Free Republic

What’s going on in Area C? That was the question we posed to Gilad Ach, director of the Ad Kan non-profit organization, and the answer we received was shocking indeed. According to Ach, while Jewish construction in Area C has been severely curtailed if not outright frozen during recent years, Palestinian construction under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority is going right ahead, funded by member countries of the European Union. Area C is under effective Israeli control and in the event of a future peace deal will likely be included within Israel’s sovereign borders. This hasn’t stopped countries like...

The European Union demanded that Israel cancel plans to evict Bedouin squatters from illegally-erected structures just east of Jerusalem, and condemned a planned housing project in the area for the Israeli town of Maaleh Adumim. Israeli authorities recently announced plans to demolish the Bedouin encampment known as Khan al-Ahmar. The illegal community, which lies entirely in Area C under full Israeli control, was established without any building permits. The encampment is located in the strategically important E-1 area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, one of the largest Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Israel also recently approved housing permits for...

In remarks made before New York City’s Temple Emanu-El on Jan. 24, 2018, former President Barack Obama defended his administration’s decision not to veto United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSC) 2334, which asserted that Israeli settlements have “no legal validity,” violate “international law” and are a “major obstacle” to achieving a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Obama told the audience that he allowed UNSC 2334 to pass because “the pace of [Israeli] settlement construction skyrocketed making it almost impossible to make any kind of Palestinian state.”To be “a true friend of Israel, it is important to be honest about it, and the politics...

The door is closing on Palestine. They had their chance and they blew it At a time when the leaders of Arab-controlled Ramallah continue their rejection of the Jewish State and their civil society enemy in Gaza has launched more missiles at Israel and been deprived of yet another terror cell in Hebron, they continue to refuse to sit and negotiate a permanent peace agreement. They think they can weaken and destroy Israel is stages by applying the alternative strategy of force and diplomatic pressure.

The Palestinian Authority's International Relations Department in Ramallah condemned Israel's "empiralistic calls" to annex Area C, warning such a move may have "dangerous consequences" and would destroy any chance of a "Palestinian" state. "We have been told that the right-wing leadership of Israel is calling to annex what is called the settlement blocs in area C of Judea and Samaria. The first areas they wish to annex are those around Jerusalem. This is in order to begin a discussion amongst the Israeli public not about ending the occupation but about making it stronger and applying Israeli law to Palestinian areas,"...

The EU Committee for Middle East Affairs has recommended to its 28 member states that they consider suing Israel for damages, after Israeli authorities destroyed illegal EU-funded Arab buildings in Judea and Samaria. The buildings had been built in Area C. […] Two European diplomats told Haaretz that the decision had been made two weeks ago, during a meeting of the Committee for Middle East Affairs. The Committee’s decisions are not binding, but are instead a “recommendation” and provide a basis for future EU and Foreign Affairs Council political and security decisions. The EU’s “recommendation” comes after Israel refused the...

The IDF Civil Administration on Monday morning dismantled and seized seven portable structures and other building parts that had not yet been assembled in E1, a strategic corridor connecting Jerusalem with Ma'ale Adumim to the east. The structures were set up illegally without permits apparently in the last several days, in the latest Arab land grab attempt in the key region. Jerusalem Belt Forum praised the law enforcement, saying, "we welcome the (Civil) Administration for its enforcement activity this morning." "At the same time, we are witnesses in recent days to a phenomenon in which the Palestinians and the European...

Leftist Jewish MK Dov Khenin of the near completely Arab Joint List party spoke with the British Sky News on Sunday, and claimed that Israel is committing an "ethnic cleansing in a very sophisticated way" in Judea and Samaria. Khenin referred to the demolition of illegal Arab construction in Area C, an array of regions classified as being under full Israeli control by the 1994 Oslo Accords, and said that the Israeli government is trying to conquer the land so Israelis can settle there in the future. .....

How would a Hillary Clinton presidency relate to Israel? Recently released emails between the former Secretary of State and her top foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, shed light on the kinds of demands Clinton would make on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In the list of "steps" Clinton's office expected the PA to take there are few concessions to Israel. The PA would be asked to stop incitement against Israel [...]. The plan also calls for the PA and Israel to organize classroom forums bringing together Israeli and PA students to help nurture mutual understanding. [...] Israel, on the...

The European Union on Saturday called on Israel to halt the demolition of illegal Palestinian buildings, some of which are EU-funded, and reiterated its opposition to building Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. "In the past weeks there have been a number of developments in Area C of the West Bank, which risk undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state and driving the parties yet further apart," the EU diplomatic service said in a statement. It referred to Israel's decision on January 25 to declare 154 hectares (380 acres) of land near Jericho in Judea as state land, with...

Israel is considering the possibility of transferring land from Area C, which is under complete Israeli control in accordance with the Oslo Accords, to the Palestinian Authority, Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday. Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel later made clear that if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu goes through with the plan, he will not have a coalition. ...

Despite the 2012 Levy Report proving the legality of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria under international law, the European Union (EU) has bitterly opposed that presence and even threatened sanctions—however, a new report reveals that it is in fact the EU that is guilty of “illegal settlement” in the region. Judea and Samaria was divided into Areas A, B and C in the 1993 Oslo Accords, which created the Palestinian Authority (PA); and under the agreements, Area C is under complete Israeli administrative and security control. However, the new report by Regavim, a NGO watchdog group for Jewish national...

The Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hosted on Sunday the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Yoav Mordechai, for a discussion of illegal construction in Judea and Samaria. According to information presented to the committee, about 550 illegal structures were built by Arabs in Areas C in the course of 2014, as opposed to 150 illegal structures built by Jews. Bearing in mind that the Arab population in Areas C is smaller than the Jewish one – about 90,000 Arabs compared with about 400,000 Jews – the rate...

The IDF Civil Administration ordered the expropriation on Tuesday of land between the Samaria communities of Hizmeh and Adam, both of which are located just north of Jerusalem, so as to widen the local road there to have two lanes and ease traffic congestion. However, Arutz Sheva has learned that just hours after the order was given, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sent representatives to the area and started illegally building corrugated iron structures to establish facts on the ground and prevent the usage of the previously empty land. Shortly after learning about the development, members of the Regavim watchdog group...

Salam Fayyad ReutersPalestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has inaugurated a new PA construction project, despite the fact that it is located in an area under full Israeli control, the PA-based WAFA news agency reported on Monday. According to a statement issued by Fayyad’s office, he inaugurated on Monday stage one of a water dam to be built in “Palestine” at a cost of over $1 million. The statement quoted by WAFA said that during a visit to the village of Ouja and the Jordan Valley, Fayyad inaugurated the Ouja Dam, which he said is one of the projects to...

The battle for control of Judea and Samaria – and specifically Area C, which, according to the Oslo Accords, is under Israeli military and political control – may come down to a “horse race,” if the European Union decides to act on a policy paper that was published by Hebrew daily Yediot Achronot Thursday. According to the document, "Area C and Palestinian state building," the EU plans to encourage, and fund, Arab building and development in Area C, without bothering to seek Israeli approval for projects, and in violation of laws regarding zoning, security, and the environment. Under the Oslo...