final Move to Carry Out Massive Land Theft to “Regulate” Illegal Outposts

As has become routine, Israeli settlers and their allies in government are exploiting the recent deaths of three Israelis (two soldiers and a baby) at the hands of Palestinian attackers as an opportunity to accelerate settlement-related activities. This includes advancing new legislation and accelerating/expanding the application of new legal tools designed to entrench and expand the permanence of some of the most radical Israeli settlers living in isolated outposts across the West Bank.

If implemented, the plans and legislation detailed below (and in last week’s settlement report) will expropriate huge amounts of land that even Israel recognizes as privately owned by Palestinians, in order to retroactively legalize Israeli outposts scattered across the West Bank. Such a move will complete what has been a gradual but steady formal suspension of even the pretense of maintaining the rule of law with regard to Israeli settlers’ or the Israeli government’s’ actions in the West Bank (which comes on top of Israel’s official and open contempt for international law). As Haaretz columnist Zvi Bar’el writes:

“The legal criminality that the government invented in honor of the settlers… is an unbridled attack on the rule of law, the undermining of Palestinian landowners’ right to appeal at the High Court, and the destruction of the planning and building system. And mainly, it turns terror into a real estate perk for lawbreaking extortionists.”

Americans for Peace Now said:

“In reaction to murderous terrorist attacks targeting West Bank Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers, the government of Israel has come under pressure from the settlers to exact retribution against Palestinians. Two of the measures adopted are bound to open the floodgates for the legalization of existing settlement-outposts and the establishment of new ones.”

Ministers Back a Bill to Legalize 66 Outposts

On December 16th, the Israeli Cabinet voted unanimously to give government backing to a bill (called “Regulation Law 2” or the “Young Settlement Bill”) that directs the government to treat 66 illegal outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land as legal settlements, while giving the government 2 years to find a way to retroactively legalize those outposts.

The bill, proposed by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) and MK Yoav Kisch (Likud), also freezes any/all legal proceedings against the outposts and requires the government to connect the outposts to state infrastructure including water, electricity, provide garbage removal, and also approve budgets for them. The law also allows the finance minister to guarantee mortgages for settlers seeking to buy units in these outposts, even before the legal status of the land is resolved (a remarkable state-directed violation of normal practices in the mortgage industry). With government backing, the bill will now be introduced in the Knesset, where it must pass three readings before becoming law.

Though this bill has been ready for months, the Cabinet decided to advance the bill now in response to recent Palestinian terror attacks. MK Smotrich said: “This is the definitive answer to the murderous terrorism of the Arabs.” This sentiment was echoed widely across the settler movement.

The Cabinet voted to support the bill despite strong opposition from the Israeli Attorney General’s office. Deputy AG Ran Nizri told the Cabinet ahead of the vote that the bill has “significant legal problems,” represents a sweeping violation of the property rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, and will likely face a drawn out Court battle that might result in the High Court of Justice overturning the law. Notwithstanding these seemingly principled arguments opposing this tactic for legalizing outposts, it should be recalled that the Attorney General’s office has proposed what it believes is a more defensible means means to accomplish the same ends – called the Market Regulation principle (discussed below).

The Jerusalem Post speculates that passage of the “Regulation Law 2” in the Knesset may not be automatic, in light of past instances where international condemnation of such moves to legalize outposts led to hold-ups. The Times of Israel points out that the Trump Administration has failed to express any criticism about the new bill, which is unsurprising given Trump Administration officials’ statements and actions embracing and normalizing the settlements.

Israeli Justice Minister Shaked praised the bill, saying:

“[the bill is a] clear statement that will legalize young settlements [outposts] in Judea and Samaria. In the last three years, we changed the conversation from one of evacuation to one of legalization. There is no reason for the residents of Judea and Samaria to always have to live under the sword of evacuation.”

Peace Now said:

“Another populist and unconstitutional initiative is approved by the settler government, and only in such a state can an ‘illegal settlement’ be classified as a ‘young settlement.’ The settlers’ violence against Palestinian passerby that we witnessed during the weekend is a direct result of the government’s policy and of such bills that actually telling the settlers that they are above the law and whatever violation of the law the make, the government will legalize it.”

The bill is a follow-up to the first Regulation Law, which was passed by the Knesset in February 2017 but has since then been frozen by the High Court of Justice while it considers the law’s constitutionality. One month after passage of the Regulation Law, the Israeli Cabinet passed a resolution to enact the law expeditiously, at which point the cabinet created a committee – now headed by settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein – to build a list of outposts which the government can retroactively legalize and to complete the bureaucratic work required to do so. Wallerstein – who has a long history of ignoring Israeli law but is now responsible for massaging it to suit his needs – has been vocal about what the government can do immediately, telling the Knesset in October 2018 that there are at least 20 outposts which can be “easily” legalized as neighborhoods of existing settlements, and 50 more outposts that can be legalized but require more complex solutions.

The outposts slated to be legalized are scattered across the West Bank, many of which FMEP has reported on regularly, including: Haresha (the center of recent legal maneuvers aimed at legalizing an access road built on privately owned Palestinian land); Givat Assaf (where two Israeli soldiers were killed on December 13th); Havat Gilad (another outpost which gained political support following a Palestinian terror attack); Yitzhar South, Yitzhar East (satellites of the radical and violent Yitzhar settlement near Nablus; Ma’ale Rehavam (which was built on privately owned Palestinian land that the WZO illegally allotted to the settlers); Mitzpe Kramim (where once again the WZO gave settlers land owned by Palestinians. A court recently ruled the WZO acted in “good faith” in the transaction despite evidence to the contrary); Netiv Ha’avot (FMEP extensively covered the saga of Netiv Ha’avot); and, Adei Ad (a violent outpost that has been approved to be added to the jurisdiction of the new Amichai settlement in the Shilo Valley).

In New Legal Opinion, Israeli AG Outlines Strategy for Legalizing Outposts

On December 13th, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit issued a new legal opinion outlining how the government can implement the “market regulation” principle (which he invented) as a new legal basis for retroactively legalizing outposts and settlement structures built on privately owned Palestinian land. According to this principle – which contradicts any notion of rule of law or the sanctity of private property rights – settlement structures and outposts built illegally on private Palestinian land, can be legalized, if the settlers acted “in good faith” when they took over and built on the land. His opinion and subsequent arguments to the Israeli High Court of Justice (below) confirm that in the view of the Israel’s top law official, Israel has the right to expropriate privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and give it to Israeli settlers; the only disagreement he has with the Knesset is over the method of doing so.

Peace Now has a comprehensive breakdown of the new legal opinion, including the specific criteria outlining which outposts can qualify under the new scheme. AG Mandelblit estimates that 2,000 illegal settlement structures qualify for retroactive legalization using this principle,

The Israeli government has already used the “market regulation principle” in court twice, both in defending against lawsuits filed by Palestinians (first in response to petitions by Palestinian landowners against structures on their land near the Ofra settlement, second in response to petitions filed by Palestinian landowners against the Mitzpe Kramim outpost). This week’s move by the Attorney General allows the government to proactively initiate proceedings to retroactively legalize unauthorized outposts and settlement structures.

Reportedly, the Attorney General prepared this legal opinion a while back, but was stopped from publishing it by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was concerned about the international and diplomatic repercussions. It seems likely that the recent string of Palestinian terror attacks prompted Netanyahu to give the AG the green light to go ahead, along with advancing a number of other punitive settlement plans.

Shortly after approving the implementation of the “market regulation principle,” Mandleblit called on the High Court of Justice to overturn the Regulation Law, which the Court has been considering for more than a year. In a letter to the High Court Justices, Mandleblit argued that implementing the “market regulation principle” is “a more proportionate and balanced measure than the arrangement prescribed in the Regulation Law,” providing a more narrow legal basis by which Israel can strip Palestinian landowners of their rights (estimating that 2,000 structures can be legalized under the “market regulation principle,” compared to an estimated 4,000 under the Regulation Law). Of course, this argument overlooks the severe violation of Palestinian rights, the rule of law, and international law inherent in Israel’s decision to in effect erase Palestinian private property rights in the occupied territory to benefit the settlers.

Peace Now said:

“The attorney general is crossing yet another red line by laying the foundations for an institutionalized theft mechanism that will expropriate land from Palestinians and allocate it to settlers who stole it.This is part of a larger move led by AG Mandelblit to reduce the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories and to expand the privileges of the settlers, thereby bringing us closer to an apartheid reality.”

New Outpost #1 : Settlers & Government Officials Illegally Re-Build Amona Outpost

In recent days, dozens of Israeli settlers moved two mobile homes placed on the hilltop where the illegal Amona outpost once stood, claiming to have purchased the land from its Palestinian owners. Prominent settler leaders and MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) visited the site to celebrate the resurrection of the infamous outpost, an endeavor which was directly supported and facilitated by the Binyamin Regional Council (a settlement regional authority which draws its budget from Israeli taxpayer funds).

Settlers have reportedly submitted documents to the Israeli Civil Administration which they claim prove the land has been legally purchased (a claim which, even if true, does not justify the settlers’ illegal invasion of and construction in an area designated by Israel as a closed military zone). The Civil Administration – which is the sovereign power over the West Bank and responsible for enforcing the law there – has confirmed that it is aware of the new outpost and has received documents from the settlers, but has not yet reviewed the documents.

Yesh Din, an Israeli NGO representing the Palestinian landowners, immediately filed a petition to have the illegal structures removed. Yesh Din also filed a criminal complaint against the Israeli government officials who were involved with invading the hilltop. As of this writing they have not received a response on either front. Peace Now has also stated it will pursue legal action against the settlers.

Yesh Din explains key context in the Amona outpost saga:

“After the evacuation [of the Amona outpost] in 2017, the Israeli army declared the area a closed military zone, prohibiting entry of Israelis and Palestinians to the area where the outpost had been located. The closure, however, was not enforced for Israelis, who freely entered, while Palestinians – including the legal landowners – were forbidden to enter and cultivate the very land for which they had struggled for years. In addition to the audacity of blatantly defying the High Court of Justice ruling and trampling on the rights of the landowners, the placing of the new structures this weekend violates the closure order and constitutes a further infringement of the law as the establishment of a new settlement in Amona was never authorized – certainly no permits or outline plans exist. But in the ‘land of the settlers,’ the concept of rule of law has long since lost any meaning. Any Israeli can decide to build a settlement on a hill, merely because they feel like it. The buildings then remain regardless of their illegality, Israeli authorities not daring to challenge their imposing presence.”

Benyamin Regional Council Chairman Yisrael Gantz said in a statement:

“After two years of this place being uninhabited, we are fortunate to resume Israeli life here. The plots upon which we erected the structures were legally purchased. Yesterday, I promised to establish a new settlement in Binyamin in response to the deadly attacks and today we are carrying it out.”

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council said at the event:

“In these dark days, when terrorist attacks are so numerous and the honor of the people of Israel is harmed, we must get fired up and today’s ascent to Amona is an appropriate Zionist response.”

Peace Now said in a statement:

“There is no limit to the cynicism of the hilltop criminals who exploit the events of recent days to trample the law and ignite disturbances, all with public funds. These pyromaniacs are backed by Knesset members and local politicians… It is difficult to understand how an order has not yet been issued to evacuate them, and we ask whether the IDF and the police would have allowed this if they were Palestinians. This disgrace should be addressed today.”

Re-establishing the Amona outpost would hand a complete and total victory to the settlers who were forcibly evacuated from the site in 2017 – proving that not only does settler law-breaking go unpunished, but it is handsomely rewarded by the Israeli government, and that establishing illegal outposts is an effective route to establishing new settlements. Since being evacuated, the Amona outpost settlers have (so far) been “compensated” by the government with financial compensation and two new settlements:

The first new government-backed settlement in 25 years, Amichai. The Israeli Civil Administration High Planning Council subsequently approved a plan to triple the size of the Amichai settlement to include the Adei Ad outpost and the lands between the two; and,
The Shvut Rachel East settlement. This is an outpost that was granted authorization as a “neighborhood” of the Shilo settlement, but is properly understood as a new settlement unto itself. Teh Amona outpost settlers were first offered the Shvut Rachel East hilltop as a relocation site, but rejected it in favor of the nearby Amichai hilltop. Despite rejection, Shvut Rachel East received authorization anyways.

New Outpost #2: Settlers Build Outpost Overlooking Hebron

In recent days, a group of settlers have moved back into the site of an evacuated outpost near the city of Hebron, just north of the Kiryat Arba settlement, which settlers are calling Givat Mevaser. At a celebration of the decision by settlers to reestablish the outpost, the chairman of the Kiryat Arba settlement local council, Eliyahu Libman, said:

“We made a decision in light of the harsh news endured by the people of Israel last week to permanently move families into Givat Mevaser.”

The IDF was present at the celebratory event to protect the settlers, but an official at the Defense Ministry admitted that the settlers did not coordinate their actions with authorities. The site was previously approved to be developed into a settlement industrial zone, and according to a spokesperson for the new outpost, settlers are in the process of changing the building plan in order to get authorization for residential housing. Nonetheless, the settlers are at present violating Israeli law by taking up residence at the site.

More Details on the Plan to Dig a Tunnel Road to the Haresha Outpost

Kerem Navot has published a Justice Ministry opinion that provides further details on the government’s plan – approved on December 6th – to retroactively legalize the Haresha outpost by building a tunnel road underneath privately owned Palestinian land (an olive grove). The Justice Ministry document explains that while the Israeli government in principle has the right to permanently expropriate the land from its Palestinian owners, such an action would likely be challenged in the High Court of Justice, where it might be overturned. The Justice Ministry suggests instead that the government should “temporarily” expropriate the land while a tunnel is dug and road paved beneath the olive grove – with the plan being, ostensibly, to return the land to its Palestinian owners after construction is complete.

Kerem Navot comments:

“now, in order to legalize the outpost, shady legal advisers (of the type to whom Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is drawn) write documents in which they lay down their doubts on whether to expropriate the grove ‘permanently,’ which will be cheaper and faster (but it is likely to be rejected by the High Court of Justice), or to ‘temporarily’ expropriate it solely for the construction of a tunnel through the ‘excavation and cover-up’ method.”

As a reminder, in November 2017 the Attorney General gave the Israeli government a green light to permanently expropriate the privately owned land based on a legal argument that holds Israeli settlers to be part of the “local population” of the West Bank, and therefore eligible to be the sole beneficiaries of state land expropriated for “public use.”

High Court Criticizes State Over Illegal Road on Palestinian Land

At a December 18th hearing, the High Court of Justice gave the government of Israel 60 days to explain why it should not be required to demolish a road and several buildings that were built on land that the state has admitted it believes is privately owned by Palestinians. The case is before the court on a petition by Palestinians who claim that a 200-meter (650-foot) stretch of the road is built on their land.

The Court also slammed the State for allowing the construction of the road and buildings to be completed after a stop-work order was issued against the construction, a stop-work order the State assured the Court would be implemented. At the December 18th hearing, an attorney from the State Prosecutor’s Office told the Court that the road in question was a dirt road, and argued that the state had not sanctioned or had a hand in its construction.

New Report Documents Israel’s “Severe and Regular” Violation of International Law in Hebron

Haaretz shares details from a leaked report written by the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), which documents the totality of Israel’s policies in Hebron, serve to aid and protect settler and which collectively impose severe human rights violations and restrictions on Palestinians.

The report accuses Israel of being in “severe and regular breach” of international law, highlighting the many ways in which the human rights of Palestinians are systematically trampled on – specifically as it relates to radical settlers, their increasing activities in Hebron’s Old City, and the role of nearby settlements.

The Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) was first established in 1997 as part of the Oslo Accords’ Hebron Protocol, which allowed the partial redeployment of Israeli military forces to the part of the city that remained under its control. Israel must renew the TIPH’s mandate every six months; some fear that the next renewal has been jeopardized by the leaked report’s publication.

High-Rise Settlement Housing Promoted As a Means to Achieve 2020 Settler Vision & As a Solution to Israel’s Affordable Housing Shortage

Haaretz reports that the Yesha Council – the umbrella group representing all settlements in the West Bank – has adopted a strategic goal to advance “high quality, high density” settlement schemes in order to reach their goal of having 1 million settlers living in the West Bank by 2020. The basic idea is to build high-rise apartment complexes in settlements close to major highways in the West Bank and aggressively market them to Israelis who are seeking cheap rent and a fast commute, two key complaints of Israelis living and working in sovereign Israeli territory.

The strategy marks a shift in how settlements have typically been marketed to the Israeli public; once sold as an answer for young Israeli families looking for a single family unit with land, housing in settlements is now being marketed as the answer for young professionals looking for affordability, convenience and accessibility. The Yesha Council has coupled the new strategy with pressure on the government (and a promise to potential purchasers) to expedite West Bank infrastructure projects that will ease traffic, including bypass roads and detours around Palestinian towns.

In a February 2018 article, the Chairman of the Yesha Council wrote:

“Looking ahead, the patterns of thinking and action in the settlement movement need to be changed in two main areas: high-rise construction and doing away with admission committees. The available land for building is not plentiful. Until now, we’ve been used to rural communities with a one-family home on a half-dunam plot, but the goal from now on should be to build as many housing units as possible on that same land. High-density construction — building up or in a terraced fashion, depending on topography — will change the balance in the area and also require a new approach to infrastructure development to suit the number of residents in the future.” [Note: the Haaretz article explains that “admission committees” are a function of settlements which have standards for who is permitted to live there, mostly in ultra-orthodox and ideological settlements]

Fourth Quarter Decline in 2018 Settlement Construction Starts Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

by Peace Now

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released new data showing a 52% decrease in the number of settlement construction starts in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the second quarter of 2018. News about a “decline,” relative to the last quarter, obscures the clear and alarming settlement surge currently taking place. As Peace Now has reported, by August 2018 the total number of settlement tenders and plans that have been advanced (6,319) is more than double the total amount in 2016 (3,189).

In addition, it is important to bear in mind that the number of construction starts do not begin to depict or reveal the level of settlement activity happening in the West Bank. Israel’s settlement enterprise is not solely a matter of residential housing plans, but also the unceasing expansion of infrastructure and security measures that exclusively benefit Israeli settlers, the normalization and development of settlement industrial zones, and illegal settlement activity (outposts, which are now regularly legalized ex post facto) that does not register in numbers tracking the settlement planning process.

Bonus Reads

“Israel Has Weaponized the Settlements” (Haaretz Editorial)
December 2018 public opinion poll – Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

December 7, 2018

Looming Mass Eviction in Silwan, Part 1: High Court Rules that Settler Organization Can Pursue Eviction of 700 Palestinians in Batan Al-Hawa Section of Silwan
Looming Mass Eviction in Silwan, Part 2: Elad Settler Org Wins Eviction Case Against Palestinians in Wadi Hilweh Section of Silwan
Israel to Fast-Track Two Settlement Plans in Sheikh Jarrah
Justice Ministry Finalizes Legal Opinion to Retroactively Legalize the Haresha Outpost
Three Illegal Outposts (& Ariel) Are Now “National Priority Areas” Eligible for Government Subsidies
High Court Rules the Jewish National Fund is the Legal Owner of Land South of Bethlehem
Israel Seizes Jordan Valley Land Owned by the Catholic Church
Israeli Civil Administration Report Criticizing Yitzhar Settler Violence Leads to Renewed Calls to Annex the West Bank
After IDF Killed Two Palestinians, Civil Administration Grants Settlers Victory in Struggle Over Hilltop
The New Mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, On Settlements
Al-Shabaka Policy Paper: “The EU & Jerusalem”
Breaking the Silence Report – “Occupying Hebron: 2011-2017”
U.S. Chatter on Economic Coexistence Initiatives (Which Normalize Settlements/Occupation) Provokes Strong Palestinian Response
Bonus Reads

Questions/comments? Email kmccarthy@fmep.org

Looming Mass Eviction in Silwan, Part 1: High Court Rules that Settler Organization Can Pursue Eviction of 700 Palestinians in Batan Al-Hawa Section of Silwan

On November 22nd, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the settler organization Ateret Cohanim can continue to pursue the eviction of 700 Palestinians from their homes in the Batan al-Hawa section of the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem. This would be the largest displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem since 1967.

The High Court’s ruling did not decide the central issues in the case, which call into question Ateret Cohanim’s ownership of the land through its control of an historic Yemenite land trust (the Benvenisti Trust). The High Court reserved those issues for the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court to decide as part of its consideration of individual eviction cases.

In its ruling, the High Court criticized of the government’s involvement in the case, specifically calling out the role the government played in transferring ownership of the land to Ateret Cohanim without properly informing the Palestinian residents. The High Court ruling said:

“We can’t continue without expressing surprise at the state’s assumption that a decision so significant to the lives of hundreds of people – ‘liberating’ the property on which they have lived for many years [and transferring it] to other hands – isn’t the kind of thing that ought to be publicized through reasonable means. Even the precise identity of the property’s residents wasn’t known, and that’s the interpretation kindest to the state…Evicting people who have lived on this land for decades – some of them without even knowing that the land belongs to others – creates a human problem. Especially when it’s done without compensation or any other solution. It seems the state would do better to consider providing a solution, in appropriate cases, for those evicted from their homes. Property rights are important, but it’s also important to defend people’s homes.”

B’Tselem commented:

“The judgment proves, yet again, that the Israeli High Court gives its seal of approval to almost any infringement of Palestinians’ rights by the Israeli authorities.”

Ateret Cohanim has waged a years-long eviction campaign against Palestinians living in Silwan, on property the settler NGO claims to own, based on its control of the historic Benvenisti Trust, which oversaw the assets of Yemenite Jews who lived in the neighborhood in the 19th century. Palestinians have challenged the legitimacy of the Benvinisti Trust’s claims to the currently existing buildings, saying that the trust only covered the old buildings (none of which remain standing) and not the land. Despite ongoing legal challenges, in October 2018 the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled in Ateret Cohanim’s favor in one of the cases connected to the Benvenisti Trust’s claim to the buildings there – resulting in the eviction of the last remaining Palestinian tenants (the Abu Sneina family) from a building in area of Silwan known as Batan al-Hawa.

The ruling this week does not give a final decision to the underlying questions of ownership, but it allows Ateret Cohanim to proceed – from a strengthened position – in its legal efforts to evict Palestinians from their homes.

Looming Mass Eviction in Silwan, Part 2: Elad Settler Org Wins Eviction Case Against Palestinians in Wadi Hilweh Section of Silwan

On December 5, 2018 the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court upheld the eviction of a Palestinian family – the Siyams – family their home in the Wadi Hilweh section of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, just 820 feet from the southern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Like Ateret Cohanim (see above), the Elad settler organization has been waging a years-long legal battle to take control homes in Silwan, including a 20-year battle to take control of the Siyam family home, which Elad insists legally purchased it.

The Court ruling this week was the first ruling in the settlers’ favor. The Siyam family announced plans to petition the ruling to the Jerusalem District Court.

In response to the ruling, Peace Now said:

“This case is an example of how the settlers manage to take control of Palestinian property in East Jerusalem by combining manipulations, money, forgery and significant aid from the Israeli authorities. It is not a regular case between equal sides, but a story of David and Goliath, and the settlers are the Goliath. There is a settlers organization with almost unlimited financial resources and enormous political power against an ordinary Palestinian family that has been forced into court for more than 20 years, to invest tremendous resources in legal defense and to deal with various and varied purchase claims. This way the settlers are causing great damage to Israel when they harm the delicate fabric of life in Jerusalem and the possibility of compromise in Jerusalem and a two-state solution.”

Israel to Fast-Track Two Settlement Plans in Sheikh Jarrah

Ir Amim reports that the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee will meet on December 23rd to fast-track the approval of two plans for a total of 13 new settlement units in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The plans put approximately 5 Palestinian families at imminent risk of eviction.

On December 23, the Committee will discuss public objections to plans for the two settler building (one for 10 units and one for 3 units), which if approved, will result in the eviction of 5 Palestinian families.

Ir Amim further explains:

“The two plans in Sheikh Jarrah are being pushed by city councilperson and settler leader Arieh King, a close ally of Jerusalem’s just inaugurated mayor, Moshe Leon. King has recently joined the new mayor at several public events and is said to be eyeing a deputy mayor position in the new administration.”

+972 Magazine has an excellent piece on the resumption of evictions and settlement takeovers in Sheikh Jarrah, which have been stalled since 2009, in part due to international pressure. A prominent figure in the Sheikh Jarrah resistance movement, Saleh Diab, said:

“Ever since Trump said last year that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, we have been feeling the change. The settlers are working quickly to evict us before the American administration changes…How will we go back to the days of protests? The police today are like the police in [apartheid] South Africa. Israelis who stood alongside us were fired from their jobs because of their views…Like in Khan al-Ahmar, they are trying to expel an entire community and turn us into refugees for a second time.”

PLO Spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi released a statement saying:

“Since the beginning of the year, Israel has accelerated and intensified its efforts to entrench its colonial military occupation, especially in and around occupied Jerusalem…Israel’s extremist, racist government coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately and systematically working to complete the total annexation and isolation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian environs and surrounding areas, as well as the distortion of the occupied city’s demographic, historical and cultural character…These measures pose a strategic threat to Palestinian human and national rights, especially through the imposition of new and ‘permanent’ realities on the ground that deliberately undermine the achievement of Palestinian statehood…At a time when the rights-based international system is under threat, the reality and future of Jerusalem is a litmus test for the world and the integrity of its legal and political system. It is our hope that the global community and people of conscience will rise to the challenge and defend the universality and indivisibility of human rights. The world must not fail Jerusalem.”

Justice Ministry Finalizes Legal Opinion to Retroactively Legalize the Haresha Outpost

On December 6, 2018, Israel Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked announced a new legal opinion that permits the Israeli government to proceed with its plan to retroactively legalize the Haresha outpost by building an access road through privately owned Palestinian land. According to the new opinion, the Israeli government is permitted to “temporarily seize” the privately owned land to build a tunnel underneath it leading to the outpost, though it leaves open the possibility for the government to permanently expropriate the land in the future. The lack of an access road has until now prevented the Israeli government from retroactively legalizing the entire Haresha outpost; once the access road is deemed legal, the government is expected to act quickly to legalize it and pursue plans to build more settlement units there.

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit – who signed off on the new Justice Ministry opinion – in November 2017 released a different legal argument in favor of permanently expropriating the land to legalize the access road, arguing that settlers are part of the “local population” of the West Bank and are therefore eligible to be the sole beneficiaries of land seized for “public use” (the access road is not open to Palestinian traffic). The opinion released this week, which cites Mandelblit’s previous opinion, finds yet another way to accomplish the same goal, by temporarily seizing the land to build a permanent tunnel for the settlers underneath it.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said:

“From the beginning of my current term I have set a goal of normalizing the lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria and normalizing as many communities as possible. We have gone from a discourse of eviction to a discourse of normalization. These actions are in addition to the strengthening of the communities by other means, such as the transfer of authority in matters of Judea and Samaria from the Supreme Court to the Administrative Affairs Court in Jerusalem, as well as the equalization of legislation for Judea and Samaria…I will continue to work for the normalization of additional communities in Judea and Samaria. I thank Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, Deputy Attorney General (Erez) Kaminitz and the Legal Advisor for the Judea and Samaria Area for their important activity on the issue.”

Peace Now told the Times of Israel:

“This move is a mockery of justice. Since the Regulation Law is tied up in court, the Ministry of Justice is yet again using every crooked justification it can concoct to expropriate private Palestinian land in order to dissect the West Bank with settlements until they have achieved their one-state apartheid agenda.”

Dror Etkes, founder of the anti-settlement watchdog group Kerem Navot, wrote:

“the outpost of Haresha, comprised of about 100 illegal structures, is of course not the story here. The story that the settlers are striving to resolve, with Mandelblit’s help, involves hundreds (yes hundreds!) of roads that have been illegally paved for decades around settlements and outposts, on land that even Israel recognizes as privately-owned. Now, with a little creativity and a lot of nerve, a legal mechanism has been invented to enable settlers to retroactively authorize the road system, without which the national land grab enterprise championed by Israel in the West Bank, can’t function.”

Three Illegal Outposts (& Ariel) Are Now “National Priority Areas” Eligible for Government Subsidies

On November 26th, Israeli Housing Minister Yoav Gallant announced that three illegal outposts – Kerem Reim, new Migron, and Shvut Rachel – will be considered “national priority” areas for development, marking the first time that illegal outposts are eligible for significant government subsidies to encourage growth.

In order to include the outposts, the Israeli Housing Ministry wrote and adopted a new criteria to make “neighborhoods located far from a ‘parent town’ that do not rely on the infrastructure of said town” eligible for priority status. For the purposes of the government subsidies plan, Kerem Reim is considered a “neighborhood” of the Talmon settlement, New Migron is considered a “neighborhood” of the Kochav Yochav settlement, and Shvut Rachel is considered a “neighborhood” of the Shilo settlement.

Though the Israeli government has rewritten its laws to consider these “children” outposts as “neighborhoods” of existing, government-approved settlements, they are, in fact, independent settlements. This fact is underscored by the Housing Ministry’s new criteria which admits that the outposts do not share the same infrastructure systems as the settlements of which they are considered a part (and, indeed, rewards that fact).

The Ariel settlement was also re-designated as a national priority area (having been previously selected and then later removed from the list), among a total of 583 communities from both sides of the Green Line. The selected communities, settlements, and outposts will benefit from massive government subsidies, including at least 50% of infrastructure costs for the construction of new housing. Israelis seeking to purchase a home in the selected communities will receive government loans and forms of assistance.

Haaretz reports Housing Minister Yoav Gallant remarked:

“it is a social and national duty to prevent negative migration from distant towns and to enable them to thrive and prosper.”

The Jerusalem Post quotes Gallant as saying that the decision to include the outposts:

“is a clear statement by the government that it will continue to develop and strengthen the settlements.”

High Court Rules the Jewish National Fund is the Legal Owner of Land South of Bethlehem

On November 28, 2018 the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the Jewish National Fund is the legal owner of 130 acres of land south of Bethlehem, ending a 22-year legal battle over ownership claims. Palestinians from a nearby village challenged the validity of the sale of the land to the Jewish National Fund when the organization moved to register its ownership of the land with the Israeli Civil Administration in 1996.

This week, the Court held that the Jewish National Fund (via its subsidiary company, Himnuta) had legally purchased the land in 1944 from its original Palestinian owners. The ruling will allow the settlers to move forward with plans for building more settlement units on the land, which is already home to one settlement, Rosh Tzurim, and to the headquarters of the Gush Etzion Regional Council.

The head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shlomo Ne’eman, celebrated the ruling, saying:

“the task of expanding the lands of Gush Etzion is a national mission. The Supreme Court’s ruling gives us optimism that the court’s position will benefit the Jews and Jewish land in Judea and Samaria and will not automatically rule in favor of the thieving claims of the Arab intruders.”

Israel Seizes Jordan Valley Land Owned by the Catholic Church

On November 27, 2018, the Israeli Civil Administration announced that it is seizing 66 acres of land in the northern Jordan Valley that is owned by the Catholic Church. The Civil Administration said the land was needed for “military purposes.”

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem responded to the seizure in a statement, saying:

“The Patriarchate is looking into the aspects of this decision in order to address it in the appropriate manner, have it contested and to stop further damage.”

Israeli Civil Administration Report Criticizing Yitzhar Settler Violence Leads to Renewed Calls to Annex the West Bank

An Israeli news outlet, Kan 11 news, revealed the existence of a new Civil Administration report that criticizes the Yitzhar settlement. According to Kan 11, the report states that Yitzhar is a source of violence that “undermines governance and the rule of law.”

In addition to documenting the violence perpetrated by Yitzhar residents against Palestinians living nearby, the report also documents incidents of Yitzhar settlers attacking Israeli forces. The report calls on the IDF Commander Maj. Nadav Padan to punish the Yitzhars settlers by scuttling plans to build a new kindergarten and by ceasing to guard dangerous roads around the settlement and its many outposts.

In response, Yossi Dagan (head of the Samaria Regional Council, a settlement municipal body) called for the author of the report to be fired, saying:

“Officials in the Civil Administration are torpedoing the approval of security elements which could have prevented terrorist attacks in threatened settlements such as Itamar, and in the Barkan industrial zone before the attack, as well as narratives of the Palestinian Authority and radical left-wing organizations.This is an example of the evil in the civil administration. I call on the head of the Civil Administration to remove the clerk … who acts like a politician and not as is required. This report is malicious and false. The Yitzhar leadership is leading the community in a good and positive direction, and this report has nothing but lies. This is the total loss of control of the Civil Administration. While murderers with the blood of Israelis on their hands, the Civil Administration refrains from punishing the sources of terror out of statements that this is collective punishment, and now they want to create collective punishment for the Jews. The head of the Civil Administration and the deputy defense minister should call this clerk for a hearing before his dismissal.”

In response to the report’s recommendations, MK Bezalel Smotrich (HaBayit HaYehudi) called for the entire Civil Administration to be disbanded. Smotrich announced that he will seek government backing for a bill to achieve that end during the next meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, scheduled for December 9th. Under the bill, Israeli settlers in the West Bank will come under the full sovereignty of domestic Israeli institutions, while Palestinians will be ruled by “Regional Liaison administrations.” The bill would effectively annex the entire West Bank to Israel.

Smotrich said:

“The Civil Administration must be shut down now. This document reflects a political agenda that is hostile to the settlement enterprise and to the local residents, [an agenda] which unfortunately is expanding in this unnecessary body…This is the same Civil Administration that for years has pushed for a policy of separation between Arabs involved in terrorism and the rest of the Arab population. Now it suddenly remembers to use collective punishment against Jewish residents…for years now, the residents of Judea and Samaria, who are equal citizens who serve in the army and in the reserve and who pay taxes, are not entitled to equal rights and receive inferior service from the Civil Administration instead of receiving optimal service from government ministries like all citizens of Israel. The time has come to fix that.”

After IDF Killed Two Palestinians, Civil Administration Grants Settlers Victory in Struggle Over Hilltop

On November 29th, Haaretz reported the tragic story of two Palestinians who were shot and killed by Israeli forces while protesting attempts by Israeli settlers to take over a hilltop belonging to the Palestinian village al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah, just north of Ramallah. Following a clash on October 26th, in which the IDF opened fire on Palestinian protesters – killing the two men – the IDF issued a military order closing the hilltop – known as Khirbet Na’alan – to Palestinians on Fridays. As Haaretz notes, the military order was a victory for the settlers, who have been aggressively trying to take over the hilltop since July 2018.

The residents of al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah have fought against the increasing encroachment of the Talmon settlement and its seven illegal satellite outposts, which collectively surround the village. Having seen several outposts take over their land illegally and under the protection of the IDF, Palestinians began actively trying to prevent the takeover of the Khirbet Na’alan hilltop. The settlers waged their own campaign to harass and intimidate the village, often entering the village at night to paint hateful messages and damage Palestinian property. Each Friday, the settlers would go pray at the site.

In response to petitions filed by Palestinians, the Israeli Civil Administration issued an order barring the settlers from accessing the hilltop. On the same day the villagers found out about the order, they watched 10 settlers from the Kerem Reim outpost (which was recently selected as a “national priority area” to encourage growth, see above) approach the hilltop with heavy IDF protection. It was on this day that the IDF opened fire on a group of Palestinians protesting the incursion, killing two and wounding many others.

Video of the bloody incidents shows the IDF opening fire at an incredibly close distance, and at least 10 Palestinians falling down amidst gunfire.

The New Mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, On Settlements

In a thorough analysis of the recent Jerusalem Municipal elections, Terrestrial Jerusalem’s Danny Seidemann shared key insights into what may be in store for settlement activity under Jerusalem’s new mayor, Moshe Lion. Seidemann writes:

“Lion emerged from the ranks of the less ideological elements in the Likud. However, support for East Jerusalem settlements and settlers is so deeply ingrained even in this segment of the party as to be second nature. Lion never mentioned the Palestinians of East Jerusalem in his campaign, and actively cooperated with Aryeh King, who represents the right-wing fringe of the East Jerusalem settlers. Consequently, it is highly likely that Lion will continue to do the bidding of the settlers in East Jerusalem, and to neglect the Palestinian sector. Nothing in his world view or the way he understands his political interests suggests otherwise.”

Al-Shabaka Policy Paper: “The EU & Jerusalem”

Al-Shabaka analyst Yara Hawari published a new paper exploring options for European Union member states to push back on U.S. policy and Israel’s annexation of Palestinian land. Hawari writes:

“The US embassy move has accelerated and legitimized a process of de-Palestinianization of Jerusalem that began over seven decades ago. In the absence of concrete pressure, Israel will continue to violate the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem and the rest of historic Palestine, with the full support and encouragement of the Donald Trump administration as well as its far-right allies within Europe and in Latin America. Despite the inaction described above and the global political shift to the right, there remains potential for the EU to pressure Israel and pursue Palestinian human rights. This is due to strong European popular support for Palestinian rights and sovereignty that has allowed grassroots solidarity networks to grow, as well as the fact that the EU is premised on international law and human rights…”

Breaking the Silence Report – “Occupying Hebron: 2011-2017”

Breaking the Silence released a new compilation of testimonies from Israeli soldiers who served in the Hebron area. Breaking the Silence writes:

“The Israeli settlement in the heart of the city of Hebron marked its 50th anniversary this year. Its story is a microcosm of the occupation: contempt and disregard for the rule of law, daily violence, deprivation of Palestinian residents’ basic rights, and a military system that preserves all of the above. This booklet of testimonies intends to offer the public a glimpse of the reality in Hebron from our perspective as soldiers deployed there. These testimonies were given by soldiers who served in the city from 2011-2017. They reveal the violence and discrimination that have become an inextricable part of life in Hebron, and their impact on the lives of Palestinian residents.”

The online portal for the report also has an interactive map, where users can see where each incident took place against the backdrop of Hebron’s closed streets, religious sites, and settlement enclaves.

U.S. Chatter on Economic Coexistence Initiatives (Which Normalize Settlements/Occupation) Provokes Strong Palestinian Response

Top U.S. negotiators have continued hinting about a major economic element to the yet-to-be-unveiled “deal of the century.” As FMEP has documented to this point, Ambassador David Friedman has met with Israeli and Palestinian businessmen in a bid to promote joint projects in the Occupied Territories in a way that normalizes Israeli settlements and annexation bids.

On November 28th, Ambassador Friedman was interviewed by the Christian Broadcast Network. Part of the transcript of the interview reads:

Question: “One of the aspects of the peace plan seems to be a relationship between Palestinian businessmen and Israeli businessmen. Some would say you crossed a red line when you crossed the green line into Ariel officially. What was the importance of that meeting?”

Friedman: “On a practical level, I met with, I don’t know, maybe 8 or 10 Palestinian business leaders and, to a person, they all said to me, ‘let’s do business, let’s get going. We want to work with Jews; we want to work with Israelis.’… I try to look at everything from a lens of what is best for the United States. That’s my job. I represent the United States. But look, we are a nation under God; we’re built on Judeo-Christian values. Much as I try I cannot help but see the majesty of God’s work and all the miracles that happen in this incredible country.”

U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, wrote an op-ed also emphasizing, among of myriad of accusations against the Palestinian Authority, that the U.S. is hoping to jump-start economic development, separate from its “plan” to resolve core issues. The article reads:

“While waiting for a possible political solution, it is high time to build the Palestinian economy and provide Palestinians with the opportunities they deserve…We know that the Palestinians are not interested in mere economic peace. The Trump Administration continues to strive for a peace agreement, but the Palestinians need economic help now – with or without a peace agreement. The technology sector in the West Bank and Gaza has great potential and can be developed without treading into the politically contentious core issues of the conflict…I continue to meet with ordinary Palestinians and what is striking is that, although they complain about the Trump Administration’s policies, they remain focused on their economy…Palestinians are a proud people and want to create and earn on their own. They believe, as I do, that Palestinians should be allowed to improve their economy without worrying about whether they will give up on their national cause…Let’s be real – 136,000 Palestinians commute to work with Israelis every day because the opportunity is there. Anti-normalisation is a failed policy that only hurts the Palestinians. Let’s allow Palestinians to thrive in the way they are educated, capable of and deserve. We won’t tire of trying to resolve the political conflict (and certainly Palestinians won’t either), but we must focus on helping the Palestinian economy where we can, before it is too late.”

Palestinians reacted strongly to Greenblatt’s screed. Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, wrote in response:

“…economic desperation is seen by the Trump administration as an opportunity to force Palestinians to normalise Israel’s occupation, to legitimise its settlements and its whole system of oppression. The administration has been trying to divide Palestinians by claiming that the Palestinian leadership is preventing economic growth. However, there is a consensus among our people that the primary responsibility for our grave financial situation is the Israeli occupation.”

Hani Masri, a Palestinian political analyst, said:

“Trump thinks that what the Palestinian leadership has rejected can be passed through the people, but the majority of Palestinians will not positively absorb or accept what Greenblatt is promoting. There are economic interests between the Palestinians and Israelis, however the political issue is a different subject and can’t come at the expense of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.”

Elsewhere, at an event hosted by the Brookings Institute, former peace negotiator Dennis Ross promoted draft legislation in the U.S. Congress that would invest heavily in joint economic projects in the West Bank which normalize the settlements. The Jewish Insider summarizes:

“[Dennis] Ross praised current draft legislation in Congress that would give upwards of $150 million to joint Israeli and Palestinian projects: [Ross:] ‘Cutting $10 million for projects that are joint projects between Israelis and Palestinians, the rationale for that is hard to grasp. If there is one thing that we should be doing [it is] demonstrating that when Israelis and Palestinians cooperate there’s a payoff for it. And that ought to be elementary. That ought to be just a given. Anything you’re doing should be to designed to elevate the payoffs of practical tangible cooperation.’”

Finally, the Friends of Beit El organization (previously headed by now-Ambassador David Friedman) hosted a star-studded fundraiser in New York to raise funds for and awareness of the Beit El settlement. It was attended by two Members of Congress and the speaker of the Israeli Knesset Yuli Edelstein, who told the crowd:

“Independence, sovereignty, will eventually come to Judea and Samaria and many more houses with be built in order to reach the number we all dream — a million Jews in Judea and Samaria.”

Notably, the mention of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected Speaker of the House, elicited boos from the crowd.

Bonus Reads

“Annexation – at what cost?” (Times of Israel)
“Leftists on tour in Hebron confirmed in view that settlers ‘have already won’” (Times of Israel)
“Shaked touts ‘confederation’ of Jordan WEst Bank, and Gaza” (Times of Israel)
“Inside the Evangelical Money Flowing Into the West Bank” (Haaretz)

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

To subscribe to this report, please click here.

November 2, 2018

Liberman Announces A New Settlement in the Old City of Hebron
Housing Ministry Signs Deal for 20,470 New Settlement Units In Maale Adumim
Settlers Establish a New Jordan Valley Outpost
Israel Plans to Double Size of IDF West Bank Bureaucracy…To Aid Settlers
Yesh Din Documents How Yitzhar Settlement Uses Violence to Seize Palestinian Land
West Bank Municipal Elections Empower Anti-Establishment Settler Leaders
Bonus Read

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

Liberman Announces A New Settlement in the Old City of Hebron

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced that he is advancing plans for the construction of a new settlement in Hebron, to be located above a Palestinian marketplace in the Old City of Hebron. This is the third major settlement initiative in the heart of Hebron undertaken by the Israeli government over the past four months. It follows closely on the heels of the October 2018 announcement of a new settlement at the site of an Israeli military installment in Hebron, and a July 2018 Cabinet decision to fund a new settler municipal body – despite a court injunction against forming the body – meant to empower Israeli settlers living in enclaves in downtown areas of Hebron.

The plan for a new apartment building for settlers above the market in the Old City of Hebron is not new, but has been stalled for years due to “legal difficulties” according to Liberman. Those “legal difficulties” are the protected tenancy rights of Palestinian vendors who rented the market stalls from Jordan after 1948, rights which were upheld by Israel following the 1967 war. Liberman worked alongside Justice Minister Shaked to find a way to move the project forward (i.e., to find a way to void Israel’s recognition of the protected tenancy rights); the result is a new legal opinion greenlighting the project based on Jewish ownership of the land prior to the 1929 Hebron riots, when 67 Jews were killed. The Defense Ministry has not yet released the text of this new legal opinion.

The Times of Israel settlement correspondent Jacob Magid notes:

“Such a legal opinion would apparently conclude that Jewish ownership of the property prior to the establishment of Israel trumps the Palestinian protected tenancy status that was granted after 1948 — a hierarchy that the High Court of Justice has thus far rejected.”

Significantly, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit gave his endorsement of the Defense Ministry’s opinion on the matter.

Justice Minister Shaked released a statement saying:

“This week we made a significant breakthrough in the return of Jewish lands stolen during the 1929 riots in the so-called wholesale market. This is a very important area in the heart of the Jewish settlement in Hevron, which for 25 years was not settled, even though it belongs to the Jews according to all the records. For 25 years, Israeli governments have repeatedly evacuated Jews who settled in the area and haven’t granted building permits. This week, thanks to the Defense Minister, Legal Advisor Avichai Mandelblit, Deputy Legal Advisor Erez Kaminitz, and Defense Ministry Legal Advisor Itai Ophir, we brought about a breakthrough and removed the barriers, leading to approving the planning.”

The Jewish community in Hebron released a statement praising the legal opinion as a “Zionist and just decision,” saying that the new settlement will help “strengthen our hold on the inheritance of our forefathers.”

[Updated on 11/2/2018 after publication].

Map by Peace Now

Peace Now has published a detailed explanation of Liberman and Shaked’s plan to build a new settlement above the Palestinian marketplace in the Old City of Hebron. An accompanying Peace Now statement reads:

“The settlement in Hebron is the ugliest face of Israel’s control in the Occupied Territories. In order to maintain the presence of 800 settlers among a quarter of a million Palestinians, entire streets in Hebron are closed to Palestinians, denying them freedom of movement and impinging on their livelihoods. Moreover, by implementing the “right of return” for Jews, the Netanyahu government has pulled the rug out from under Israel’s moral basis for its resistance to recognizing the right of return for the Palestinians, thus endangering Israeli interests.”

A key piece of Peace Now analysis reads:

“The Defense Ministry’s new opinion for building this new settlement compound is yet another example of how the government is currently reinterpreting existing laws in order to circumvent current restrictions on settlement building that safeguard Palestinian private property and protected tenancy. This in turn is part of a broader trend of settlement-backed government efforts to confiscate land, and legalize and expand Israeli settlements with the aim of de facto Israeli annexation of the West Bank.”

Housing Ministry Signs Deal for 20,470 New Settlement Units In Ma’aleh Adumim

The Israeli government signed a $765 million deal to build 20,470 new settlement units in the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement, located just east of Jerusalem. The government is slated to issue permits for 470 units to begin construction immediately (plans for which have already been granted final approval), while the plans for 20,000 units still need to be approved.

After signing the agreement, Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Gallant (Kulanu) made it clear that the mega-project is part of a broader scheme to consolidate Israeli control over West Bank areas to the north, east, and south of Jerusalem:

“In addition to the new housing units, public and educational institutions will also be established, and will include synagogues, schools, parks, community centers and sports arenas. We must continue to establish [our] hold on the Jerusalem area, from Maaleh Adumin in the east to Givat Zeev in the west, from Atarot in the north to the area of Bethlehem and Rachel’s Tomb to Efrat and Gush Etzion…[these places are of] historic, strategic and national importance…. we will continue to act to strengthen the city…. We must continue to maintain full control over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley and bolster the settlement in these regions.”

Following a meeting in Ramallah, the PLO Executive Committee released a statement blasting the plan:

“The decision to build additional housing units beyond the Green Line completely prevents the realization of a two-state solution and frustrates efforts to move a genuine peace process forward….the expansion of the settlement in and around east Jerusalem through the construction of settlement blocs that cut off the connection between Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories [will complete the] Judaization of Jerusalem within the framework of the plan for a greater Jerusalem.”

Settlers Establish a New Jordan Valley Outpost

Last month a large group of Israeli settlers invaded the site of an abandoned IDF base in the Jordan Valley in order to establish a new outpost there. In what appears to be a well-thought-out and organized initiative, twelve settler families (appearing to be religious) broke into and took up residence in six buildings at the site and immediately began renovations. Settlers have also locked the gate at the entrance to the disused base and stationed a security guard there. The Israeli Civil Administration has issued a stop-work order against the settlers’ renovations, but have not acted to remove settlers from the site.

In an atypical scenario, the State of Israel notified the High Court of Justice last month that settlers had moved into the site, known as “Camp Gadi,” to set up an outpost. The State was required to file the brief because of a pending case from 2017, which was initiated by anti-settlement activists after rumors and social media posts strongly suggested that settlers were preparing to enter the same site and set up an outpost there. Hoping to prevent this from taking place, three individuals petitioned the High Court of Justice to preemptively intervene. When the Jordan Valley Regional Council – a municipal body responsible for governing settlements in the area – told the High Court that it was not planning to establish a new outpost there, the individuals who filed the petition agreed to withdraw the complaint, but the Court never officially closed the case. The State was therefore obligated to tell the Court that settlers moved into the site this past month.

The Jordan Valley Regional Council has denied involvement in the establishment of the new outpost.

Israel Plans to Double Size of IDF West Bank Bureaucracy…To Aid Settlers

Israeli Cabinet ministers are close to reaching a deal to double the size of the Israeli Civil Administration, adding 280 employees of which, according to reports, 150 will be Palestinians. The Civil Administration (CIVAD) is the branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry which acts as the sovereign ruling power over all civilian affairs – including building laws – in the occupied territories, and explicitly does so “through the lens of Israel’s interests,” in violation of international law. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman are expected to reach a deal on expanding the CIVAD and present it to the full Israeli Cabinet for approval by the end of November. Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly supports the plan.

Making no attempts to hide the CIVAD’s work on behalf of the settlement movement and its supporters, CIVAD’s head, Brigadier General Ben Hur, told the Knesset this week:

“The organization’s purpose is to ensure maximal security stability in the region, while promoting quality of life for all the residents who live and work there and shaping the region based on Israeli interests. Thirty to 40 building plans are stalled in the Civil Administration, for reasons that include a personnel shortage.”

An incisive 2017 report by Yesh Din highlights the truth in Brig. Gen. Ben Hur’s statement, documenting how the CIVAD implements Israeli interests in the West Bank, to the detriment of the Palestinian population and in violation of international law. Yesh Din writes:

“At the most basic and evident level, the Civil Administration functions as a tool for controlling West Bank Palestinians. As the agency that makes and executes decisions, it has control over Palestinians’ travel and work opportunities, over construction and development of infrastructure, health, education and welfare, to name some. The Civil Administration uses this control arbitrarily, relying on bureaucratic justifications, or wielding it in a ‘carrot and stick’ fashion – as a means of oppression and domination over the Palestinians. The Civil Administration also functions as an executive arm and a political tool serving Israel’s ambitions in the OPT – pushing the settlement project forward and dispossessing Palestinians of their land. One of the practices that serves this goal is the institutionalization of ethnic- national segregation, privileging the settlers and discriminating against the Palestinians and exploiting them.”

Yesh Din Documents How Yitzhar Settlement Uses Violence to Seize Palestinian Land

In a major new report, Yesh Din documents 40 incidents of violence connected to the Yitzhar settlement and its many outposts (located south of Nablus), and shows how violence is an effective means by which Yitzhar settlers – with the backing of the Israeli military and government – are able to continue seizing more privately owned land from six nearby Palestinian villages.

After documenting 40 incidents, analyzing emerging trends, and demonstrating how settler violence against Palestinians and their property actually results in land being handed to the settlement, Yesh Din concludes:

“Israel’s conduct, which not only tolerates the violence perpetrated by settlers but, in fact, supports them, leads to the proliferation and expansion of violent actions. This violence is not incidental or banal. It is part of a system, another link in the chain of measures that work to take over Palestinian land. This Israeli policy severely violates the human rights of Palestinians, primarily the rights to life and security of person, rights to property and to freedom of movement. It cripples the daily lives of women, men and children, who are forced to confine themselves to ever shrinking spaces and live in constant fear, even inside their own homes.”

FMEP frequently reports on the Yitzhar settlement, which is home to the radical and violent “Hilltop Youth movement.”

West Bank Municipal Elections Empower Anti-Establishment Settler Leaders

The Times of Israel has a comprehensive look at the success of anti-establishment settler leaders in the recent Israeli local elections. Four significant upsets for the head of local settler councils hints at the weakening of the Yesha Council, which for decades has operated as an effective umbrella group coordinating amongst all settlement regional councils in order to present a unified political block in lobbying the government on behalf of the settlements. The new leaders prefer a go-it-alone strategy, thinking it more effective, and have criticized both the Yesha Council and the Netanyahu government for not doing enough for the settlers.

Bonus Reads

“LPHR Briefing on the impending demolition of the Palestinian community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank and the forcible transfer of its residents” (Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights)
“Israel’s Chief Rabbi Pushes for First West Bank Rabbinical Court” (Haaretz)
“Israeli settlers storm Palestinian homes in Hebron” (MEMO)

***In total, the Israeli government advanced plans for 3,120 new settlement units this week alone. Details, along with additional significant settlement news, are below.***

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

June 1, 2018

Plans Advance for 1,958 New Settlement Units
Tenders Published for 1,162 New Settlement Units
Israeli Chief Justice Questions Legal Opinion Regarding Status of Settlers
Knesset Advances Bill to Bring West Bank Land Cases Under Israeli Domestic Jurisdiction (De Facto Annexation)
Labor MK Calls on Left to Endorse De Facto Annexation of “Settlement Blocs”
Israeli Security Increase Presence Near Radical Settlements
Human Rights Watch: Israeli Banks Are Integral Part of the Settlements Enterprise
U.S. Ambassador Friedman on Settlements, Annexation, Trump “Peace Plan,” & More
Bonus Reads

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

Plans Advance for 1,958 New Settlement Units

On May 30th, the Israeli High Planning Council advanced plans for 1,958 new settlement units, located across the West Bank. Of the total, 696 units received final approval and 1,262 units were approved for deposit for public review (a key, step in the planning process). Peace Now estimates that 80% of the planned units are to be built in isolated settlements and that 1,500 of the units are to be built outside of the “built up” area of existing settlements. Two of the plans would establish two entirely new settlements.

Map by Peace Now

Adding insult to injury (or in this case, to a war crime), the Council gave final approval (“validation”) to a provocative plan to build 92 units near the Kfar Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, less than a mile from the soon-to-be forcibly removed Khan al-Ahmar bedouin community. Those new units will considerably expand the footprint of the Kfar Adumim settlement by building a new neighborhood (called “Nofei Bereishit” meaning “the landscapes of Genesis” in Hebrew), which will serve to connect the existing settlement structures to the site of a future school campus slated to serve several Israeli settlements in the area.

With respect to the Kfar Adumim expansion plan, Peace Now writes:

“The approval of the plan is the embodiment of exploitation and evil. The government stubbornly refuses to grant building permits to 32 Palestinian families living on about 40 dunams in the area and intends to evict them, but at the same time approves construction on large areas for hundreds of Israeli families. If there is anything that blackens Israel’s image in this world, it is the cruelty and discrimination that reeks to the heavens in this case. Neither is there any real Israeli national interest behind the destruction of the village.”

With respect to the plans advanced for two new government-sanctioned settlements, the details are:

A plan for 189 units in the unauthorized outpost of Zayit Ra’anan, near the Talmon settlement northwest of Ramallah. As Peace Now explains, this plan constitutes the sanctioning of a new settlement entirely. Talmon has three satellite outposts, according to a map by WINEP. Zayit Ra’anan is the outpost the furthest from the settlement.
A plan to authorize the “Brosh Educational Institution,” an outpost in the Jordan Valley. This too constitutes the establishment of an entirely new settlement. As Peace Now explains, the settlers who established the Brosh outpost named their endeavor an “Educational Institution” in order to obscure their intent to build a settlement. The plan for the “Brosh Educational Institute” includes residential buildings.

These approvals are notable for two reasons: First, they show that the Israeli government is significantly expanding the footprint of settlements across the West Bank, including in isolated settlements. Second, the plans demonstrate that the Israeli government is not acting, in any way, with “restraint” in regards to its settlement activity (per a reported agreement between the U.S. and Israel, “restrained” settlement growth limits Israel’s building to areas adjacent to existing settlement buildings). The reaction of the Trump Administration to the approvals suggests that the U.S. isn’t in any way troubled that Israel appears to be defying its commitment. An official at the U.S. National Security Council told The Times of Israel:

“The Israeli government has made clear that going forward, its intent is to adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes the president’s concerns into consideration. The United States welcomes this. The president has made his position on new settlement activity clear, and we encourage all parties to continue to work toward peace.”

Tenders Published for 1,162 New Settlement Units

One day after the High Planning Council advanced plans for nearly 2,000 new settlement units (above), on May 31st the Israeli Housing Ministry issued tenders for another 1,162 new settlement units that had previously approved by the High Planning Council (once planning approvals are complete, the decision on if/when to issue construction tenders for an approved plan rests with the Housing Ministry). The 1,162 tenders issued this week are are for:

459 new units in the Ma’ale Adumim settlement;
409 new units in the Ariel settlement;
250 new units in the Elkana settlement; and
44 new units in the Ma’ale Ephraim settlement.

Israeli Chief Justice Questions Legal Opinion Regarding Status of Settlers

On May 31st, Israeli Chief Justice Esther Hayut issued a significant legal opinion that complicates the growing momentum across the Israeli government to adopt and implement a legal precedent holding that Israeli settlers are a part of the “local population” of the West Bank. Chief Justice Hayut said the precedent does not constitute “a binding law” saying it “appears that the ruling contradicts previous rulings…and it contains both a novelty and a difficulty.” The ruling in question, written by retired Justice Salim Joubran in 2016, is currently being used as a precedent to justify the expropriation of privately owned Palestinian land near the Haresha outpost, and adopting the precedent was a key recommendation of the recently-released “Zandberg Report” which gave the Israeli government a plethora of legal tools to retroactively legalize outposts and settlements structures.

Hayut’s opinion was issued in response to a petition by the Israeli NGO Yesh Din, which asked to Court to reopen the Amona outpost case where the “local population” precedent was set. The opinion itself was not published until October 2017 (meaning the precedent was not known to the public or able to be debated until now, precisely when the government is moving swiftly to implement it). While Hayut declined to reopen the Amona outpost case, she took the opportunity to address the question raised by Yesh Din regarding the underlying precedent that was set in the case.

FMEP tracks the evolving legal architecture of the Israeli government’s efforts to retroactively legalize outposts and settlement structures (our regularly updated data tables are available here).

Knesset Advances Bill to Bring West Bank Land Cases Under Israeli Domestic Jurisdiction

On May 28th, the Israeli Knesset advanced a bill through its first reading that, if passed, will give jurisdiction the Jerusalem District Court jurisdiction over land disputes in the occupied West Bank. Since 1967, such cases have been under the jurisdiction of the Israeli High Court of Justice, reflecting the unusual – indeed, legally extraordinary – situation in which an Israeli court is ruling on with respect to land and people that are not part of sovereign Israel. The bill passed by a vote of 47 to 45, and will need to be voted through two more readings in the Knesset plenum before it becomes law.

As FMEP explained when the bill gained government backing in February 2018, the bill’s main proponent, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, has three main rationales for the bill: (a) to further extend and formalize Israel’s extraterritorial application of its domestic law and legal structures, giving a regular Israeli domestic court jurisdiction over non-citizen Palestinians living in territory that is beyond Israel’s sovereign borders; (b) to give settlers an advantage in court over Palestinian plaintiffs; and (c) to circumvent what Shaked sees (according to a Justice Ministry official) as the High Court being “overly concerned with international law and with protecting the rights of the ‘occupied’ population in Judea and Samaria.” Under Shaked’s proposal, some Palestinian cases could still reach the High Court of Justice, but only after the much more conservative Jerusalem District Court rules, adding time and cost to any Palestinian land petition.

Yesh Din representative Gilad Grossman commented:

“This bill is designed to indicate a kind of normalcy. [It is meant] to show that we’re not talking about an area conquered by one nation whose residents [Israelis] do whatever they want and no one enforces the law against them in an equal manner, but rather that these are conflicts between neighbors just like in Tel Aviv, Haifa or any other town within sovereign Israel.”

FMEP tracks the progress of this bill in its compendium of annexation policies currently being advanced and implemented in Israel. This bill (tracked on the third table) is just one mechanism by which Israeli lawmakers are moving to apply Israeli domestic law extraterritorially – which amounts to de facto annexation of the West Bank.

Labor MK Calls on Left to Endorse De Facto Annexation of “Settlement Blocs”

Last weekend, MK Eitan Cabel (Labor, the largest faction in the Zionist Union coalition) published an op-ed in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz arguing that Israel should define and then apply Israeli law to the “settlement blocs,” which he defines to include Ma’ale Adumim, the Etzion Bloc, the Jordan Valley, Ariel, Karnei Shomron, and more. Cabel promised to release and campaign for the full plan (presumably with more details) sometime soon.

In the op-ed and in subsequent comments to the press, Cabel calculates that 300,000 Israeli settlers will be annexed into Israel under his scheme. Cabel’s calls for the 100,000 settlers outside of those areas to be compensated and for a total construction freeze to be implemented there. He proposes that the status of those areas will be negotiated if, “one day, the Palestinian Nelson Mandela arrives.”

Zionist Union Chairman and Labor Party leader Avi Gabbai – who has said Israel should not evacuate settlements in any peace deal – slammed Cabel’s plan, saying:

“In a democratic party, everyone can have their opinion, but Labor is for separation, not annexation. Separating from the Palestinians must come as part of an agreement. I am not in favor of a unilateral step. I think in negotiations we can reach better results than without them. This is the best time for negotiations because of our alliance with the US and because the Arab countries want peace.”

Cabel’s plan impressed Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) who tweeted in support of the op-ed, saying it was a step in the direction of his own proposed scheme to annex all of Area C in the West Bank (60% of the occupied land). Apparently agreeing with that point, an unnamed Labor Party official said:

“It’s a delusional initiative. It’s like [Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali] Bennett speaking through Cabel…He’s [Cabel] suggesting an annexation, but doesn’t say what will become of the Palestinian population in those territories. These are irresponsible and ill-prepared statements.”

Peace Now tweeted in response:

“Another dangerous, self-defeating remark from this weekend for the Labor party. Veteran MK Cabel’s call for unilateral annexation of the “blocs,” including Ariel & Karnei Shomron, is a cowardly rhetorical surrender to the right’s one-state apartheid agenda. Shameful & disturbing….For everyone who supports cutting Israel a break on building in the ‘blocs,’ this is what happens when you give in. Not only is a top Labor MK adopting the right’s maximalist interpretation of the term ‘blocs,’ he is now making the Maale Adumim annexation bill look tame….One can only assume @netanyahu‘s support for annexing the blocs, but it should be noted that at least publicly he has not advocated as much as Cabel just did.”

As Peace Now suggests, using the term “settlement blocs” is unfortunately misleading, and implies an agreed upon acceptance of what the blocs are and the fact that they are inarguably Israel’s to keep. The term “settlement blocs” has no legal definition or standing, and they are indisputably a matter for negotiations aimed at a two-state solution. The terminology has been used for decades by the Israeli government to convey legitimacy to building in the so-called “blocs.” For more context, see resources from Americans for Peace Now here and here. (NOTE: A Haaretz investigation last year estimated that a total of 380,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, of which 170,000 live outside of the so-called blocs, as defined by Haaretz).

Applying Israel law to areas outside of Israel’s sovereign borders is de facto annexation, as FMEP has explained and documented.

Israeli Security Increase Presence Near Radical Settlements

In early May (before the U.S. Embassy opening and the beginning of Ramadan), Israeli security forces increased troop deployments across the West Bank in order to “prevent friction” between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.

According to a Haaretz report, the decision to increase Israel’s security presence was preceded by a series of discussions over the past month between the army, the police, and the Shin Bet. One such meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office. A source told Haaretz that the meeting participants came to a consensus that settlers from Yitzhar are the main perpetrators responsible for the escalating frequency of “price tag” attacks against Palestinians. As recapped by Haaretz, the main concern of the Israeli officials is that settler attacks might foment Palestinian attacks in response. Haaretz reports:

“The main concern within the Jewish Division of the Shin Bet, which investigates the activities of Jewish Israeli extremists, is that price tag attacks during Ramadan, a fast month, and coming shortly after the controversial transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and the tensions on the border with the Gaza Strip, could spur terrorist attacks against Israelis.”

Despite the rise in settler violence, Israel MK Bezalel Smotrich took the opportunity to accuse the Israeli police of “bullying” Israeli settlers – an accusation that echoed complaints from settlers, including those from Yitzhar, regarding an increased IDF presence. The Israeli Police issued a response, saying Smotrich’s comments were regrettable.

Even with higher troop deployment, settlers continue to attack Palestinians and their property on a weekly basis.

Human Rights Watch: Israeli Banks Are Integral Part of the Settlements Enterprise

In a new heavily researched, documented report titled “Israeli Banks in West Bank Settlements,” Human Rights Watch documents how Israeli banks facilitate and profit from Israeli settlements and makes the case that these banks are therefore complicit in war crimes, including pillaging. HRW reports:

“Most Israeli banks finance or ‘accompany’ construction projects in the settlements by becoming partners in settlement expansion, supervising each stage of construction, holding the buyers’ money in escrow, and taking ownership of the project in case of default by the construction company. Most of that construction takes place on ‘state land,’ which can include land unlawfully seized from Palestinians and which Israel uses in a discriminatory fashion, allocating one third of state land in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem, to the World Zionist Organization and just 1 percent for use by Palestinians.”

HRW concludes that banks operating in the settlements are, therefore, unavoidably complicit in violating the human rights of Palestinians, and the only remedy is for these banks cease settlement-related operations.

To illustrate the point that human rights violations are an inherent part of all settlements in the West Bank, HRW partnered with the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot to share the story of how the construction of the Elkana settlement and the Israeli separation barrier has deprived Palestinians from the nearby city of Mas-ha of access to their own lands. Banks that have financed projects in Elkana are part of the machinery that entrenches and expands the theft.

Kerem Navot writes:

“Settlements wreck havoc on Palestinian life in the West Bank. For example, as depicted in the animation, the Aamer family used to walk 20 minutes from their West Bank home to their farm. Then Israel built an Israeli-only settlement on part of it, with help from Israeli banks, turning it into a 2-hour detour on what’s left of their land. Banks and all businesses should cease doing business in and with settlements.”

This is just the latest HRW report on the Israeli banking sector and the occupation, and it builds on a September 2017 legal analysis titled, “Israeli Law and Banking in the West Bank.” In the 2017 report, HRW took apart a common legal defense Israeli banks deploy to defend their settlement practices: that Israeli law requires them to operate in the settlements. HRW concluded that there is no such legal requirement currently in Israeli law.

U.S. Ambassador Friedman on Settlements, Annexation, Trump “Peace Plan,” & More

In a wide-ranging (and stunning) interview this week with The Times of Israel, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman spoke revealingly about behind-the-scenes policy discussions within the Trump Administration, including on the topic of settlements, the status of the West Bank, and Israeli annexation proposals.

A few key Friedman quotes from the transcript include:

On Israel’s settlement activity during the Trump Administration: “The administration’s stance has been that the settlement enterprise is not an impediment to a peace deal, but that unrestrained settlement activity is not consistent with the cause of peace. Where you draw that line or slice that, I am reluctant to go into now. I have felt for years that there has been an oversimplification by the international community of the legal claims, if you will, within the West Bank. That came to a head in December of 2016, with UN Security Council Resolution 2334. It’s not a secret that the Trump administration does not support that resolution, would have vetoed that resolution, had Nikki Haley been the ambassador rather than Samantha Power. I think you can draw some insight from the administration’s views on that resolution.”
On how Friedman views the international consensus holding that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal: “…Look, I don’t believe the settlements are illegal. I think I’ve been clear on that for years. President Reagan was very clear that he would never suggest Israel would go back to the 1967 borders. They were called the suicide borders; they were considered indefensible. So the notion that Israel’s presence over the Green Line is illegal is something the United States has through many leaders rejected, which is why that UN resolution in 2016 was so offensive to so many people.”
On whether the Trump Administration discussed annexation proposals with the Israeli government: “We have not had discussions with Israel about annexation…I’ve done lots of listening, so those discussions have taken place, but not in the sense of planning or seeking to execute a strategy, just in the context of enabling me to hear everybody’s views.”
On the State Department’s decision to stop using “occupied territories” in materials, and instead use “West Bank”: “I believe this is a highly controversial issue and we ought to be using terminology that doesn’t prejudge issues…I was perfectly happy with any geographic identification that people could commonly understand that didn’t involve an adjective. West Bank is fine, Judea and Samaria would have been fine. If there’s another name that would do it justice, that would have been fine. I didn’t think it was appropriate to use “occupied territories,” because I just found it to be unnecessarily political and judgmental on an issue that was still unsettled in many people’s minds.”

Bonus Reads

“The UN Database on Businesses in Israeli Settlements: Pitfalls and Opportunities” (Al-Shabaka)
“Checking Supreme Court’s powers, Bennett looks to ‘rebalance’ Israeli democracy” (Times of Israel)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

April 20, 2018

Israeli Police Assist Settlers in Taking Over Three Palestinian Apartments in East Jerusalem
Palestinians Petition Civil Administration to Evacuate Squatting Settlers from Hebron Compound
Bibi Govt Proceeds with Effort to Strip High Court of its Powers
IDF Aids Settlers in Closing Off Key Road to Palestinians
$120 Million Investment into Jordan Valley Communities, Including Settlements
Settlers Assault IDF & Terrorize Palestinians in Nablus Area
Americans for Peace Now: “From Creeping to Leaping: Annexation in the Trump-Netanyahu Era”
Bonus Reads

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

Israeli Police Assist Settlers in Taking Over Three Palestinian Apartments in East Jerusalem

On April 9, 2018, Israeli police officers assisted settlers in evicting three Palestinian families from apartments in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, making way for the settlers to move in. The take-over seemed to have happened prematurely, since the family that owns the apartment units – the Ruweidi family – filed an appeal with the Court that had not yet been heard. The High Court ordered a temporary delay on the eviction order, but the delay was issued too late and the settlers had already emptied out the apartments. According to Haaretz, the apartments will remain empty until further notice from the Court.

In February 2018, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the property rightfully belongs to the radical settler group Elad, which claims to have bought it from one member of the Ruweidi family, Raziq Ruweidi. The Ruweidi family disputes the court’s decision, saying that the properties were jointly owned by six other family members and therefore could not have been lawfully sold. The matter wound up in court after Raziq Ruweidi was murdered three years ago, leaving debts that the Israeli courts had to settle.

As documented in previous editions of the FMEP settlement report – here, here, here, and here – the Elad settler group frequently works with the Israeli government and the courts to accomplish its goal of erasing the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem in favor of Israeli Jews, including cooperation on major projects like the touristic Kedem Center in Silwan and the cable car line that will service it.

Palestinians Petition Civil Administration to Evacuate Squatting Settlers from Hebron Compound

Three weeks after settlers broke into and took up residence in the “Zaatari Compound” in Hebron, the Palestinian al-Zaatari family filed an appeal this week with the Israeli Civil Administration to have the law-breaking squatters evacuated. The settlers – who were reportedly given permission to enter the property by the IDF and Defense Minister Lieberman – claim to have legally purchased the properties. A lawyer representing the al-Zaatari family wrote in the petition that claim “has no basis in reality, since my clients and/or their representatives never sold their ownership rights in their homes.” The court has

Like hundreds of Hebronites, the al-Zaatari family was forced to leave the home during the Second Intifada due to the IDF’s suffocating restrictions on the freedom of movement of Palestinians in and around the Old City of Hebron, conditions which persist today.

Peace Now released a statement saying:

“The ink has not yet dried in the High Court of Justice’s decision to evacuate the Abu Rajab House, where settlers also broke into and squatted, yet the settlers dare to break into another house without the same approval they lacked in that case. The government must evict the trespassers immediately; the settlers have not proven any ownership. The behavior of the government and recent statements by the defense minister raise the suspicion that this home invasion was carried out in coordination with the defense ministry, and that the government lent a hand to breaking the law and stealing. Instead of protecting the landowner’s rights, the government is helping robbers seeking to take possession of the property without allowing the current owners their rightful legal avenue to prove ownership. The establishment of a new settlement house in the heart of Hebron is a severe blow to the fragile situation in Hebron and is liable to cause new restrictions on the movement of Palestinians.”

Bibi Govt Proceeds with Effort to Strip High Court of its Powers

It was decided by the the Israeli government’s ruling coalition this week that the next Knesset – which opens on April 29 – will vote on legislation aimed at stripping the High Court of its power to strike down laws passed by the Knesset. At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon agreed to form a “small ministerial committee” to try to bridge various proposals to restrict the High Court’s power to overturn laws – a move that could impact the fate of (among other things) the Regulation Law.

Notably, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was permitted to attend the cabinet meeting to present his opposition to most serious of the proposed versions — the Netanyahu-backed model, according to which laws could be overturned only by a unanimous vote in the High Court; Kahlon’s issue-specific formulation, seeking to allow the Knesset to overturn the High Court decision vis-a-vus a single piece of legislation, related to African asylum seekers; and a version, backed by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennet, allowing the High Court to be overruled by a simple majority vote in the Knesset. Mandelblit recommended his own version — one that would require a super-majority vote by the High Court (7 of 9) to strike down a law, and would allow the Knesset to overturn such a decision by the High Court by a super-majority of 70 votes.

Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Levin (Likud) rejected Mandelblit’s proposal, and said that the High Court should only be able to strike down laws by a unanimous vote (meaning that it would be highly unlikely that the Court would ever succeed in striking down any law). Following the cabinet meeting, Levin also specifically took issue with Khalon’s version of the bill (which seeks to create a unique exception for the Knesset to overturn the High Court’s ruling against a law related to the detention and deportation of African asylum seekers). Making clear his real objectives and concerns (and making explicit the connection to settlements), Levin told reporters that this version is:

“significantly erroneous and will lead to striking down laws, including the Regulation Law (legalizing Israeli outposts in the West Bank).”

You can follow the key events regarding the progression of this legislation via FMEP’s recently published resource, “Israel’s Creeping Annexation Policies.”

See this Haaretz overview for more even more detail.

IDF Aids Settlers in Closing Off Key Road to Palestinians

Haaretz reports that the IDF is contributing to the efforts of settlers from Halamish, a settlement located north of Ramallah, to restrict Palestinian access to a critical highway along which the settlers recently established a new unauthorized outpost.

Map by Kerem Navot

According to testimonies collected by Haaretz, IDF soldiers at two military roadblocks near the settlement and the new outpost have been conducting prolonged searches of Palestinian vehicles and buses headed for Ramallah via road 450. The vehicles and their passengers are regularly delayed and harrassed. One Palestinian recounts a soldier reportedly admitting that the actions are meant to incentivize Palestinians to take a detour around the area of the settlement and outpost (which is a longer route). In addition, settlers have repeatedly posted – and the IDF has repeatedly removed – a sign on the road that reads:

“The area where you are now is under the control of the Jews. Entry by Arabs to this area is completely prohibited, danger of death!”

Months ago, Halamish settlers started a Saturday morning prayer event in the middle of the road (between the settlement and the outpost on the other side). In cooperation with the settlers, IDF soldiers have been shutting down all Palestinian traffic and guarding the settlers during the prayer event.

The settlers intent has long been clear. By sealing off Palestinian access to the road, it will become an interior road between the settlement and the new outpost, effectively expanding the boundaries of Halamish at the cost of Palestinians.

The Halamish settlers established the outpost – which they call “Yad Ahi” or “My Brother’s Hand” – in July 2017, following the brutal murder of four of the settlement’s residents by a Palestinian attacker. Since then, the settlers have worked determinedly to fortify and expand the settlement to include the outpost and more, as extensively documented by the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot.

$120 Million Investment into Jordan Valley Communities, Including Settlements

The office of the Prime Minister announced a $120 million grant program for infrastructure projects in Israeli communities in the Jordan Valley. According to The Times of Israel, the budget earmarks $7 million to “help local farmers acquire more agricultural land and locate additional water sources and to build affordable homes for first-time buyers through the Housing Ministry Program.” One Israeli business news outlet reports that this is an “aid program for settlements in the Dead Sea area coping with the problem of sinkholes.”

Some 11,000 settlers and 65,000 Palestinians live in the Jordan Valley – the latter facing severe restrictions on land use and freedom of movement, and lack of access to municipal services like water and electricity.The current Israeli government has publicly and repeatedly demanded complete Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley in the context of any peace agreement (meaning that any future Palestinian state would be entirely encircled by Israel, having no international border with any other nation). One Likud MK, Sharren Haskel, recently unveiled a bill to annex the Jordan Valley. Haskel is seeking government backing for the bill before formally introducing it in the Knesset.

A recent report by B’Tselem documents how Israeli settlers were allowed to establish two new outposts in the Jordan Valley last year. In recent months, Israel has delivered eviction notices to entire Palestinian communities near Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley. Simultaneously, settlers have been allowed to continue construction on a tourist project – a car race track built in a closed military zone (land expropriated from Palestinians ostensibly for security purposes), despite a court ordered stop-work order.

Settlers Assault IDF & Terrorize Palestinians in Nablus Area

Three settlers were arrested for throwing stones at IDF soldiers engaged in the evacuation of an unauthorized outpost near the Itamar settlement, south of Nablus. The outpost – called “Rosh Yosef” by the settlers – has been evacuated several times before, but settlers have repeatedly re-occupied the hilltop site. The settlers, one of whom is a minor, were released a day later and put under house arrest.

The evacuation comes against the backdrop of frequent attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the Nablus area recently. Last week, settlers allegedly set the entrance to a mosque on fire and spray painted the building with anti-Arab, anti-Muslim threats. On April 18th, settlers destroyed at least two dozen olive trees and spray painted hateful words on houses in the village of Urif. The Ynet news outlet reports that the radical and violent “Hilltop Youth” settler group is responsible for most of these crimes, noting that its members are increasingly outraged by outpost demolitions, fixated on calls for “revenge” against Palestinians following terrorist attacks, and resentful of recent criminal punishments levied against their members as a result of the Shin Bet’s crackdown on the group’s criminal activities.

Americans for Peace Now: “From Creeping to Leaping: Annexation in the Trump-Netanyahu Era”

Americans for Peace Now published a new policy paper analyzing how “the Israeli right has launched an unprecedented drive to annex the West Bank, piecemeal or in its entirety” since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. The paper “lays out the recent developments that present a quantum leap in Israeli annexation efforts, analyzes these moves against the historical backdrop of Israel’s 50-year occupation of the West Bank, examines the ramifications of the transition from ‘creeping’ to ‘leaping’ annexation, and considers why this transformation is happening now.”

FMEP’s recently published resource, “Israel’s Creeping Annexation Policies” is being updated to include several items from APN’s excellent work.

Bonus Reads

“Israel and Annexation by Lawfare” (Michael Sfard, The New York Review of Books)
“How Israel’s Government is Aiming to Outweigh the Supreme Court” (Haaretz)
“Attempts to ‘bypass’ Israel’s High Court will create a ‘tyranny of the majority’ ” (+972 Mag)
“As Israeli pushes for West Bank railway, Palestinians brace for more land grabs” (Middle East Eye)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

March 15, 2018

Settler Put in Charge of Office Dedicated to Seizing Palestinian Property in East Jerusalem
7 Months After Illegally Breaking In/Occupying Hebron Property, High Court Orders IDF to Evacuate Settlers
Israel Moves to Confiscate More Palestinian Land Near Nablus
B’Tselem Report: “Life Under the Shadow of the Beit El Settlement”
“Settlements Are A War Crime”: UN High Commissioner Weighs in on 2017 Settlement Activities
Bonus Reads

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

Settler Put in Charge of Office Dedicated to Seizing Palestinian Property in East Jerusalem

A recent Haaretz report revealed that, more than a year ago, the Israeli Justice Ministry transferred authority over East Jerusalem absentee property cases to a division within the Justice Ministry headed by radical Israeli settler leader Hananel Gurfinkel. According to the report, over the course of the time Gurfinkel has been responsible for the East Jerusalem portfolio, the Justice Ministry has significantly increased its cooperation with nonprofit settler organizations to evict Palestinians and transfer the property to Israeli Jews – particularly in the Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods. The responsibility was transferred from the “Unit for the Location and Restitution of Unclaimed Property” in the Administrator General’s Office, to the economic unit, which Gurfinkel has lead for many years.

Gurfinkel lives in the Nof Zion settlement enclave, located in the Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood of East Jerusalem (Nof Zion is set to triple in size, btw), and has a history of leading efforts to evict Palestinians from East Jerusalem and to replace them with Israeli Jews. Back in 2016, while serving in the Administrator General’s office he reportedly founded ”Building Jerusalem,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating the “Arab conquest” of Jerusalem. In that time he has also been elected to the central committee of the right-wing Habayit Hayehudi political party.

With Gurfinkel in charge of the Administrator General’s East Jerusalem property cases, the office has drawn much criticism, particularly around its decision to hire attorney Moshe Segal to represent the government in property disputes against Palestinians. Segal was reportedly hired without going through a competitive bidding process, as required for government contracts. Even more alarming, Segal provides legal representation to two of the most aggressive settler groups active in East Jerusalem – Elad and Ateret Cohanim – which regularly petition the Administrator General to evict Palestinians and award property rights to Israeli Jews. Segal representation of these clients appears to pose a blatant conflict of interest.

After initially – and bizarrely – denying that Segal works for the government, the Justice Ministry defended Segal’s hiring and dismissed the idea that there might be a conflict of interest, saying “the administrator general and attorney Segal do not represent opposing positions” (suggesting with remarkable honestly, that it is the official view of the Ministry that the positions of the settler organizations and the government are indistinguishable). The Justice Ministry further defended its operations, saying in part:

“The handling of assets managed by the administrator general division were transferred to the economic unit … as part of a structural change and based on the giving of additional tasks to the Unit for the Location and Restitution of Unclaimed Property…The administrator general division manages the property of private owners all over the country and is obligated to act for their benefit, including handling suits against trespassers. The division has no separate policy concerning management of property located in one region or another.”

The Haaretz Editorial Board issued a blistering response to their paper’s breaking news, saying that assigning such authorities to Gurfinkel is “crooked, improper, and possibly illegal.”

7 Months After Illegally Breaking In/Occupying Hebron Property, High Court Orders IDF to Evacuate Settlers

On March 12, the Israeli High Court of Justice finally issued a ruling to evict nearly 100 Israeli settlers who have been squatting in a disputed property in Hebron, after having broken into the building nearly seven months ago. Since first ordering them to leave the site in October 2017, the High Court has repeatedly agreed to delay the evacuation, pending various appeals. Since then, the settlers have repeatedly petitioned the Court for delays and comprises, all of which the High Court has rejected.

Peace Now told The Times of Israel that the government should “show zero tolerance for any further attempts to postpone the evacuation” and that hopefully “this time the invaders will honor the court and evacuate without violence and without unnecessary dramas.”

The property, which the settlers have named “Beit Machpelah” (Palestinians call it the “Abu Rajab House”) sits across the street from the historic religious site known as the Tomb of the Patriarch to Jews and the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims. Palestinians claim it is owned by the Abu Rajab family, while settlers claim the property was legally purchased. When the settlers broke into the property, the Israeli army protected their presence there (allowing them to freely enter and exit the property) and declared the area a closed military zone to keep Palestinians away from the settlers. The army also failed to protect Palestinians from the settlers, some of whom are violent, squatting there. In a recently published report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights addresses the case of the disputed property (page 4 and 6), documenting several incidents of settler-violence resulting in hospitalization and slamming the IDF for not intervening, and in once case arresting Palestinians who were the victims of the settlers’ stone-throwing.

Israel Moves to Confiscate More Palestinian Land Near Nablus

According to a report by Al Jazeera, the Israeli army entered the Palestinian town of Burin in an effort to inform its leaders that Israel intends to confiscate a parcel of land in the city that is currently the site of a local secondary school. IDF soldiers reportedly said that the land is being confiscated for “security reasons.” According to Yahia Kadous, who is the head of Burin, Israel has already seized much of the land around the school, and the latest decision is a continuation of Israel’s incremental annexation of land on the village’s periphery.

Map by WINEP

Burin is a Palestinian town just south of Nablus, near the notoriously violent Israeli settlement of Yitzhar. Settlers, mainly from Yitzhar, have launched a string of attacks on the Burin and other surrounding villages over the past year. The Israeli NGO Yesh Din has documented 20 incidents of settlers throwing stones at Burin residents and houses over the past six months alone. As is often the case across the West Bank, the IDF stands idly by as settlers attack, and in some cases the IDF enters Burin to disperse counter-protests – deploying tear gas canisters and stun grenades. In early March, a Yesh Din video showed Israeli soldiers invading Burin and firing a tear gas canister at a Palestinian couple and their infant who were fleeing their home as the soldiers approached.

In response to the constant violence and the IDF’s abdication of responsibility, Yesh Din has launched a campaign seeking to compel the IDF to do more to stop the attacks on Burin. Yesh Din unveiled the campaign, writing:

“The residents of Burin and surrounding villages are thus repeatedly impacted not only by the violence of settlers, but also by the violence of the Israeli security forces, whose task it is to provide protection for the Palestinians. This reality must and can be prevented. Yesh Din has launched a public campaign calling for an immediate end to settler harassment in the Yitzhar area including settler trespass into the village and fields of Burin. The campaign calls upon the Head of the Central Command in the Israeli army to fulfil his duty to protect Palestinians and prevent offences from being committed against them by Israeli civilians. We demand that the Israeli authorities investigate and bring the Israeli perpetrators to justice.”

B’Tselem Report: “Life Under the Shadow of the Beit El Settlement”

In a new publication, B’Tselem documents the detrimental impact that the Beit El settlement has had on 14,000 Palestinians living in the nearby al-Jalazun refugee camp. As a reminder, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman served as President of American Friends of Beit El, and on his watch the organization raised major funding to support the settlement.

Map by B’Tselem

The Israeli army frequently denies al-Jalazun residents the right to use roads near Beit El, which severely restricts their ability to commute to jobs or seek medical treatment, or to simply go about their lives unmolested. Additionally, the Beit El settlement successfully lobbied the Israeli government to build a massive separation wall between the settlement and the refugee camp, a wall which has cut-off one Palestinian family from the camp.

B’Tselem compiled numerous testimonies from residents of al-Jalazun refugee camp that shed light on how such severe infringements on freedom of movement have impacted their daily lives. On resident, Muhammad Safi, said:

“Life here has become unbearable. If it happened once a year, or even once a month, I might have been able to live with it, but for months it happened here every day and it was unbearable. The humiliation, the anxiety, the fear I and other taxi drivers working this route feel all the time can make a person sick. I’m thinking about looking for other work, but there aren’t too many alternatives. I pray to God to make it better for us.”

“Settlements Are A War Crime”: UN High Commissioner Weighs in on 2017 Settlement Activities

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently submitted the annual report tracking the expansion of Israel settlements, documenting activities from November 2016 through October 2017. The report covers a lot of ground — documenting and condemning Israeli activities in Area C of the West Bank, legislative initiatives concerning Jerusalem, discriminatory planning and zoning practices, home demolitions and evictions, the role of Israeli security forces, an increase in settler violence, and instances of collective punishment. It also reiterates that all Israeli settlements in occupied territories are a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

In a key section describing how many of these policies create what the report calls a “coercive environment” that amounts to a population transfer, the report says:

“Forcible transfer does not necessarily require the use of physical force by authorities; it may be triggered by specific factors that give individuals or communities no choice but to leave, amounting to what is known as a ‘coercive environment’. Any transfer without the genuine and fully informed consent of those affected is considered forcible. Genuine consent to a transfer cannot, however, be presumed in an environment marked by the use or threat of physical force, coercion, fear of violence, or duress (A/HRC/34/38, para. 28; A/HRC/34/39 para. 41). Human rights, such as the rights to freedom of movement, privacy and family life, in addition to economic, social and cultural rights (A/HRC/16/71, para. 24), are usually violated within the context of forcible transfer.”

Bonus Reads

“Do Israeli Settlers Have Any Power in America?” (The Forward)
“Israeli Settlers Hold Country Hostage to their Ideology”(Al-Monitor)
“West Bank demolitions and displacement continue at similar pace to 2017” (OCHA)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

August 24, 2017

Israel Mounts Legal Defense After High Court Puts 2-Month Hold on Regulation Law
Government Data Shows Regulation Law Could Legalize 3,455 Settlement Structures
Israeli AG Demands Better Enforcement of Settlement Construction Laws
Yitzhar Settlers Attack IDF During Outpost Demolition
Settler-Led Petition Seeks to “Test”High Court’s Consistency on Palestinian Land Ownership Rights
Updates: Amichai Funds, Sheikh Jarrah Eviction, Jordan Valley Race Track, E-1 Demolitions
Bonus Reads

For comments and questions, please email Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

Israel Mounts Legal Defense After High Court Puts 2-Month Hold on Regulation Law

On August 17th, the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered a two month hold on the use of the controversial Regulation Law, which was set to take effect this week. The Regulation Law (also called the “Expropriation Law,” the “Regularization Law,” the “Legalization Law,” or the “Settlements Law”) was passed earlier this year by the Israeli Knesset to pave the way for the government to retroactively legalize outposts and other construction of Israeli settler homes on privately owned Palestinian land, among other things. The High Court ordered the two-month freeze following a direct request from Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit, who has called the law unconstitutional.

The court is currently weighing two petitions challenging the legality of the law filed this past March; one petition by the Israeli civil society organizations Yesh Din, Peace Now, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI); the second petition was filed by Palestinian civil society groups Adalah, Al-Mezan, and the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center.

Map by Peace Now

In response to the petitions, the Israeli government’s private attorney Harel Arnon provided the court with a 156-page defense arguing that, “the Regulation Law balances the obligation of the government towards thousands of citizens who have relied in good faith on government action and a minor infringement of property rights, with increased compensation to the [Palestinian] landowners.” Prominent Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard explained why this is “legal fantasy.” Israel was forced to hire a private lawyer to represent them before the High Court after Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit announced his refusal to defend the measure as soon as it was passed into law.

The trio of Israeli petitioners released a blistering statement following the government’s response. Peace Now, Yesh Din, and ACRI wrote,

“The State of Israel, in its response today, is trying to present the land expropriation law as addressing a national problem, when in practice it involves continued government support for a criminal enterprise that has continued for decades. The government is minimizing the continuing harm to the rights of the Palestinian landowners, and at the same time is trying to present the Israeli citizens who are taking part in the looting of West Bank Palestinians as people who have been harmed and who require ‘compensation’ for their part in the looting,” they added. “We hope the court rejects the state’s arguments out of hand, strikes down this unconstitutional and immoral law, and sends a loud and clear message: No more.”

Peace Now goes further to say, “In its response the government attempts to present Israeli citizens, who are directly involved in land theft of Palestinians, as deserving a reward for their participation in the thievery.”

Adalah also issued a sharp response, saying “The state’s position amounts to a de facto annexation of the West Bank.”

Haaretz put out a searing editorial demolishing the government’s claim that settlers are owed a solution to the “distress” they live in as a result of their land theft. Haaretz editors wrote in “The ‘distress” of the Israeli settlers,”

The government broke a record for cynicism when it made its arguments against the petitions. In a perfect reversal of occupier and occupied, it explained that the expropriation law constitutes “a humane, proportionate and reasonable response to the real distress” of all those “Israeli residents” who live under “a cloud of uncertainty” that is “disrupting their lives.” It’s hard to believe, but this is not a description of the situation of millions of Palestinians living under occupation whose lands are being seized, but of the distress of the settlers, who chose to live outside the state’s official borders and whose very presence there is illegitimate.

The High Court of Justice is months away from issuing its ruling on the Regulation Law’s constitutionality. The Knesset’s legal experts are expected to present their case in support of the law in September, and Attorney General Mandleblit is expected to argue against his own government’s law in October.

Government Data Shows Regulation Law Could Legalize 3,455 Settlement Structures

According to the Israeli government’s own data, there are 3,455 illegally built Israeli structures in the West Bank that can be legalized if the Regulation Law (see above) goes into effect. Haaretz has an explanation of the three categories of land where these structures were illegally built and how the Regulation Law seeks to absolve the government and its settlers of their illegality.

The Haaretz reporting confirms and compounds documentation published by Peace Now earlier this year which estimated that the Regulation Law could legalize 3,850 structures and 53 outposts, adding up to a total land grab of 8,000 dunams of privately owned Palestinian land (1 sq. km = 1,000 dunams | 1 acre = 4 dunams).

Israeli AG Demands Better Enforcement of Settlement Construction Laws

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit held a series of meetings over the past month in an attempt to force the government to rein in illegal construction happening inside of settlements. Haaretz reports that Mandleblit met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon several times to demand the creation of a special unit in the Defense Ministry tasked with policing planning and construction laws inside of settlements.

Haaretz relays from sources in the meetings, “He [Mandleblit] said, in the presence of officials in the Prime Minister’s Office, the treasury and the Defense Ministry, that the present situation, in which there is no group enforcing the planning laws in the settlements except for the committees acting on behalf the settlements’ regional councils themselves, is ‘clearly illogical,’ and creates a situation in which there are illegal structures over which nobody has authority.”

The recent discussions followed Mandleblit’s request last month for the High Court to issue an order demanding the Defense Ministry to create the unit. The Defense Ministry has refused to establish the unit, citing a lack of funding. Mandleblit’s request to the High Court was meant to force Defense Minister Liberman to create the unit by making it mandatory.

Yitzhar Settlers Attack IDF During Outpost Demolition

For the second time this year, the Israeli army clashed with radical Yitzhar settlers as the army executed orders against homes the settlers built without the proper permissions. This time, in contrast to the incident in June where houses were razed inside the settlement, the IDF removed six caravans that were set up outside of the settlement’s municipal border in an outpost known as Kumi Ori.

Settler-Led Petition Seeks to “Test” High Court’s Consistency on Palestinian Land Ownership

Ynet News reports that the right-wing settler organization Regavim has launched a petition against the construction of a road in the West Bank, which they claim – with undisguised irony – is being built on privately owned Palestinian land. The road is an access road to the new Palestinian city of Rawabi, a $1.4 billion dollar investment project to provide a state-of-the-art planned city for Palestinians in the West Bank (and the first new Palestinian city Israel has permitted since 1967).

For Ragavim, the case is a win-win. If the court rules in Regavim’s favor, it will be a blow to efforts to develop Rawabi. If the court rules against Regavim (i.e., in favor of the construction and against the rights of Palestinian landowners), it will set a legal precedent that Regavim and others can exploit for the benefit of settlers. Regavim is clearly hoping for the latter result: Regavim’s lawyer said, “In the last few years, the High Court of Justice has taken a very strict line and ordered the demolition of buildings and roads built by Jews on private Palestinian land. That is why in this case, it is unacceptable that the High Court of Justice is nonchalant about the rights of private landowners.”

Updates: Amichai Funds, Sheikh Jarrah Eviction, E-1 Demolitions, Jordan Valley Race Track

Haaretz has spoken to four government officials who report that the office of the Prime Minister has requested to nearly triple the amount of government funds allocated towards the construction of the first new settlement in 25 years, Amichai. The Prime Minister’s office denied the Haaretz report.
In Sheikh Jarrah, a Jerusalem court rejected a petition to delay (again) the eviction of the Shamasneh family from their longtime home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood. Eviction is rumored to proceed on September 9th.
In E-1, the Israeli Army’s Civil Administration has threatened to move forward with demolitions against Bedouin structures they say were illegally built in the area of E-1 despite an order from the High Court of Justice delaying the demolitions. Back in February, the High Court ruled that the structures should not be demolished and that the Bedouin and Civil Administration must work together to see if the structures can be legalized.
In the Jordan Valley, Israeli settlers are continuing to build a recreational race track despite a stop-work order issued against the project in February 2017. The large race track complex is partially on land that the Israeli army has declared a closed firing zone, a designation which resulted in the forcible displacement of Palestinians who lived there
For background on all of these stories, see past editions [link] of FMEP’s Settlement Report.

Bonus Reads

“U.S. Trying to Prevent UN ‘Blacklist’ of Companies Working in Israeli Settlements” (Washington Post)
“Netanyahu to attend West Bank event celebrating 50 years of settlements” (August 21, 2017, Jerusalem Post)
“In Walajeh, Palestinians residents mobilize against Israeli demolitions” (August 21, 2017, +972 Mag/Active Stills)
“From jail cells, settler youth call for defiance of administrative orders” (August 23, 2017, Times of Israel)

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

To receive this report via email, please click here.

June 30, 2017

“Disappointment” So Far for Settlers in the Trump-Bibi Era, But…
Sheikh Jarrah Project Recommended for Deposit for Public Review
Long Delayed “Apartheid Road” Possibly Moving
Beit El Housing to Advance After a Settlers Throw a Tantrum
Bibi Vows that Israel will Keep Ariel
Efrat and “How the Borders of Settlements Expand While No One is Watching”
Yitzhar & Its “Hilltop Youth” Continue to Terrorize Nablus Area
Bonus Reads

For questions and comments please contact FMEP’s Director of Policy & Operations, Kristin McCarthy (kmccarthy@fmep.org).

“Disappointment” So Far for Settlers in the Trump-Bibi Era, But…

Israeli Minister of Education Naftali Bennett – and staunch settlement advocate – expressed disappointment with the lack of settlement growth since Donald Trump assumed office. Bennett said, “Unfortunately from our perspective, he [Trump] is sort of going down the same unsuccessful path that his predecessors did…So yes, there is disappointment out there.” When Trump was elected, many settlers hoped that his administration would allow some, if not all, of the most problematic settlement plans to proceed. That includes several projects that, if built, would destroy the possibility of contiguous Palestinian state (Givat Hamatos, E1, etc). These projects have not moved forward…yet.

But Mr. Bennett need not be too disappointed. In fact, there has been a sharp rise in the number of settlement units and plans advanced and in construction so far in the Trump-Bibi settlement era, as detailed extensively by Peace Now and covered by FMEP in last week’s Settlement Round Up.

There are also new alarming developments this week that suggest the floodgates might be beginning to open….

Sheikh Jarrah Project Recommended for Deposit for Public Review

Ir Amim reports that plans for a 6-story Israeli commercial building at the entrance of the Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah have been recommended for deposit for public review. The land designated for this project is adjacent to a plot designated for settlers to build a religious school and dormitories, known as the Glassman Campus project.

Map by Ir Amim

Located just north of Jerusalem’s Old City, Sheikh Jarrah has endured years of aggressive settlement activity by radical settlers, employing various means, including Israel’s court system to strip Palestinians of their ownership rights. Sheikh Jarrah’s plight was featured in a 2013 film by Just Vision, “My Neighborhood.” Just Vision also produced “Home Front,” a series of video interviews with the Palestinian residents and Israeli activists fighting together against settlement expansion in Sheikh Jarrah. For more on Sheikh Jarrah and the protest it sparked, 972+ Magazine has a compilation of resources online here.

Depositing settlement plans for public review is a significant step in the East Jerusalem planning process; it sends a signal that the political echelon may no longer be blocking the advancement of projects in the Jerusalem area that have been considered to be especially inflammatory to Palestinians and Muslims, and detrimental to peace negotiations. This could be an early sign of the opening floodgates.

Long Delayed “Apartheid Road” Possibly Moving

Ir Amim reports that a budget has been approved for construction of the northern part of the Jerusalem “Eastern Ring Road,” following years of delays and protests. If constructed according to existing plans, the northern section of the Eastern Ring Road will have separate lanes for Israeli settlers and Palestinians, with a physical barrier dividing the two. It will not allow the Palestinian lanes to access East Jerusalem. As noted in Haaretz, “This is the only highway in the West Bank that will have a separation wall running right down the middle. For that reason, the plan’s opponents are already dubbing it ‘Apartheid Road.’” Adalah, a legal group for minority rights in Israel, previously filed a petition to block the road’s construction.

Ir Amim notes that this is one of several projects that prepares the way for building in the E-1 area. E-1, as Jerusalem expert Danny Seidemann has long explained, is a “doomsday” project; if implemented, an E-1 settlement will end the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state and completely sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. The “Eastern Ring Road” seeks to “solve” one of these problems – by providing the Palestinians with “transportational contiguity” between the northern and southern West Bank – even as it would cement the cutting off of East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Beit El Housing to Advance After Settlers Throw a Tantrum

Late last week, Netanyahu said he will approve the construction of 300 housing units in the Beit El settlement by September. The announcement came after a very public (and embarrassing) series of confrontations with members of his own political party as well as settlers. The leaders of the Beit El settlement threatened to petition the High Court over the issue, and staged a demonstration in front of the Prime Minister’s office to issue the threat. Beit El’s leaders replayed footage of Netanyahu promising to build the units in 2012, after several structures were taken down because they were built on land recognized even by Israel as privately owned by Palestinians.

The Beit El spat erupted after the Jerusalem Post reported an alleged freeze brokered between Israel and the U.S. The report suggested that Israel agreed to stop publishing construction tenders (the final step in the planning process) for all settlements through the end of 2017. The Beit El units had reached that final phase of planning, but would ostensibly not move forward if the report was true.

Beit El has deep connections to the current U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman; Friedman ran a U.S. fundraising effort for Beit El before being appointed Ambassador.

Bibi Vows that Israel will Keep Ariel

At the ground-breaking ceremony for a new medical school in “Ariel University,” Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed, “Ariel will always be part of the State of Israel.” Alongside Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the Prime Minister Netanyahu attended a ceremony dedicating the school to American casino magnate and settlement financier, Sheldon Adelson – who donated funding for the new facility.

As explained last week, the future of Ariel has long been one of the greatest challenges to any possible peace agreement, since any plan to attach Ariel to Israel will cut the northern West Bank into pieces.

Efrat and “How the Borders of Settlements Expand While No One is Watching”

Three structures in the settlement of Efrat were found to have been built outside the border of the settlement’s jurisdiction. Dror Etkes (founder of Kerem Navot, a settlement watch group) petitioned Israel’s Civil Administration (the arm of the Israeli military that is effectively the sovereign authority in the West Bank, and therefore has authority over all construction ithere) over the buildings. This week the Civil Administration confirmed that the buildings were built without permits, had stop-work orders issued against them at the time, and might potentially be built on land recognized by Israel as privately owned by Palestinians. There are no reports of demolition orders against the illegal structures.

Map by B’Tselem

Located south of Bethlehem and west of the route of the separation barrier, Efrat poses many of the same challenges to a peace agreement as Ariel (discussed above). Connecting it to Israel means cutting deep into the West Bank, severing the route of Highway 60 between Jerusalem/Bethlehem and the southern West Bank, and contributing to the near total isolation of Bethlehem.

Yitzhar & Its “Hilltop Youth” Continue to Terrorize Nablus Area

Recent arrests of Yitzhar settlers have not deterred the terror coming from Yitzhar and/or its Hilltop Youth, with this week’s target being the Palestinian village of Burin. On Sunday, Rabbis for Human Rights documented 45 olive trees in Burin that were destroyed and spray painted with the words “revenge.” The suspected hate crime was precipitated by a violent clash between Yitzhar settlers and the Israeli army during the razing of an illegal structure in the settlement. On Wednesday, settlers from Yitzhar set fire to an olive grove – burning over 400 trees – according to the Israeli Army. Video of the incident shows masked settlers clashing with Israeli soldiers.

This week’s violence follows a warning to Yitzhar’s leaders from the Shin Bet earlier this month to keep the “Hilltop Youth” who call Yitzhar their home under control. In response, Yitzhar’s governing body has taken several actions, including forcing the youth to sign a code of conduct under threat of expulsion. But the code of conduct did not stop one Hilltop Youth religious leader and teacher at a yeshiva in Yitzhar – Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg – from urging his students to “cause a revolution” without getting caught because it is “a shame to waste time in prison.”

Israel’s Ynet news agency reports that the terror tactics of the Hilltop Youth are increasingly targeting Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem. One Hilltop Youth whines, “all we want to do is sit on the hill. Just imagine how we feel each time a detective destroys our tent or confiscates our stuff. We have no peace and quiet.” And from a soldier’s perspective on his time serving in the Yitzhar area: “The scariest thing in the area was to clash with Jews. Give me an Arab terrorist and I’ll know how to deal with him. Give me a Jew who is throwing stones at me and I’ll simply flee.”

A lawyer with Yesh Din, an Israeli organization deeply involved in protecting the area from Yitzhar settlers, said “violence will not cease if there is no real deterrence, protection for Palestinians, a thorough investigation, prosecution of offenders and an imposition of significant penalties.” Though the Shin Bet has said it take the matter seriously, the violence continues. Yesh Din’s legal work documents the impunity with which settlers perpetrate crimes: A March 2017 report reveals only 8.2% of allegations of crimes committed by settlers in the West Bank result in indictments.

Bonus Reads

“City on a Hilltop: American-Jewish Settlers“ w/ Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, Ori Nir, and Lara Friedman (A podcast by Americans for Peace Now, June 25, 2017).
Settlements: The Real Story, by Gershom Gorenberg (The American Prospect, Summer 2017)