SETTLEMENT MONITOR

EDITED BY GEOFFREY ARONSON

This section covers items—reprinted articles, statistics, and maps—pertaining to Israeli settlement activities in the Gaza Strip and 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 Middle East Peace. JPS is grateful to the foundation for permission to draw on its material.

Freeze Failure Moving Beyond a Settlement Freeze ...... 184 Semiannual Report on Settlement Construction, by Peace Now (excerpts) ..... 186

Support for Settlers Influential Israeli Army Judge Says West Bank Land Belongs to Jews, by Meron Rapoport (excerpts) ...... 187 May Retroactively Legalize Settlement Construction, by Chaim Levinson . . . . 188 U.S. Group Invests Tax-free Millions in Land, by Uri Blau (excerpts) ...... 189

FREEZE FAILURE Mitchell to win from Israel the imposition of a complete cessation of settlement ex- MOVING BEYOND A SETTLEMENT FREEZE pansion in the West Bank, including East From Settlement Report, September– Jerusalem and tangible demonstrations of October 2009 normalization with Israel from the Arab The administration of Barack Obama world. is setting the stage for the resumption It was Obama’s decision to place settle- of talks, if not necessarily formal nego- ments at the heart of his administration’s tiations, between Israeli and Palestinian opening diplomatic effort. Highlighting leaders. Washington hopes that a tripar- settlements and Arab confidence building tite fall meeting of Pres. Barack Obama, measures as the twin points of engagement Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was understood by the Obama team as the and PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas will policy option most likely to impress upon mark the inauguration of a new phase in Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the in- Obama’s Middle East policy. ternational community, the intention and If Obama succeeds, the negotiations the ability of the new American leadership may be headlined by an Annapolis-like to end occupation, create a Palestinian summit conference that Russia and others state, and normalize Israel’s place in the re- are vying to host, leading to a resumption gion. Obama seized the policy initiative by of bilateral talks aimed, according to U.S. declaring in Cairo “the illegitimacy of con- officials, at “advancing a two-state solu- tinued Israeli settlements” (see Doc. D2 in tion where Israelis and Palestinians can JPS 153). Washington’s demand for a set- live side by side in their own states with tlement freeze overshadowed Netanyahu’s peace and security.” To embark on this ef- effort to focus on “economic peace” and fort, however, Obama must move beyond the interwoven crises between Israel and the diplomatic effort led during the last Hamas in Gaza that dominated the agenda three months by his special envoy George before Obama’s inauguration. The new

Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. XXXIX, No. 2 (Winter 2010), pp. 184–189, ISSN: 0377-919X; electronic ISSN: 1533-8614. © 2010 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.2010.XXXIX.2.184. SETTLEMENT MONITOR 185 president won a quick affirmation from Ne- Jerusalem, refugees and disarmament. This will also tanyahu in support of the principle (if not clarify whether Obama will be able to force the the content) of a two-state solution and parties to follow through on whatever agreement boosted Palestinian confidence that recog- they make. Everybody is monitoring the battle with regards to the Israeli settlements, and construction nition of their oft-repeated demand for im- is ongoing. So long as settlement building contin- position of a settlement freeze was at last ues under the pretext of expansion and vertical in sight. construction, nobody in the region will believe that Netanyahu’s anticipated response to Obama is capable of handling these weighty issues. U.S. demands will not meet this test. Israel is prepared, at most, to impose a tempo- Obama is proving no more successful rary moratorium on certain types of set- than his predecessors in winning a com- tlement expansion, an action similar to plete freeze, and he has been stung by Ne- restrictions agreed to by Menachem Begin tanyahu’s ability to reframe Washington’s in 1977. It will complete more than 3,000 demand as a challenge to Israel’s presence new dwellings in West Bank settlements, in East Jerusalem. By the end of July, Wash- enough to increase the settler population ington found itself engaged in detailed of 500,000 by 12,000, and exclude East discussions of the minutiae of settlement Jerusalem from any building limitations. construction and expansion. U.S. negotia- Such an outcome, after months of high- tors asserted that the talks were aimed at powered U.S. diplomacy, risks being seen closing settlement expansion “loopholes.” as conferring an ambiguous U.S. “stamp of Israeli leaders, initially stunned by Obama’s approval” and further evidence of the in- demands, were also confident. They had ability of diplomacy to challenge the set- concluded that Obama’s “bark was worse tlement enterprise. Despite the failure to than his bite.” The potential for a crisis win a credible suspension of all settlement in relations over settlements had been activity, Obama still commands the inter- averted and the evolving terms of a limited national arena and he retains a powerful settlement moratorium were well within ability and interest in setting the terms of manageable limits. In a reflection of this Arab-Israeli diplomacy. A vigorous Ameri- cold-blooded Israeli view, Israeli columnist can effort that supersedes the spurned Nahum Barnea wrote on 14 August, “De- demand for a comprehensive settlement fense Minister was the honey freeze appears to be the White House’s trap and special envoy George Mitchell next move. took the bait. . . . He is now negotiating over the [settlement moratorium’s] time- table, the conditions, the numbers and the The Unrequited Demand for a exit points.” Settlement Freeze Arab visitors to Washington from Egypt, The complete cessation of all facets of Jordan, and Saudi Arabia offered equally settlement activity everywhere, defined by insistent advice about the shortcomings of Secy. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as the administration’s pursuit of a settlement “a stop to the settlements. Not some settle- freeze, calling for renewed diplomacy on ments, not outposts, not natural growth ending the occupation and creating a Pal- exceptions,” remains Washington’s stated estinian state. In a 31 July press conference policy. This demand is the standard for with Clinton, Saudi foreign minister Prince success against which Obama’s settlement Saud al-Faisal stated: policies are being judged, by those who wish the new president well and by oth- Incrementalism and a step by step approach ers who want to empty Obama’s two-state has not and we believe will not achieve peace. vision, and the necessity of massive settle- Temporary security, confidence building measures ment evacuation, of real content. will also not bring peace. What is required is a com- Leading Arab commentator Abdul Rah- prehensive approach that defines the final outcome man al-Rashed noted in al-Sharq al-Awsat at the outset and launches into negotiations over on 8 July 2009: final status issues: borders, Jerusalem, water, refu- gees, and security. The battle to stop the [Israeli] construction of settlements is a personal battle for Obama, and one As the summer wore on, Obama him- that will reveal whether the U.S. president is capa- self grew visibly impatient with seemingly ble of dealing with the larger issues, such as [Israeli interminable discussions on a settlement Palestinian] negotiations over territory, borders, freeze that were now delaying the opening 186 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES of much anticipated negotiations. Having to complement this process by promot- declared the status quo “unsustainable,” ing policies that address the unsustain- Obama was anxious to move off what he able humanitarian and economic crisis in himself acknowledged was “the rut that Gaza and encourage Palestinian political we’re in currently.” reconciliation.

Beyond a Settlement Freeze SEMIANNUAL REPORT ON SETTLEMENT A meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas CONSTRUCTION (EXCERPTS) would be Washington’s first achievement in moving beyond a narrow discussion of This report by Peace Now was pub- a settlement freeze to Obama’s strategic lished in August 2009 and details meth- objective of a final status agreement in ods through which the settlement freeze which settlement evacuation stands to fea- is being circumvented. ture prominently. Israel’s leaders are well According to a Peace Now inspection, aware that they will face this challenge. To construction within the “settlement blocs” meet it, they are continuing efforts begun continues as usual, with no freeze to be seen by Prime Minister to reach bi- on the ground. Conversely, construction lateral understandings with Washington on at isolated settlements continues through Israel’s long-term security requirements in various settlement-freeze “bypass” tracks: the West Bank and elsewhere. To this end, Netanyahu and Barak have presented their a. Actualizing Old Plans six-point political-security agenda: recogni- Some of the new construction seen in tion of the state of Israel, resolution of the the last months, especially in the isolated refugee problem outside Israel, an end to settlements, is construction based on old Palestinian and Arab claims as part of the plans that were approved years ago. This end to the conflict, effective demilitariza- is meant to bypass the “settlement freeze,” tion, and international recognition of the without needing to approve a new plan demilitarization arrangements. “As long that must receive the defense minister’s as we unite behind these conditions,” de- approval. It is important to explain that it clared Netanyahu on 28 July, “the chance is within the power of the government to of implementing them increases, because prevent construction that was approved the international community respects a in the past. However, it is politically easier clear, solid, logical and just stance.” for the government to allow the construc- Alone among the participants, Abbas is tion while turning a blind eye, with direct conditioning a renewal of diplomatic con- or indirect encouragement, and continue tacts on a complete cessation of settlement claiming there is a “settlement freeze,” expansion. He has asserted control over when it comes to actualizing an old plan. both the fractious Fatah movement and Presently, new neighborhoods are the moribund PLO and looks to polls that under construction on the basis of old show improvement in the contest with plans in Kochav HaShachar (plan from Hamas. Now more than ever, Washington 1995), Matityahu (plan from 1984), Ma’ale and Abu Mazin believe that a “strength- Mikhmas (plan from 1999), Tekoa (plan ened” Abu Mazin, without Hamas, is the from 1997), Elkana (plan from 2001), key to effective Palestinian representation. Na’ale (plan from 1999), Kefar Etzion (plan Nevertheless, Gaza’s continuing instabil- from 1993), and Barqan (plan from 2003). ity and the associated failure to reconcile According to the Spiegel Report, an Hamas and Fatah loom large as obstacles official report by the Defense Ministry, to Obama’s goal of a two-state agreement there are more than 40,000 housing units within two years. Even though Gaza has in plans that were approved in the past been overshadowed by Washington’s dip- but have not yet been actualized. Some of lomatic effort to win a settlement freeze, those plans are not relevant or need fur- it remains the key focus of the Palestinian ther approvals before being implemented. conflict with Israel, and the Hamas-Fatah Theoretically, it is possible to double the split undermines Abbas’s ability to nego- number of settlers in the settlements with- tiate effectively on behalf of all Palestin- out approving a single new plan. A real ians. As the Obama administration moves settlement freeze must include a freeze on from the issue of a freeze to broader talks actualizing construction and not only on on final status issues, it would do well planning procedures. SETTLEMENT MONITOR 187

b. Illegal Construction s At least 96 new structures were built, Another way to bypass the freeze is by including 73 caravans, 19 permanent building illegally. Some of the new con- structures, and 4 agricultural/indus- struction is illegal, sometimes based on old trial structures. plans that did not go through all of the li- s 15 structures were built in outposts censing processes and sometimes without west of the fence route compared to any plans. Examples are Halamish, Kiryat 81 in outposts east of it (85%). Netefim, Kochav Ya’acov, and Kedar. (In s Additionally, groundwork was under- Kedar there is construction in the area of taken for the construction of at least an approved plan but based on the provi- 20 new structures in the outposts. sions of a new plan [that] has not yet been s In 60 outposts there was some kind approved.) The government is showing no of construction. determination to stop the illegal construc- s In 10 of the 23 outposts slated for tion despite warnings made to the law en- immediate evacuation according to forcement agencies. the Defense Ministry list there was construction and expansion. . . . The Main Findings General (in settlements, outposts, and industrial areas): SUPPORT FOR SETTLERS s The building of 596 new structures INFLUENTIAL ISRAELI ARMY JUDGE SAYS WEST began in the first half of 2009, of BANK LAND BELONGS TO JEWS (EXCERPTS) which 96 were in outposts. This article by Ha’Aretz reporter Meron s 35% of the structures were built east Rapoport was published by the Guardian of the route of the separation fence on 26 October 2009. (208 structures) while 65% (388 Major Adrian Agassi did not make the structures) started to be built west of connection between the Bible, the land, the fence. and the Jews when, fresh out of university, s A rise in the number of permanent he left England for Israel in search of his structures and a drop in the number roots. He was not even a practicing Jew. of caravans. The number of permanent But over the past quarter of a century, structures that started to be built rose the Israeli army lawyer and then military 8% in the first half of 2009 (372 com- judge at the forefront of arguably the most pared to 344 new structures in the significant battle in the occupied West second half of 2008), and the number Bank—the confiscation of Palestinian of caravans dropped 43% (204 com- land for the construction of Jewish settle- pared to 361 new caravans). Most of ments—has come to see himself as in ser- the decline was recorded in the settle- vice of a higher duty. ments and outposts east of the route In an unusually frank interview, which of the separation fence (a 35% drop offers insights into the melding of religion, in the general number of structures politics, and law that underpins land sei- compared to only a 6% decline in con- zures in the occupied territories, Agassi struction west of the fence). has laid out his belief that Israel has a bib- In settlements (without outposts and lical claim to territory beyond its borders industrial areas) and that he, even as an immigrant, has a right to live on it when those born there s The construction of 492 new struc- do not. tures began in settlements, including “When we [Israelis] say that this is a po- 351 permanent structures, 131 cara- litical conflict, then we lose the battle,” he vans, and 10 industrial structures. 124 told the Guardian, adding that it should structures were built east of the sepa- be remembered that the ancient land of ration fence route and 368 west of it. Israel is “given to us by the Bible, not by s In addition, groundwork began for at some United Nations.” least another 60 structures. Agassi, one of the most important offi- In outposts cials in the military courts wielding author- ity over large parts of the West Bank, says s Not a single real outpost was settling Jews on lands that made up an- evacuated. cient Israel stands above all other biblical 188 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES commandments and only when it is done legalized Wednesday [2 September 2009], can they have “a promised land and a seemingly representing a major policy promised life.” turnaround. The two responses are a de- “You say that these lands ‘passed into parture from the state’s usual response that Jewish hands’. Others would say that the structures are illegal and are expected they came back into Jewish hands. Oth- to be demolished. ers would say that they are obviously ours, The responses, coming three weeks inherently,” he said. It was, he claims, a after Deputy Premier and Strategic Affairs mistake to call it the State of Israel. “If we Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that the state would have named it the State of Jews, prosecutor is not faithfully representing the Arabs would have understood that this the current government’s view on settle- land belongs to the Jews.” ments, seem to signal a change in policy. Agassi served in the legal department In several past cases, including con- that oversaw the confiscation of land in the struction in the settlements of Harsha, Hay- West Bank to build Jewish settlements and ovel, Neve Tzuf, Netiv Haavot, and Amana, was then appointed to the military court the state told the court the structures were that decided Palestinian appeals against the illegal and were due to be destroyed in seizure of their property. The Palestinians keeping with the priorities of the defense almost never won. His court also ruled on establishment. legal disputes between Jewish settlers and The first of the two cases Wednesday Palestinians. was a petition by Peace Now with a re- Agassi denies his credo affected his le- quest to issue a demolition order for 12 gal judgments, but his court was consid- new structures in the settlement of Kiryat ered so biased by some critics that on one Netefim. The state responded that “while occasion the military prosecution, in an the work is illegal, a detailed master plan unusual step, appealed against Agassi’s had been published in the past with the ruling in favor of settlers to Israel’s High aim of arranging the planning status of the Court. . . . settlement. This situation requires a deep Agassi says a peace agreement with the scrutiny of the issue by the government.” Palestinians “goes against nature” because The state also told the court it opposed an as far as he can see nothing had changed interim order against populating the struc- in the last 4,000 years in the land of Israel, tures, another unusual move. and that back to biblical times Arabs and The second petition, submitted by Yesh Jews were at each other’s throats. Din, sought the demolition of 12 mobile Agassi uses the term Arabs because he homes in the settlement of Kochav Ya’acov, claims Palestinians do not exist. He came which was built on Palestinian land. to this conclusion over the past decade Unusually, the state’s response ignored while serving as a special judge for admin- the issue of the ownership of the land, istrative arrest. Based on confidential intel- which the settlers say belongs to the state, ligence reports, without trial, Agassi sent but rather said orders to stop work have several hundred Palestinians—deemed to been issued and that the settlers “have be terrorists or security threats—to prison been summoned to a meeting of the over- for six months or more. sight subcommittee to discuss the matter of “You read the raw intelligence material demolition orders. It goes without saying and you see that most of them are moved that after these meetings and in keeping by religious doctrine, not by a political with the outcome, we will act according to one. They use religion in order to justify priorities.” killing as many Jews as possible. Is this not Peace Now secretary general Yariv Op- a religious war?” penheimer wrote Wednesday to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that political pressure coming from senior ministers was ISRAEL MAY RETROACTIVELY LEGALIZE behind the change in the state’s responses. SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION “We ask you to instruct the High Court This article by Chaim Levinson was petitions department to ignore any hint of published in Ha’Aretz on 3 September 2009. political pressure. Surrender to pressure, The state prosecutor’s representative as manifest in the two responses of the twice hinted that construction in West state, will lead to the crumbling of the rule Bank settlements might be retroactively of law,” he wrote. SETTLEMENT MONITOR 189

The head of the Gush Etzion Regional “That’s because of the tax issue,” Luria Council, Shaul Goldstein, who had pro- said, explaining that due to American law, tested to Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- the American Friends organization “has to tanyahu over the state prosecution’s be connected in some fashion with educa- responses to the High Court, said Wednes- tional matters.” day that he was pleased with the state’s He also estimated that 60 percent of responses. “The whole issue of construc- Ateret Cohanim’s money is raised in the tion is a political issue, not a legal issue,” U.S. Goldstein said. The Friends organization’s most recent return, filed in 2008 for fiscal 2007, shows that it raised $2.1 million in donations that U.S. GROUP INVESTS TAX-FREE MILLIONS IN year. Of this, $1.6 million was transferred EAST JERUSALEM LAND (EXCERPTS) to Ateret Cohanim in Israel. The remain- This article by Uri Blau was published der was used to cover administrative over- in Ha’Aretz on 17 August 2009. head, including fund-raising expenses and American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a an $80,000 salary for Shoshana Hikind, the nonprofit organization that sends millions American organization’s vice president and of shekels worth of donations to Israel ev- de facto director, whose husband Dov is ery year for clearly political purposes, such a New York state assemblyman and well- as buying Arab properties in East Jerusalem, known supporter of the Israeli right. The is registered in the United States as an orga- organization also raised substantial sums nization that funds educational institutes in previous years: $1.3 million in 2006, in Israel. $900,000 in 2005, and about $2 million in The U.S. tax code enables nonprofits to 2004. By comparison, American Friends of receive tax-exempt status if they engage in Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim raised only educational, charitable, religious, or scien- $189,000 in 2007. tific activity. However, such organizations In its IRS returns, American Friends of are forbidden to engage in any political Ateret Cohanim said its purpose is to “pro- activity. The latter is broadly defined as mote,” “publicize,” and “raise funds for” any action, even the promotion of certain Ateret Cohanim institutions in Israel. These ideas, that could have a political impact. institutions, it continued, “encourage and Financing land purchases in East Je- promote study and observance of Jewish rusalem would, therefore, seem to vio- religious traditions and culture.” late the organization’s tax-exempt status. In reality, Ateret Cohanim in Israel fo- Daniel Luria, chief fundraiser for Ateret cuses mainly on purchasing Arab property Cohanim in Israel, told Ha’Aretz that the in East Jerusalem. Since its founding in the American organization’s registration as 1970s, it has bought dozens of Arab build- an educational entity stemmed from tax ings for Jews to reside in. Just this April, considerations. for instance, it moved Jewish families into “We are an umbrella organization that an Arab house it purchased in the Muslim engages in redeeming land,” he said. “Our Quarter. [fundraising] activity in New York goes One noteworthy donor to its Friends solely toward land redemption.” organization is casino magnate Irving Although Ateret Cohanim also oper- Moskowitz, a well-known supporter of ates a , Ateret Yerushalayim, in the rightist causes, who also owns the Shep- Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s , herd Hotel in East Jerusalem. That hotel fundraising for the yeshiva is handled by a made headlines recently when Moskowitz different organization: American Friends of obtained a permit to build 20 apartments Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim. for Jews there, sparking angry protests American Friends of Ateret Cohanim from the U.S. government. was founded in New York in 1987. Like all In response, Ateret Cohanim chairman tax-exempt organizations, it must file de- Mati Dan insisted that the Friends organiza- tailed annual returns with the U.S. Internal tion “is an independent organization that Revenue Service. An examination of them decides for itself whom to fund.” More- reveals that the organization describes its over, he added, “we engage in education “primary exempt purpose” as “[to] provide constantly . . . I don’t know what Daniel funding for higher educational institutes in Luria told you, but we are active in the Israel.” field of [educational] institutions.” . . . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.