Land Allocation in the West Bank – For Israelis Only
A New Settlement Watch Report
Following a request under the Freedom of Information Act submitted by Peace Now and the Movement for Freedom of Information (and after refusing to give the information and a two-and-a-half year delay), the Civil Administration's response was received:
Creeping Annexation: Changes in the Interpretation of the Laws Regarding Occupation
Settlements Watch Peace Now,
December 2017
Report's Main Points:
In recent years, the Attorney General and the State Prosecutor's Office have made dramatic changes in their positions on a number of issues regarding Israel's control over the occupied territories (OT). These changes are part of the g overnment's effort to apply the standards of Israel's democracy to settlements located in territory that is subject to belligerent Israeli occupation, where the Palestinian population lives without democracy and equal rights. These changes are contrary to previous positions of the legal echelon and the Supreme Court, and they magnify the legal question surrounding Israel's control of the OT in terms of international law.
Among other things, the Attorney General stated that:
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- It is permissible to expropriate Palestinian land in cases where the Israeli takeover was carried out "in good faith."
- It is permissible to confiscate land for the purpose of access to a settlement.
- Abandoned property may be used for settlement purposes.
- It is permitted to "liquidate" the abandoned property without judicial process.
- It is permissible to expropriate protected tenancy of the Hebron Municipality on public land, even without a judicial process.
- Legislative changes were made to facilitate the demolition and deportation of Palestinian communities in Area C.
These changes mark another step in the policy of de facto annexation of the OT to Israel, and they are intended to "normalize" the settlements and make them part of Israel, even without declaring so.
From Peace Now:
The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in the current context, is a unilateral step undermining the
chances for peace. The US has given up on its position as an honest broker that can help Israel and the Palestinian
achieve peace, and Israel has lost the best ally it could have for that role. Jerusalem is no more “united” after
the recognition and its status is as disputed as ever.
The only way to make Jerusalem universally recognized as the legitimate capital of Israel is through a two states
agreement in which the Palestinians establish their own capital (Al-Quds) in east Jerusalem side by side with
Israel’s Yerushalayim in west Jerusalem.
From Peace Now's Settlement Watch:
The past few months have seen unprecedented developments in the settlements, causing severe damage to the
chances of a two-state solution. Accelerated population growth, approvals of housing units in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem, promotion of bypass roads, advancements of Knesset bills, home demolitions and changes in legal
interpretations - all lead to a situation of de-facto annexation of area C. Without any official
declarations, the Israeli government is preventing the viability and contiguity of a future Palestinian state,
while treating lands in area C as its own. The implications of the abovementioned developments are far-reaching for
Israel, the Palestinians and the region as a whole.
Peace Now's new report summarizes key developments of the last several months and analyzes their impact,
individually and together, on the viability of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and the possibility for a two
state solution.
Since the mid-1990s, the settlers established nearly 100 illegal outposts and built dozens of neighborhoods and illegal projects in many settlements. In 2015 alone 15% of the units constructed in the settlements was illegal.
During the past year, Settlement Watch conducted extensive research on illegal construction in settlements and
outposts. The data collected exposes a process parallel to the official planning process in the settlements – that
of illegal construction. This parallel process is what allows for thousands of housing units to remain on the
ground, and be connected to roads and infrastructure.
News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) published its data on construction starts earlier today. The Data
shows that in the first six months of 2016, 1,195 housing units started to be constructed in the settlements. This
is an increase of 40% in comparison to the previous six month (July-December 2015), during which 850 housing units
began to be constructed. In contrast, a 3% decrease in construction starts was noted in Israel proper (23,691
housing units in the first half of 2016 as opposed to 22,898 housing units in the second half of 2015).
Peace Now: "Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of one sector only - the settler sector, which comprises of less
than 5% of the Israeli population. His investments in the settlements do not only come on the expense of the Negev,
the Galilee and the rest of Israel but also lead towards a one state reality.
News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:
on Amona: a Crossing of a Red Line
This morning the Army Radio reported that the committee established by the government to find a
solution of the illegal outposts issue recently submitted a legal opinion to the Attorney General according to
which it is possible to use the absentees’ property in the case of the illegal outpost of Amona. The committee’s
idea is to take private Palestinian lands in the nearby plot to where Amona is today, whose owners do not live
in the West Bank, and lease them to the settlers of Amona through a lease that will be renewed every three
years. This way, the settlers of the illegal outpost, which must be evacuated by the end of December due to a
High Court ruling, will be able to live close by to where the outpost is located today. AG Avichai Mendelblit
will soon announce whether he intends to accept or reject the legal opinion.
Peace Now: "Accepting the legal opinion of the committee and thereby violating private
property rights in the Occupied Territories will constitute the crossing of a red line. The acceptance of the legal
opinion would have dire consequences on a future peace agreement as it could lead to the establishment of dozens of
new settlements and to the multiplying of the land taken up by settlements in the West Bank. The Israeli government
cannot justify the stealing of private lands of absentees only to please the demands of settlers who themselves
stole private lands against the law."
News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:
While the government issued a statement arguing that all of the plans advanced were for already existing buildings except from those in Ganei Modi'in, Peace Now's aerial photos illustrate that this is not the case, and much of the planning is for new housing units.
News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:
Advancement of Plans for Housing Units in the Settlements up by 250% in the First Quarter of 2016 Compared with the Same Period Last Year
While the government's declared policy in the settlements is that of a "planning freeze," during January-March 2016
plans for 674 housing units in the settlements were advanced (all over the West Bank and particularly in isolated
settlements), as opposed to 194 housing units in the same period last year.
During 2015, plans for 1,665 new housing units were promoted (1,044 of them were retroactively legalized after
having been built illegally and without a plan). This number constitutes a substantial decrease from 2014, during
which 8,606 new housing units had been promoted (801 of which retroactively legalized). The figures of the first
quarter of 2016 illustrate an upturn in the approval of plans, and sharply increase the total number of units
promoted by the current Netanyahu government. Additionally, as illustrated by the numbers above, while the
government states that it currently approves plans for already existing construction only, in reality in 2016 only
26% of the plans advanced constituted retroactive legalizations (compared with 63% in 2015).