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Home , Daniella Weiss, Danny Ayalon, Elon Moreh, Karnei Shomron, Ramat Gilad, Yesha

SETTLEMENT MONITOR

EDITED BY GEOFFREY ARONSON

This section covers items—reprinted articles, statistics, and maps—pertaining to activities in the , including East , and the Golan Heights. Unless otherwise stated, the items have been written by Geoffrey Aronson for this section or drawn from material written by him for Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories (hereinafter Settlement Report), a Washington-based bimonthly newsletter published by the Foundation for Peace. JPS is grateful to the foundation for permission to draw on its material.

“Madrid’s Legacy—Build Settlements, Weaken the PLO” ...... 205

Settler Violence, the IDF, and West Bank Expansion “The Settlers and the Army Are One” ...... 208 “What’s All the Fuss over Migron?” by Peace Now (excerpts) ...... 211 Democracy and the “Return” of the Jews to the West Bank, by Karin Laub (excerpts) ...... 215

The “Concrete Embrace” of Bethlehem “Settlement Expansion Encircling Bethlehem” ...... 216 “A New Outpost is to be Established South of Bethlehem,” by Peace Now (excerpts) ...... 217

“MADRID’S LEGACY—BUILD and has only gone from SETTLEMENTS, WEAKEN THE PLO” strength to strength as the settler pop- ulation exploded from 231,000 when From Settlement Report, November– Madrid convened to more than half a December 2011. million today. ’s “disengagement” from the in 2005 only high- The Madrid Peace Conference con- lighted the critical role of complete vened two decades ago in a spirit of settlement evacuation as a key element great optimism. However it was Prime signaling a change in Israeli policy. Minister Yitzhak Shamir, dragged to American leadership, so critical to the meeting by President George H. W. bringing hesitant and suspicious lead- Bush, who offered the most prescient ers to the negotiating table at Madrid, is commentary on Madrid’s troubled legacy. more notable today for its shortcomings. “I would have carried out autonomy The initial effort of the Obama admin- talks for ten years,” he remarked in June istration to end occupation and create a 1992, “and meanwhile we would have Palestinian state has been abandoned in reached one half a million people in favor of a “full court press” against UN and .” recognition of a Palestinian state, con- After twenty years of negotiations demned by Washington as an unaccept- the occupation is as !rmly entrenched able “short-cut to statehood.” (The PLO as ever. Settlements have always been leadership turned to the a key barometer of Israel’s intentions. only after Washington’s diplomatic ef- According to this standard, Israel’s com- fort to win a settlement freeze collapsed manding presence in the West Bank in mid-2009.)

Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. XLI, No. 3 (Spring 2012), pp. 205–218, ISSN: 0377-919X; electronic ISSN: 1533-8614. © 2012 by the Institute for Palestine Studies. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: jps.2012.XLI.3.205.

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Palestinians Are Not Finns a unity government with . Prime Minister Sharon’s unilat- Quartet envoys come and go without eral determination to break with all of noticeable impact. The president’s in- Oslo’s conventions in 2005 led in Gaza advertently public remarks to President to the !rst evacuation of settlements Nicolas Sarkozy betrayed his long-ev- since Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt ident frustration with Prime Minister in 1979 and the empowerment of the . Yet administration PLO’s nemesis, the Islamic Resistance of!cials, not to mention leading !gures Movement—Hamas. Dov Weisglas ne- in Congress, openly convey a desire to gotiated the text of an April 2005 let- “punish” PLO chairman Mahmoud Ab- ter from President George W. Bush to bas and the Palestinian Authority for Prime Minister offering what the State Department derided as U.S. support for the Gaza withdrawal. an effort to “establish statehood through He later explained that the backdoor” via the United Nations, rather than confront Netanyahu’s op- we effectively agreed . . . with the Americans . . . position to U.S. policy. U.S. funding to that part of the [West Bank and East Jerusalem] through the Agency for In- settlements [blocs] would not be dealt with at ternational Development (AID) has been all, and the rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns. That is the signi!- curtailed or stopped. The U.S.-trained cance of what we did. The signi!cance is the Palestinian security forces have had U.S. freezing of the political process. . . . This whole funding of $197 million reluctantly re- package that is called the Palestinian state, stored after a cut off sparked by Abbas’ with all that it entails, has been removed from UN campaign, but continuing budget our agenda inde!nitely. . . . And all this with shortfalls have forced massive cuts in authority and permission. All with a presidential PA police and security budgets. blessing and the rati!cation of both houses of Washington’s disaffection with Ne- Congress. What more could have been antici- tanyahu is shared by Europe’s top politi- pated? What more could have been given to the settlers? cians. After the recent announcement of construction of 1,100 units in the East Commenting recently on the freezing Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of of the diplomatic process that he did so , German chancellor Angela Merkel much to encourage, Weisglas soberly allowed that Netanyahu “is not seri- observed that, “the Palestinian street is ous and he does not intend to promote liable to deduce that violence pays off. the basic and necessary conditions for Hamas’s approach currently appears renewal of the talks with the Palestin- to be far more bene!cial than the PA’s ians.” Sarkozy, in inadvertently public policy of zero violence and zero terror- remarks to Obama, simply described ism. In addition to other failures by the Netanyahu as a “liar.” Palestinian Authority, such as the com- plications their UN bid has run into, the Weaken the PA, Settle the Hilltops deadlocked negotiations with the Ne- The PLO, excluded from the Madrid tanyahu government and continued Is- process, stepped onto center stage in raeli construction outside the settlement September 1993 at Oslo as the recog- blocs—it is no wonder that its standing nized representative of the Palestinian has been so badly degraded.” people. But Oslo also accommodated Israel’s refusal to freeze settlement or Obama’s Retreat to support Palestinian statehood, griev- There is no questioning the Obama ous conditions that have haunted all administration’s retreat from active and subsequent diplomacy. Indeed, Oslo determined diplomatic engagement to played a key role in enabling the expan- end occupation and create a Palestinian sion of settlement that continues to this state. U.S. policy has been reduced to day and in subjecting Palestinians to half-hearted suggestions from the State an endless progression of demands that Department about “quiet” and “partial” have enfeebled the Palestinian Author- settlement freezes. Bill Burns, the U.S. ity by failing to reduce Israel’s grip on undersecretary of state, was in Israel the West Bank and East Jerusalem. during November to promote negotia- International law proscribes all civil- tions and to prevent Fateh from forming ian settlement in occupied territory. One

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of the enduring myths of Israel’s settle- concerned about effective pressure from ment efforts is that private Palestinian Washington to constrain settlement ex- land is off limits for settlement. Israel’s pansion. He remains opposed to the High Court of Justice in 1979 ruled that discussion of borders and security out- privately owned Palestinian lands could lined by the Quartet. Pressed by market be con!scated for security-related pur- forces and public demands to increase poses but not simply to establish civil- housing construction throughout Israel, ian settlements. Nevertheless, private and ever-present settler demands, he is lands continued to be stolen from Pal- presiding over a new wave of relentless estinian owners by settlers and the IDF settlement expansion, particularly along after the ruling. Beginning in 1996, the the southern ring of East Jerusalem— !rst Netanyahu government embarked Gilo, Har Homa and most notably at on a still-continuing effort to “claim the Givat Hamatos (Airplane Hill), the !rst hilltops” by establishing more than 100 new large-scale settlement in East Je- new settlement outposts, many of them rusalem since the development of Har on private Palestinian land. In some iso- Homa by the !rst Netanyahu govern- lated cases, Israel’s High Court, relying ment in 1996. Political pressure contin- on its earlier rulings, has ordered a few ues to advance large-scale settlement of these outposts dismantled. plans at the site of the now defunct Je- [settlers’] Council chairman rusalem airport at Atarot and in the E-1 Danny Dayan has lead a campaign to area. legalize the land theft, most notably in Settlers feel stronger today than at the new settlement outposts. In a let- any time since Madrid. The United Na- ter to government ministers and MKs, tions has noted that the weekly average Dayan noted that more than 150 dwell- of attacks by settlers against Palestin- ings in which 1,000 Israelis, including ians increased by 40 percent in 2011 serving IDF of!cers, reside, are sched- compared to 2010, and by 165 percent uled for demolition in coming months. compared to 2009. Settlers, some of “All of Givat Assaf could be erased by whom during the late 1990s were pre- the end of 2011,” he warned. “Migron— pared to consider the creation of a Pal- by March 2012. The Ulpana neighbor- estinian state in the West Bank, now hood in , by April 2012. Amona’s call openly to establish a Palestinian fate could be sealed in about a month. state . . . in Jordan. And the list goes on.” “The two-state solution,” wrote Adi The government is now attempting Minz, former head of the YESHA Coun- to remove the prohibition on the theft cil, “was based on the existence of a of private land for settlement in order to moderate [Arab] axis, which is well and “launder” the many settlement outposts, truly dead. They just haven’t signed the not to mention veteran settlements like death certi!cate yet. The time is now , that are sited on private Palestin- right for a change of direction: sover- ian property. eignty and security control over Judea Minister of Culture and Sport Limor and Samaria must remain in Israeli Livnat has been charged by the prime hands, since there is no room for an- minister with implementing this policy. other state between the Mediterranean She has noted that, “Beit El and Ofra are and Jordan. The answer lies in Pales- built on absentee-owner [Palestinian] tinian autonomy. A genuine Palestinian land. Are we going to demolish them be- state will be established one day in Jor- cause that is absentee-owner land? There dan and the Arab residents of Judea and is no such intention. I remember our cur- Samaria will be its citizens.” rent president, Shimon Peres, dancing Settlers easily survived the ten month with a scroll at . [Peres settlement moratorium during 2010 and as defense minister in the mid-1970s of- enjoy strong support in the cabinet and fered critical support to unauthorized . Longtime settler leader Benny settlement near .] I was there.” Katz dismissed Netanyahu’s settlement campaign as insuf!cient. Israel Settles—A Zionist Response “This is a miserable and insulting re- After the failure of the settlement sponse. In the face of Arab impudence, freeze effort, Netanyahu is no longer the government should have declared

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the abrogation of the Oslo Accords and recently voiced publicly announced the establishment of new what has only been reported off the re- settlements.” cord. “If the PLO wants to quit, Israel will look for international or local forces Whither the PA to take charge of the PA, and if they The November 1 decision to con- can’t !nd them and the PA collapses, struct 2,000 settlement dwellings in that will not be the end of the world for and around Jerusalem was described Israel. The Palestinians have to know as a “Zionist response” to “punish” the that they can’t scare us by threatening Palestinians for their admission as a to disband the PA.” member state to UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural SETTLER VIOLENCE, THE IDF, AND Organization. Netanyahu, along with many Israeli WEST BANK EXPANSION leaders, believes that instability in the Arab world has taken peace talks off “THE SETTLERS AND THE ARMY ARE ONE” the table for a “generation.” In an Oc- From Settlement Report January– tober 31 speech, he declared, “people February 2012. make peace with the strong, not with the weak.” The Palestinian Authority (PA) has His remarks on this subject might not ended the occupation, but it has re- well have been directed at Abu Mazen, corded one signi!cant accomplishment. who was famously dismissed by Sharon As one Israeli commentator explained, as a “chick without feathers.” Netan- “Today it seems that the biggest threat yahu’s associates are reported to have to the quiet in the territories comes described Abbas as “a peace rejectionist not from the Palestinians, but from ir- who is unwilling to return to the negoti- responsible provocations of the zeal- ating table even in a secret track.” ous, insane margins of the Israeli right The PA is under broad assault from wing.” powers greater than itself, led by the Palestinians have long been at the and Israel. Washington, mercy of the twin instruments of oc- despite its efforts to punish the PA, re- cupation—settlers and the Israel De- mains invested in the success of the in- fense Forces (IDF). The former have stitutions led by Abu Mazen and Prime acted with impunity in what they view Minister Salam Fayyad. Israel’s interests as a century-old battle against Palestin- are more opaque. Abbas was reported ians for control of Palestine’s land and to have said that Netanyahu wants to resources. “slaughter” him. Ha’aretz reported that “We’ve been reporting for years “in closed meetings Abbas expressed about the settlers’ misdeeds, week af- the view that Israel is working . . . to ter week,” wrote Ha’aretz’s Gideon Levy strengthen Hamas and weaken him.” recently. “We’ve recounted how they This concern is shared by Jordan’s King have threatened Palestinians, hit their Abdullah. children on their way to school, thrown The IDF is today Israel’s key insti- garbage at their mothers, turned dogs tutional supporter of the PA, arguing on elderly Palestinians, abducted shep- against the segregation of tax funds and herds, stolen livestock, embittered their in favor of modest measures aimed at lives day and night, hill and vale, invad- “strengthening” the PA and at reigning ing and taking over.” in the excesses of settler attacks against Palestinians are only too well aware Palestinians and the IDF itself. There is that they cannot depend upon their own concern that Israel, principally the IDF, politicians or security forces to protect will pay the price of a reduction in the them against what many understand- PA’s capacity, particularly in areas where ably view as the most dangerous and Palestinian security forces have assumed existential threat to their well-being. most day-to-day security duties and pro- During the , the al-Aqsa vide helpful intelligence to the IDF. Martyrs Brigades were formed in part to Netanyahu’s advisors are far more address the absence of such protection, sanguine. Deputy Foreign Minister particularly in small villages abutting

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settlements in the West Bank heartland. prestigious religious academy in Jeru- Palestinian police are not permitted to salem to assault a military base in the exercise authority over Israeli citizens, West Bank. A crowd of 50 entered the including those who enter areas of the camp, threw rocks, burned tires and West Bank under their nominal con- otherwise vandalized military vehicles trol. Palestinians, in the words of one before retreating. There were no arrests. former al-Aqsa member, “are on their own,” when they or their property are The IDF vs. Settlers the target of settlers’ “price tag” attacks “The IDF, which defends its people, or “pogroms” (like the one in found itself defending itself against [its in December 2008) or the defacing of a people],” observed the IDF chief of staff, mosque in Sal!t in January 2012. Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. “This is an un- For protection against settlers, PA imaginable absurdity. It is an unreason- of!cials advise Palestinians to rely able and dangerous reality.” on their own limited and inferior Confrontations of various kinds be- resources—and the IDF. One top Pal- tween the army and those settlers it is estinian security of!cial explained that pledged to protect have been a trade- his forces are handing out the telephone mark of the settlement drive almost number of the local IDF commander from its inception. There were more in response to requests by villagers for than 200 incidents between settlers and protection against marauding settlers. soldiers during 2011, including an at- Depending upon the IDF to protect tack on a military base at Beit El in Palestinians from the depredations of midyear. Attempts three decades ago settlers is like asking the wolf to assure to establish Jewish settlements in areas the safety of Little Red Riding Hood. outside the zones outlined in the Allon Safeguarding Palestinians is simply not Plan were often accompanied by mass part of its operational DNA. The IDF’s rallies, demonstrations, and the physical formal, primary mission in the West seizure of settlement locations, includ- Bank is to protect Jews from Arabs, not ing confrontations with the IDF. The Arabs from Jews. Assaults upon Arabs group settling in , near Se- and their property by settlers are not bastia, in 1975 for example, was force- viewed by the IDF as its responsibility. fully removed seven times before the Rather, they are the province of the Is- government of agreed raeli police, whose capabilities, even if to establish a permanent settlement they chose to effectively exercise them nearby. in such matters—and as a rule they do Fast forward to the last days of 2011. not—are widely derided. “No one wants to destroy Migron,” ex- The settlements and the IDF, on the plained a top aide to Prime Minister other hand, are locked in a symbiotic Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to embrace. The army is duty bound to the unauthorized “outpost” settlement protect settlements and their residents established in 1996. Migron awaits im- and to promote their welfare—missions plementation of a long-ignored court that preclude the effective protection order demanding its evacuation, which of Palestinians and their property de- the government and settlers alike are spite being mandated by international working to short-circuit. Elsewhere, an law. The mission of protecting settle- agreement, negotiated by cabinet min- ments and settlers allows the IDF to be ister Benny Begin and seen by Israelis (if not by Palestinians chairman Danny Dayan and modeled and the international community) as on the “patent” long ago formulated for something other than a foreign army of Elon Moreh, provides for the legaliza- occupation. tion of the outpost of , the The idea that the IDF, let alone Pal- removal of structures from private Pal- estinians, needs protection from set- estinian land and their relocation to tlers, turns this well-honed system on “state land,” and the approval of 180 its head. In mid-December, 100 young housing units in the newly branded Israelis protesting the impending court- “neighborhood” of the settlement of ordered evacuation of the settlement . Ha’aretz columnist outpost of Ramat Gilad traveled from a Zvi Barel described this agreement as

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“a game of musical chairs in which ev- to the needs of a quiescent Palestinian eryone wins and no one is left without population, and settlement continues a chair,” except for Palestinians. “What inexorably, but without disruption to is going on,” observed Ramadan Shal- the military’s core mission. Settlers and lah, secretary general of the Islamic Ji- their political patrons have never been had movement in a December 24, 2011, satis!ed with their place in this fanciful interview with al-Hayat, “is the liquida- picture, and Israel’s legal and judicial tion of the [Palestinian] cause as rights institutions have always treated them are evaporating and the Israelis are im- benevolently. posing the status quo through facts on Recently, for example, it was re- the ground.” ported in Ha’aretz that “!ve suspects Settlers have always wanted to ex- were indicted for collecting informa- pand the margins of the settlement drive tion and monitoring IDF soldiers, as beyond the limits set by national insti- well as rioting in the Ephraim Regional tutions, including the military. This has Brigade. Among other things, the !ve been true since the !rst settlement was received information from IDF sol- established in the Golan Heights soon diers regarding troop movements and after the June 1967 War. Rabin spoke planned activities. The goal of the !ve derisively about “political” as opposed who set up the ‘intelligence department’ to “security” settlements. More than a was to collect information and operate decade ago, the IDF produced differing [as] Trojan horses within the army. In “security” and “settlement” interest maps response to an appeal to the Supreme of West Bank settlements. Advocates of Court, the judge criticized the severity Greater Israel have always found patrons of the actions, but released the suspects in the political establishment—from Yi- to house arrest.” gal Allon (Hebron in 1968) to Shimon Settlers, particularly religious zeal- Peres (Sebastia in 1975) to Ariel Sha- ots who view settlement in Judea and ron (1996) and Likud coalition chair MK Samaria as a divine expression of God’s Ze’ev Elkin today (who reportedly in- will, have long exploited and been ex- formed settlers of IDF settlement evacua- ploited by a political system in Israel tion plans)—to assist them. whose overarching objective remains Confrontations with the IDF are an the settlement of the land by Jews and integral part of today’s campaign to the enfeeblement of Arab control on the force a political consensus in favor of ground. This was the case during the continued settlement everywhere. The era of the Bloc of the Faithful, or Gush IDF command is complicit, by virtue of Emmunim, whose activists during the its central role in the occupation, even if 1970s were instruments in a drive to it is also frustrated by this strategy, as it settle the West Bank heartland in places has been since the settlement program like Ofra, Shilo, and , among began. Top military and security of!- and between Palestinian villages. It cials have even described settler actions remains true today, as the “hilltop as “Jewish terror.” Young conscripts, youth”—including not a few of the chil- who have been trained to protect Jews, dren of these very same Gush Emmu- are confused when settlers spit at them nim activists—constitute the vanguard and call them “traitors” and “Nazis.” The of what then-Foreign Minister Sharon generals complain about the failure of in 1996 called a campaign to “claim the Israel’s legal system to restrain or pun- hilltops.” ish settler excesses. They marvel at the Benny Katsover, a veteran Gush Em- “hatred in the eyes” of rampaging young munim activist in the 1970s, was head people and warn of the use by settlers of the Samaria Action Committee in Oc- of live !re against IDF soldiers. “This is tober 2008 when he spoke with a U.S. a test for the state and for us,” said one diplomatic of!cial, whose cable of their major general. “If it does not end with conversation was made available by heavy penalties, it will be a failure not Wikileaks: just for us in the security establishment, but as a state.” Katsover’s committee drafted and published a The IDF command prefers an or- strategy to create sometimes violent diversions derly occupation, where the PA attends during IDF actions against West Bank settlement

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outposts. The strategy has regularly been well, in an effort to minimize as far as employed in the past few months, resulting in possible the danger of the development higher levels of violence. According to Katsover, of another Arab state in these areas. If the committee’s “new policy” is designed to divided by Jewish communities, it will “increase the price tag” of IDF action by call- ing for settlers in groups of ten to block roads, be dif!cult for the minority population set !res, protest at IDF bases, and march near to create territorial and political unity Palestinian villages. The strategy has led to and continuity.” early-warning cell phone alerts of IDF activity, These principles continue to inspire mobilizing settler groups to respond with diver- Israeli settlement policy, no more so sionary tactics. As Katsover hosted Pol[itical] than on the West Bank’s “hilltops.” off[icer] on October 2, Israeli security forces “[T]here is no need to be overly im- carried out the evacuation of Shevut Ami B out- pressed by the orchestrated shouting post near Kedumim settlement (west of Nablus), about the Frankenstein that has gotten sparking the deployment of settlers across the northern West Bank. . . . Some 25 olive trees out of hand,” wrote Yossi Sarid, a for- were [reportedly] burned at Kadum village mer Labor Party Knesset member and adjacent to Kedumim settlement during the onetime leader of Meretz, after the De- rampage, resulting in the arrest of two settler cember 2011 settler attack on the IDF, youth. Simultaneously . . . a settler was arrested “because the denouncers are the ones for !ring a weapon at Asira al-Qabaliyah village who created him. They were warned a and was released on October 3 after a court thousand times about creating a state hearing. Meanwhile, Katsover’s fellow settler within a state, an army within an army, pioneer, former Kedumim mayor Daniella Weiss, but they didn’t want to listen. They was arrested for assaulting an of!cer but was released to house arrest on October. . . . Asked were too scared of the settlers and their if he was using his committee to encourage rabbis. We see them in their disgrace, settler violence, Katsover told Poloff, “I recom- dancing in front of Zionism’s cof!n, and mend that kids do not enter Arab villages or use despise them. physical violence.” With regard to Israeli security “He who sowed the wind should not forces, Katsover told Poloff, “I don’t advocate feign horror when the Jewish terror violence against the army, but the police are storm comes. He who poured oil on the different.” #ames should not pose as a !re!ghter Confrontations between settlers and trying to put it out. He who demands the IDF, whether at Elon Moreh in 1974 silencing the muezzin should not fake or Ramat Gilad in 2011, remain tactical surprise when a mosque is burned.” disputes between the principal Israeli agents of settlement and dispossession “WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS OVER MIGRON?” over the pace and direction of settle- [EXCERPTS] ment. In contrast, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s unprecedented mobilization of The Q&A excerpted below was origi- Israel’s security and political establish- nally published by Peace Now on 6 Feb- ment in favor of evacuation of all of Ga- ruary 2012. The full text is available at za’s settlements in 2005 humbled even http://peacenow.org/entries/settlements_ the settlers and enabled the speedy and in_focus_whats_all_the_fuss_over_ largely peaceful evacuation of the settle- migron. ments there, despite settler opposition. . . . “No One Wants to Destroy Migron” The actions at Sebastia and the out- Q: What are the basic facts about posts of today were conceptualized by Migron and why is it considered the author of the !rst settlement mas- illegal? ter plan produced by the World Zionist Location: Migron is located about 3.5 Organization (WZO) in 1977. Matityahu miles east of the Palestinian city of Ra- Drobles, then head of the WZO settle- mallah, deep inside the West Bank. It is ment department, wrote, “State land located far to the east of Israel’s “sepa- and lands that lie fallow in Judea and ration barrier” and cannot be viewed, Samaria must be taken immediately, by any de!nition, as part of any “settle- in order to settle the areas that are be- ment bloc.” Migron overlooks Route 60, tween centers of minority [i.e., Pales- the main road used by settlers driving tinian] population and around them as between Jerusalem and the settlements

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located to its north and northeast. Mi- one of the largest outposts in the West gron is in an area where, prior to the Bank. Like most other outposts, Migron establishment of the outpost, there consists mainly of trailers and contain- was no settlement activity. Migron thus ers. Migron also contains !ve perma- achieves several key goals of the set- nent homes constructed by the settlers. tlers: to establish domination over a The various buildings at the site provide main transportation route, to create Is- housing as well as a kindergarten, syna- raeli “contiguity” between isolated set- gogue and other community resources. tlements in the heart of the West Bank; and to block any two-state solution Q: What was the legal procedure based on Israel retaining only “settle- regarding Migron? ment blocs.” A: In October 2006, Peace Now, to- How it began: Migron began its life gether with the owners of the land on in 2001 as the site of a communica- which Migron has been established, tions antenna. This antenna was erected !led a petition against Migron with the by one of Israel’s major cellular phone Israeli High Court of Justice, seeking to companies after Israeli settlers com- force the State of Israel to implement plained that they could not get cellu- the demolition orders it had previously lar phone reception in part of the West issued against the illegal outpost. In Bank. Since this was deemed necessary December 2006, the Israeli govern- for security reasons, Israeli authorities ment’s response to that petition recog- issued a permit for the installation of nized that Migron was entirely illegal the antenna at the site. This antenna and could not be legalized, since the was the embryo that has grown into the land is privately owned by Palestin- outpost Migron. ians. The State agreed that Migron must Transformation into a full outpost: be evacuated; the only question in dis- In 2002, settlers placed mobile homes pute was when. The State promised the on the hill adjacent to the antenna, Court that it would seek an agreement without any legal permission to do so. with the settlers to evacuate voluntarily. A few months later, they began building It stated that if such an agreement could a few permanent homes. Since then the not be reached, “the Minister of De- outpost has been enlarging and expand- fense intends to evacuate Migron within ing continuously and in all respects, in- a few months, after having exhausted cluding a number of roads, connection all other options” and asked the court to the electricity and water supplies, for an additional 4–5 months to resolve and the erecting of a large fence sur- the matter. rounding the outpost, enclosing huge Since then, the State of Israel has areas of surrounding land for “security dragged its feet for more than 5 years, purposes.” repeatedly promising the Supreme Why it is illegal: The establishment Court that it will take action and asking and expansion of Migron has taken place for additional time. In August 2008, the contrary to Israeli law. The settlers have State declared that it reached an agree- not received permits for any of their ac- ment with the settlers to transfer the tions, and under law such permits can- outpost to a new neighborhood, to be not under any circumstances be issued, established by the Ministry of Housing since all the land is recognized by the in another settlement (Adam). In re- Israeli government as privately owned sponse, the Court allowed the State to by Palestinians. The Israeli government put off the eviction of Migron, consis- early on recognized this reality and is- tent with that agreement; however, af- sued demolition orders against all of ter three years—during which the only the structure in the outpost. Notwith- thing that was achieved was, !nally, standing these demolition orders, not- the approval of the plan for the prom- withstanding repeated commitments by ised new neighborhood—the settlers Israeli authorities to remove the illegal of Migron declared that they had never outpost, Migron has remained in place agreed to the compromise. and continued to grow. Apparently fed up with the Govern- Current population: Today Migron ment’s foot dragging, in August 2, 2011 is home to forty-!ve families, making it the High Court gave the State a !rm

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deadline of March 31, 2012 by which to had (at that point) been invested ille- evacuate Migron. Now, with that date gally in the outpost. In the years since, fast approaching, the government of Is- settlers continue to expand the outpost rael and settler supporters in the Knes- with the assistance of the Mate Binya- set are scrambling to !nd some way to min Regional Council (which is funded circumvent the High Court’s ruling and by the State of Israel), in de!ance of the enable the Migron settlers to stay. law and of the Israeli High Court of Jus- . . . tice. In addition, Migron settlers have long enjoyed security provided by the Q: You say the State of Israel de- IDF, at taxpayer expense. clared that Migron was built on Nonetheless, the State has stated ex- private Palestinian land, but the plicitly and on the record that Migron is settlers have offered a range of ar- illegal and that no government of!cial, guments against this, including ar- at any time, had the authority to in any guing that the land was abandoned way approve the outpost. and is thus State land and that the . . . Palestinians can’t prove their owner- ship. Who is right? Q: You mentioned efforts to “le- A: The owners of the Migron land galize” Migron or make a deal with are Palestinian residents of the villages settlers. What are these efforts? And of Deir Dibwan and Burka. The land on why do you put the word “legalize” which the outpost was built was regis- inside quotation marks? tered in the land registry in the name of A: As noted above, the State has re- the Palestinian owners from before 1967 peatedly and consistently recognized (two of the land owners who originally that under Israel’s own laws, the land petitioned the High Court to stop Mi- on which Migron is located is privately gron have since died, with the case now owned by Palestinians. Under Israel’s passed on to their heirs). The Civil Ad- own laws, there is no possible way to ministration’s land registration division argue that it is “legal” for settlers (or has in its possession all of the relevant anyone else) to steal land privately ownership papers. Indeed, in response owned by another person, even a Pal- to Peace Now’s petition, the state sub- estinian. There is thus no way to “legal- mitted an aerial photo con!rming the ize” this land theft—unless the word claims of the landowner map.Peace “legalize” is used to mean “change Is- Now recently released a video introduc- raeli law to post-facto authorize certain ing the world to these owners. cases of theft, contrary to all other laws Israeli of!cials have repeatedly con- of the land.” This is, of course, the very !rmed, formally and on the record, de!nition of rule by law—a feature of that the land on which the outpost totalitarian regimes—as compared to of Migron is built is legally owned by rule of law, which is considered a cen- Palestinians. tral characteristic of civilized, demo- . . . cratic nations. The government of Israel has for Q: The settlers claim that the Is- years been trying to come up with raeli government has, from the start, some kind of “deal” that will enable it supported Migron. Is this true? to avoid a !ght with the settlers over A: The establishment and expansion Migron. The most notable effort (until of Migron could not have taken place recently) was in 2008, when the govern- without the tacit and often active sup- ment offered a “compromise” to solve port of elements within the Israeli gov- the problem of Migron: it offered to ernment, in particular the Ministry of build the Migron settlers a new neigh- Housing and Construction, which over borhood in the settlement of Adam. the years has provided !nancial support Writing about that deal in November for the Migron settlers, notwithstand- 2008 in Ha’aretz, we noted: ing the illegal nature of their actions. In . . . the government of Israel has announced a 2005, the Israeli government-commis- “compromise” on the illegal West Bank outpost sioned Sasson Report concluded that of Migron. The deal makes a mockery of govern- more than 4 million NIS of public funds ment pledges to deal seriously with illegal settler

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activity. It also challenges the seriousness of Ostensibly the compromise contains a threat Israel’s commitment to achieving peace with the to the settlers. If they reject it, the houses at Palestinians. . . . The core of the issue: Migron Migron will be demolished by March 31, as the is illegal, by any standards. Under Israeli law, it High Court of Justice has ordered. However, should be eliminated—not relocated to another taking into account the state’s behavior until site in the West Bank, and certainly not to Adam, now, that is an empty threat and in any case the where it would become a new obstacle to the settlers and their emissaries in the Knesset are two-state solution. Relocating Migron would only posing a much more meaningful threat: legisla- reward settlers’ illegal acts and encourage further tion that will legitimize the criminal outpost, law-breaking. Migron’s residents are law-break- with the added !llip of political revenge on ers, and any inconvenience their eviction causes Netanyahu. . . . them is of their own making. This compromise, under which the Regardless of the fact that this “com- settlers would, in effect, win not once promise” represented a huge victory for but three times, does not appear to ac- the settlers and that the Yesha Council tually satisfy the decision of the Israeli supported the offer, the Migron settlers High Court of Justice, but the point is rejected it. Since then the settlers have moot, since the settlers once again re- dug-in, literally and !guratively, over jected any compromise. Migron, rejecting even the possibility of a compromise. Q: Why do the settlers keep reject- Now, with the March 2012 deadline ing these offers? What is their bottom drawing near, the government of Israel line? is scrambling to !nd a way to appease A. The settlers’ refusal to entertain the settlers. One approach, offered by even the most far-reaching “compro- the Netanyahu government in early mise” on Migron re#ects their recogni- 2012, offered the settlers a new and tion of the fact that Migron is a test case even better “compromise”: the govern- for the entire outpost enterprise. If they ment would build the Migron settlers a accept a “compromise,” they are ac- new settlement to move to, nearby. In cepting the fact that Israeli law applies the meantime, the settlers could stay to their actions in the West Bank, and in Migron and continue to try to !nd a are thus undermining the “legitimacy” way to “legally” take the land from its of all their illegal actions with respect Palestinian owners (an effort that has to settlement expansion and outpost been ongoing and thus far unsuccess- construction. ful). And, to sweeten the pot, the gov- With this in mind, the settlers and ernment of Israel promised the settlers their supporters are now going a dif- that if and when they have to move ferent route, seeking to change Israeli from Migron to the new settlement, the law in order to legalize the theft of Pal- site of Migron will be con!scated by Is- estinian private land by Israeli citizens rael (under Israeli law, Israel can seize in the West Bank. This law, entitled private Palestinian land for of!cial uses, the “Outposts Draft Law,” is a danger- like a military post). Commenting on ous initiative with no precedent in Is- this proposed “compromise,” veteran Is- rael or the world. As of this writing, raeli journalist Zvi Bar’el recently noted: Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to The proposal whereby we, the taxpayers, will oppose the Outposts Law, but it has fund a new infrastructure for the trespassers strong support from much of the Li- at a site a few hundred meters away from the kud and parties to Likud’s right. In an scene of the crime and only then, two, three or effort to appease the settlers and his !ve years from now will the settlers examine right, on January 30, 2012, Netanyahu the option of moving to the new site—is not appointed a committee whose mission a compromise proposal to the settlers. It is a appears to be to !nd a way to legal- negotiation with the High Court of Justice. A ize Migron (and other outposts); nota- kind of honorable way out for the highest insti- bly, one member of that committee is tution of justice in the State of Israel, which will forego its dignity and acknowledge that it is a lawyer who lives in a settlement and incapable of continuing to ful!ll its mandate: of who was being paid by a settler organi- being the High Court of Justice not only for the zation working to legalize the outposts State of Israel, but also for the inhabitants of the until just days before being appointed territories, both Jews and Arabs alike. to the committee.

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Q: Why is Migron a test of the vi- the Associated Press, and published 31 ability of the two-state solution? January 2012. The full text is available A: Any future peace agreement will at http://www.washingtontimes.com/ require the establishment of a viable, news/2012/jan/31/we-didnt-come-here- contiguous state of Palestine alongside to-establish-a-democratic-state. Israel. A peace agreement that includes land swaps will likely make it possible . . . for the majority of Israeli settlers to re- [V]eteran settler leader Benny Kat- main in their homes. However, even the zover . . . has been at the forefront of a most optimal agreement (optimal from religiously inspired movement to take an Israeli perspective) it will still be over the West Bank, hilltop by hilltop, necessary for Israel to evacuate a large helping build a network of settlements number of settlements located deep in- over four decades that are now home to side the West Bank. The fate of Migron hundreds of thousands of Israelis. will tell Israelis, Palestinians, and the Today he argues that democratic world whether the Israeli government principles, such as equality before the has the political will and the ability to law, have become an obstacle to deep- carry out its side of such an agreement. ening Jewish control over all of the bib- This is because, at the most basic lical Land of Israel—though he stops level, Migron is located in a place that short of calling for dismantling Israel’s cannot possibly remain under Israeli democratic institutions. They are disin- sovereignty in any future agreement. If tegrating on their own, he says, and los- the government won’t remove an out- ing legitimacy in the eyes of the public. post in such a location, and instead is “We didn’t come here to establish a ready to subvert Israel’s character as a democratic state,” Mr. Katzover said in nation governed by the rule of law in an interview with the Associated Press. order to protect Migron, it sends a mes- “We came here to return the Jewish sage. This message is unmistakable: the people to their land.” government isn’t serious about getting Mr. Katzover’s comments appear to to any realistic peace agreement that re#ect a growing radicalization among will, by de!nition, require the evacua- some right-wing religious groups. They tion of not only Migron but many more come at a time of a rise in attacks on settlements and outposts. Palestinians by vigilante settlers and an . . . increase in complaints by liberal Israelis And !nally, even if one could argue that the country’s right-wing parliament that a future Israeli government might and government have launched an un- be more serious about peace than the precedented attack on the pillars of de- current one, if Israel !nds a way to “ko- mocracy. . . . sher” the settlers’ land theft in Migron— Mr. Katzover, 64, led the !rst group through a new law, through some new of settlers into the northern West Bank High Court decision, or through some in the 1970s and helped establish the other machination of the occupation—it settlement of Elon Moreh in 1980. Like will signal an end to even the pretense other prominent settlers, he has been that Israeli settlers are bound by Israeli a con!dant and informal adviser to a law. It will give a green light for the set- string of prime ministers over the years. tlers to build illegally everywhere in the Mr. Katzover remains in#uential among West Bank, establishing even more ob- hard-core activists and heads the Com- stacles to peace, with the tacit and ac- mittee of Samaria Settlers, a group that tive approval of the Israeli government. tries to block government attempts to raze any of the about 100 unauthor- ized settlement outposts or uproot set- DEMOCRACY AND THE “RETURN” OF THE tlers as part of a future—and for now JEWS TO THE WEST BANK [EXCERPTS] very remote—partition deal with the The article excerpted below, origi- Palestinians. nally titled “We Didn’t Come Here to Es- “Across the country, these ideas, tablish a Democratic State. We Came that democracy needs dramatic change, Here to Return the Jewish People to Their if not dismantling then at least dra- Land” was written by Karin Laub of matic change, these ideas are very

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widespread,” he said in his modest of having a moderating in#uence. Mr. home in Elon Moreh, a settlement of Katzover is a founder of , 2,000 people with a sweeping view of the spearhead of the Jewish settlement the West Bank hills the Palestinians movement that sprang up in the 1970s want as the core of their future state. and over the years garnered consider- The mainstream settlers’ umbrella able political clout. . . . Gush Emunim’s group, the Yesha Council, distanced it- original vision of hundreds of thou- self from Mr. Katzover’s comments, !rst sands of Israelis settling in the West made in a small ultra-Orthodox publi- Bank has largely come true, mainly be- cation and picked up by Israel’s liberal cause of massive backing by successive Ha’aretz daily early last month. The Israeli governments. Yesha Council is !rmly committed to Mr. Katzover says the accomplish- democratic principles, said its chairman, ments of the movement, including the . But Mr. Katzover claims he establishment of 150 government-sanc- is expressing publicly what many oth- tioned settlements, “shaped the map” of ers, including more mainstream settler Israel by preventing a withdrawal to the leaders, think privately. pre-1967 war frontiers. . . . There’s now Yair Sheleg of the Israel Democ- a critical mass to prevent a withdrawal racy Institute said the radicalization of from the West Bank heartland as well, hard-line settlers accelerated after Is- Mr. Kazover said. “I don’t believe there rael’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza is a government that will take upon it- Strip. Israel uprooted nearly two dozen self the responsibility to mark 100,000 settlements, including four in the north- people for expulsion,” he said. ern West Bank, and the operation was deeply traumatic for the settler move- THE “CONCRETE EMBRACE” OF ment. Mr. Sheleg said he was surprised BETHLEHEM by Mr. Katzover’s tough tone, if not the content of his remarks. “We should be “SETTLEMENT EXPANSION ENCIRCLING very worried,” he said. “Benny Katzover BETHLEHEM” was considered to be historically one of the mainstream leaders of the settler From Settlement Report, January– movement, and this really illustrates the February 2012. way, the very far way, those mainstream settler leaders went.” On December 12, 2011, Defense Min- The trend has been accompanied by ister approved construction a sharp rise in settler attacks on Pales- of 40 dwellings and a farm in two areas tinians and their property since 2009, long-targeted for the expansion of the including the torching of mosques, set- settlement of . In November, 277 ting !re to !elds, cutting down orchards units had been approved in Efrat’s Givat and stoning cars. According to new U.N. HaZayit neighborhood. The expansion !gures, there were 412 attacks on prop- of Efrat to the northeast tightens the erty and people in 2011, compared to “concrete embrace” of Bethlehem. 168 in 2009. The attacks are part of a The tender for 40 dwellings on Givat tactic called “price tag.” They are car- HaDagan, where a small number of set- ried out in response to attempts by the tlers have been squatting for more than Israeli military to raze even parts of set- a decade, was issued by the Israel Lands tlement outposts set up since the 1990s Administration. The site is close to the to prevent a partition deal. . . . The Is- Deheishe refugee camp and the village raeli daily Yediot Ahronot, citing inter- of al-Khader. nal documents, alleged recently that Mr. Givat Eitam (Jebel Abu Zeid)—where Katzover’s group is a key force promot- the farm was approved and 2,500 units ing the price tag policy. are planned—lies (unlike Givat HaDa- Mr. Katzover denied any involve- gan) on the eastern, “Palestinian” side ment, saying he opposes “price tag” at- of the separation barrier. This area has tacks as damaging to the settlement long been coveted for settlement and cause. But he refused to denounce the was within the original perimeter of the practice, arguing he wants to keep an separation barrier devised by the gov- open line to the most radical in hopes ernment of Ariel Sharon. In 2007, for

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example, in one of many attempts to es- de!ned perimeter. According to a report tablish an “outpost” at the site to assure in Ha’aretz, “It can be expected that the its settlement before construction of the establishment of the farm will be fol- barrier excluded it, settlers declared, lowed by the construction of an access “The establishment of a settlement in road and the deployment of IDF soldiers Givat Eitam will be the !rst step in re- and other security arrangements, to newing a wave of settlements in Judea guarantee the area’s future role as part and Samaria. This is our response to the of Efrat.” ongoing policy of surrendering to the enemy.” “A NEW OUTPOST IS TO BE ESTABLISHED During the Annapolis discussions SOUTH OF BETHLEHEM” [EXCERPTS] in 2008, Israeli negotiators suggested that settlement would proceed in this The Peace Now statement excerpted area if no agreement was reached. The below was originally published on 30 government of Benjamin Netanyahu November 2011. The full text is avail- has now determined that the separa- able at http://peacenow.org.il/eng/ tion barrier is no barrier to settlement GivatEitam. expansion, even in those settlements, like Efrat, where the barrier creates a . . .

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Established in 1982, [Efrat] started at Initiative model of agreement, Efrat will the southern neighborhood. In the 90’s have to be evicted. Also in the maps the settlers established an outpost north that were of!cially presented by the Pal- of Efrat called “Givat Hazayit,” with estinians in the negotiations, Efrat was several trailer homes. The government to be evicted. evicted the outpost several times, but The settlement of Efart is located eventually approved a construction plan south of Bethlehem, blocking the poten- in which today hundreds of housing tial development of the city to the south units are built and thousands of settlers (the city is already blocked from the reside. Later, in the early 2000’s, the north by the East Jerusalem settlements settlers established two more outposts, of Gilo and Har Homa, and from the “Givat Hatamar” and “Givat Hadagan” west by the settlements). north of Givat Hazayit, in which few Moreover, the settlement of Efrat is hundreds of settlers are living in trailer located east of the highway connecting homes. In recent years, the government between Hebron and Bethlehem (Road approved a construction plan for perma- no. 60). If annexed by Israel, there will nent homes in those outposts. The plan be no main road to connect the south- is awaiting approval for marketing. ern parts of the West Bank with the The establishment of an outpost in center of the West Bank. Givat Eitam might be the basis of the Despite all that, the Israeli govern- expansion of Efrat further to the north ment continues to develop the settle- and to the east. ment of Efrat. Recently the government approved the construction of 277 hous- The Location—A Big Obstacle for ing units in Efrat. The proposed farm is the Two States Solution located east of the planned route of the In previous of!cial and unof!cial Separation Barrier, and if established negotiations between Israelis and Pal- and developed it might cause a further estinians, the settlement of Efrat was expansion of the areas taken by the under dispute. According to the Fence.

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