by Lahav Harkov, Tovah Lazaroff
Israel had initially intended advance plans for 3,623 units but dropped 1,400 from the agenda.
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Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley heads of
councils attend a press conference of the Yesha Council outside the
Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, August 12, 2021
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
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Israel reduced by 39% the number of West Bank settler
homes as the Civil Administration plans to advance next week for
authorization with an eye toward appeasing US President Joe Biden’s
administration, which opposes such activity.
Initial
intention was to advance plans for 3,623 homes, but for diplomatic
reasons 1,400 units were dropped from the agenda of the Higher Planning
Council for Judea and Samaria, a settler source told The Jerusalem Post.
The
source added that, with an eye to Washington, council plans to advance
2,223 new settler homes was deliberately linked to an unusual Civil
Administration hearing next week on the authorization of 863 Palestinian homes in Area C of the West Bank.
"We
have to be sensitive to the Americans," a senior diplomatic source said
in explaining the need for a balanced approach on Area C housing.
In
the end there is a balanced package that shows that the council is
routinely meeting and disproves any claims that there is a "construction
freeze," the senior diplomatic source said.
A
reasonable amount of Jewish homes will be built, but at the same time
Israel has addressed an issue that concerns the US, which is
construction for the Palestinians in Area C, the source added.
The State Department, however, still attacked the move.
“We
believe it is critical for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to
refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and fundamentally
undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution,” a State
Department official told the Post.
“This
certainly includes settlement activity which will make achieving a
two-state solution much more difficult. It’s critical to advance steps
that will promote calm and reduce tensions,” the official added.
Both
plans were simultaneously placed on the council’s agenda on Wednesday
in what looked like the start of a new paradigm for settlement housing
approvals, which would include units for both Jews and Palestinians in
Area C.
It’s
almost an exact duplicate of the actions taken by former prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu when he convened the council in January in the waning
days of former US president Donald Trump’s administration. At that time
the council advanced plans for 780 settler homes as well as a plan that
allowed for 140 Palestinian homes in Area C, which is under IDF
military and civilian control.
Netanyahu at the time would have also had to keep Biden in mind, given that he was days away from inauguration.
The
announcement of the housing plans comes in advance of Bennett’s
upcoming meeting with Biden. But it also follows an unusual amount of
conversatons between Israeli and US officials in which the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been on the agenda.
Eyal
Hulata, national security adviser-designate, and Shimrit Meir, foreign
policy adviser to the prime minister, were in Washington earlier this
month. This week, CIA Director William Burns was in Israel, where he met
with both Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny
Gantz.
A source
said that Israel notified the US of the settler housing plans in advance
and that Gantz has spoken with the Palestinians.
A
senior Israeli source said that in conversations with the US had not
involved nitty gritty details about the number of units that would be
advanced. Israel developed a model of how to move forward with
settlement construction independently.
"We are managing this ourselves and taking everyone into consideration," the source said.
"We are showing that we have a very responsible and balanced policy," the source added.
The
Trump administration which supported settlement has been replaced with a
government that no longer supports such activity, the senior diplomatic
source said.
"We
have to figure out how to allow building while keeping up relations for
the visit to the US and coordination on Iran," the source added.
But
despite the assurances that settlement activity would continue Foreign
Minister Yair Lapid at a press conference in Morocco on Thursday hinted
that the authorization of settlement plans should be limited to natural
growth.
In the
history of the settlement movement, population growth has exceeded
natural growth, although as the growth rate drops, it becomes
increasingly reliant on it. So limiting development to natural growth
would be a constriction of settlement expansion.
The “natural growth” terminology is a throwback to the Obama and Bush administrations.
Trump had largely not constrained settlement growth during his administration.
Settler
leaders noted the policy change and held two emergency meetings: one on
Wednesday night and another on Thursday, when the Yesha Council held a
meeting in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.
Yesha Council
head David Elhayani said that “when the government makes the
correlation between Israeli and Palestinians building in Area C” then a
red line has been crossed.
“It gives a message to the Palestinians that if you build in Area C, we will authorize it,” Elhayani said.
Settler
leaders and the Israeli Right hold that all of Area C should be
included within Israel’s sovereign borders. The Palestinians in turn
hold that all of Area C should be part of their future state. Building
is seen as one of the most significant ways to preserve that territory.
Out
of the 2,223 settler homes that will be advanced, 1,315 will be
deposited for further discussion. This include 399 homes in the Revava
settlement, 377 in Kedumim, 156 in Givat Ze’ev, 100 in Elon Moreh, 100
in Sansana, 86 in Ofarim, 45 in Vered Yeriho, 27 in Karnei Shomron, 18
in Alon Shvut and seven in Hermesh.
Another
908 will be validated for final approval. This includes 292 in the Kfar
Etzion settlement, 286 in Har Bracha, 105 in Alon Shvut, 83 in Karnei
Shomron, 58 in Beit El, 42 in Givat Ze’ev, 28 in Barkan, 14 in Ma’aleh
Michmash.
The
Palestinian plans for the Civil Administration, which are set for debate
next week, include 150 units at al-Masara near Bethlehem and 50 in
Khirbat Zakariya in the Gush Etzion region. Three housing approvals in
the area of Jenin include 270 units in Bir al-Basha, 233 in al-Masqufa
and 160 in Khirbat Aaba.
Omri Nahmias contributed to this report.
Lahav Harkov, Tovah Lazaroff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/bennett-reduced-settler-housing-plans-by-39-percent-to-appease-us-source-says-676602
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