Settlement & Annexation Report: October 4, 2024

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on “Hilltop Youth” Settler Terror Group & Two Individuals

On October 1st the United States announced sanctions on the “Hilltop Youth” settler groups along with two individuals – Eitan Yarden and Avichai Suissa.

The violent, extremist, fundamentalist Hilltop Youth settler group  – dubbed the “Jewish ISIS” – operates out of the Yitzhar settlement in the northern region of the West Bank, near Nablus, and there has been no shortage of documentation over the years of their terrorism of Palestinian communities in the region and their involvement in establishing new outposts. The State Department asserted:

“[the Hilltop Youth are] a violent extremist group that has rampaged through Palestinian communities in the West Bank.  It has carried out killings, mass arson, and other so-called “price tag” attacks to exact revenge and intimidate Palestinian civilians.  Hilltop Youth has repeatedly clashed with the Israeli military when it tries to counter Hilltop Youth’s destructive activities.”

The “Hilltop Youth” are not a pariah group at odds with the Israeli state. Last year , +972 Magazine revealed that the IDF had actually created a specific unit for members of the Hilltop Youth and outpost groups to serve in, a unit which has been involved in violent attacks on Palestinians across the Jordan Valley. Further, the IDF recruits members of the Hilltop Youth also recruited to serve in the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has been accused of gross violations of human rights but which the U.S. has decided not enforce its own law against supplying arms to such problematic groups even after a lengthy investigation.

In 2023, Haaretz revealed that the Jewish National Fund has given $1million to organizations which provide support and services to the “Hilltop Youth,” including a project meant to offer professional training to Hilltop Youth (who are mostly highschool dropouts) living in illegal West Bank outposts.

Prominent U.S. Senators Call for Biden Admin to Sanction Amana Settler Group

In a letter to U.S.Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin dated September 27th, three prominent Democratic Senators called for more sanctions on extremist settlers, specifically calling for the Amana organization to be sanctioned. Unlike the Hilltop Youth (which  the U.S. sanctioned this week), the Amana organization is deeply intertwined with the entire settlement enterprise in both legal and illegal (under Israeli law) ways. Amana is influential in the realm of settler political leadership, very well financed, owns and develops a large portfolio of land in the West Bank for settlements and outposts. Senators wrote:

“Amana has a long and well-documented history of supporting extremist settlers who expropriate Palestinian land and threaten Palestinian landholders, farmers, and shepherds. Amana has played a central role in forming and sustaining hill-top outposts illegal under Israeli law, often by granting loans to bankroll their start. These outposts have since become bases of operation for settler violence against Palestinians, with those resident settlers burning olive groves and homes; stealing livestock; diverting water supplies; blocking roads in and out of villages; and intimidating and threatening villagers from accessing or returning to their land. These outposts contribute to the attacks on and sometimes even killing of Palestinians on their own land or while traveling through the West Bank…We therefore urge you to continue to designate for sanctions those individuals and entities who are undermining peace and stability in the West Bank, to include the Amana organization.”

A U.S. government source told The Times of Israel that Amana has already been considered in past rounds of sanctions. Leaders of Amana have been working hard to dissuade the U.S. from imposing sanctions on the organization, fearing the severe and far-reaching implications U.S. sanctions would have. The Canadian government sanctioned Amana in June, but it is widely understood U.S. sanctions are a standard bearer for the sanctions regimes of EU countries and much more consequential in world banking systems.

Peace Now describes Amana:

“This organization is one of the strongest settler organizations financially, politically, and in terms of its influence on the establishment of settlements and outposts in the Occupied Territories. With assets valued at approximately NIS 600 million, and an annual budget of tens of millions of NIS, Amana is considered the ‘mother and father’ of the illegal outposts, and in recent years also of the illegal agricultural farms that are a major factor in settler violence against Palestinians. Peace Now revealed Amana’s central role in taking over land and in the construction of illegal outposts in our 2017 report ‘Unraveling the Mechanism behind Illegal Outposts’…Amana is also involved in the establishment of farms that have been subject to international sanctions because of violence against Palestinians. For example, Amana was a key partner in the establishment of Meitarim Farm (Yinon Levy’s farm), one of the first to be imposed international sanctions after four communities of hundreds of Palestinians were expelled following violence by settlers who came from the direction of the farm.”

Settlers Push Settlement of South Lebanon, Advertising Houses & Calling for Conquest

The movement to establish Israeli settlements in south Lebanon continues to gain steam in the wake of Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon and orders to evacuate Lebanese towns in the area.

Middle East Eye reports that the new Israeli settler group – Uri Tzafon – pushing for the Israeli government to settle southern Lebanon has published flyers advertising homes for sale across the Israeli border, in sovereign Lebanese territory. The advertisement reads:

“After the elimination of the Hezbollah leadership…do you also dream of a big house, a view of snowy mountains and a warm community in the land of our ancestors?”

The group has about 3,000 members communicating in a WhatsApp group, offering suggestions to rename Lebanese towns once they are conquered and emptied. Members of the group also sent balloons into Lebanon with threatening messages

A senior rabbi published an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post calling for Israel to conquer southern Lebanon, claiming that it is Israel’s God-given land and saying Lebanese should be expelled from the area.

In a deep dive into Uri Tzafon and the push to settler southern Lebanon, Jewish Currents columnist Maya Rosen writes:

“It is tempting to dismiss Uri Tzafon as fringe. After all, even Israel’s far-right, ultra-nationalist ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir—proponents of war with Hezbollah as well as the military occupation of southern Lebanon—have not yet mentioned civilian settlements. And every policy expert I spoke with agreed that the chance that Israel would actually establish settlements in southern Lebanon is very low. Natasha Roth-Rowland, a scholar of the Israeli far right, explained that there simply isn’t the political will to advance settlements in Lebanon, especially when the Israeli military apparatus is so overstretched. And yet, experts warned me again and again that the movement to settle Lebanon ought not to be discounted lightly. “It’s easy to dismiss, because it’s so far removed from reality,” Makdisi told me. “But I don’t see this as fringe. It’s been in the political imagination forever, and it’s not going to go away.” Roth-Rowland agreed, noting that “there is a fairly well-established track record of even the most fringe parts of the Israeli settler movement becoming not so fringe over a period of decades or even years,” and pointing to the ways that the movement has succeeded in establishing and growing settlements, including, for example, the particularly violent one in the heart of the Palestinian city of Hebron. Many of the unauthorized outposts this movement has created have even been retroactively legalized, pointing to how, in Roth-Rowland’s words, “settlers have made political gains over the last several decades by outflanking the government from the right and forcing concessions.” In this context, experts noted that the mainstreaming of a group like Uri Tzafon could be more feasible than it first appears. “That’s how the settlement movement started,” said Israeli settlement historian Akiva Eldar. “They planted seeds, which grew into trees, which grew into a jungle.”

2024 Olive Harvest Season Set to Begin Amidst Concerns Israel, Settlers Will Prevent Access

The Israeli government is poised to block the beginning of the Palestinian olive harvest season from beginning. OCHA reports that the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture announced that the annual olive harvest will begin on October 10th, but Israeli authorities – which police Palestinians’ access to their agricultural lands in Area C and in the Seam Zone – have set a later  dates for olive harvest, with dates between October 3 and 28 for different governorates across the West Bank. OCHA further reports:

“Initial reports suggest that, unlike 2023, Israeli authorities intend to allow farmers to gain access to their lands behind the Barrier, while access to lands near Israeli settlements remains uncertain.”

The human rights group HaMoked has led legal efforts to compel the Israeli army to permit Palestinians to access their privately owned land in the Seam Zone, the land between the 1967 Green Line and the Israeli-built Separation Barrier), and is currently engaged in litigation with the state on this matter. On October 1st, the State submitted its second response to HaMoked’s petition to provide access to agricultural lands, in which the State said that it intends to open the Seam Zone gates at the end of October or beginning of November, “subject to a situational security assessment.” These dates are well past the start of the olive harvest.

HaMoked further reports:

“the State also made clear that permits will be granted on an individual basis, again subject to security assessments, in order to ‘prevent acts of terrorism.’ In previous years, over 10,000 Palestinians (extended families as well as hired workers) took part in harvesting olives on lands beyond the Separation Barrier. We know from years of experience that it takes weeks, at best, for Palestinians to navigate the Civil Administration’s very cumbersome permit application procedure. In short, the State’s response only strengthens our concern that they intend to allow only a very minimal olive harvest beyond the Barrier.

It is disappointing but not surprising that the State remains unwilling to allow Palestinian farmers to access their own lands on de facto annexed territory. There are many pressing issues facing Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories at this time. All the same, we want to ensure that in this chaotic time, the economic and food security, livelihoods, and centuries-old traditions of Palestinian farmers are not neglected.”

On September 25, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of Palestinian farmers and access to their lands, emphasizing the need to prevent a recurrence of last year’s restrictions and violence that devastated livelihoods.

OCHA writes:

“The annual olive harvest season is a key economic, social and cultural event for Palestinians. Last year’s harvest was particularly challenging due to significant movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers that followed the 7 October attack on Israel. More than 96,000 dunums of olive-cultivated lands across the West Bank remained unharvested due to Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access. Consequently, according to the Food Security Sector, Palestinian farmers suffered an estimated total loss of more than 1,200 metric tons of olive oil in the 2023 season, resulting in a direct financial setback of US$10 million. The impact was particularly harsh in the northern governorates of Tulkarm, Qalqiliya and Nablus.

Access restrictions and widespread settler violence pose high risks and challenges for farmers during the olive harvest season, potentially undermining their livelihoods. The Protection Cluster, led by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), in coordination with OCHA, the Food Security Sector and humanitarian partners are preparing to support Palestinian farmers by providing coordinated protective presence in identified hotspots, documenting incidents of violence, and advocating for people’s rights during the season. Moreover, as part of its emergency response mechanism and 48-hour rapid response, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has allocated US$750,000 to support two local partners in preparation for the upcoming olive harvest season. These partners are implementing projects aimed at strengthening the resilience of farmers in rural communities. The specific objectives of these projects include the provision of essential tools and equipment, cleaning olive groves to reduce fire risks and prevent losses and improving olive oil storage facilities to ensure higher food quality.”

KNESSET.  October 7, 2024

Two bills aimed at curbing UNRWA’s activity in Israel approved for second and third readings

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair MK Edelstein: “UNRWA problem did not begin on October 7”

The Israel Knesset Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, chaired by MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein (Likud), voted to approve for second and third readings two bills that are aimed at curbing the activity in Israel of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The first bill, sponsored by MKs Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and merged with a bill introduced by Sharren Haskel (New Hope – The United Right), proposes to prohibit UNRWA from operating within Israel’s sovereign territory, so that it will not operate any mission, will not provide any service and will not conduct any activity, either directly or indirectly, in the sovereign territory of the State of Israel.

The second bill is a merger of three bills that were submitted by MKs Ron Katz (Yesh Atid), Dan Illouz (Likud), Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beitenu) and a group of MKs. The bill states that the invitation for UNRWA, based on correspondence exchanged between Israel and the agency dating back to June 14, 1967, concerning Israel’s facilitation of UNRWA’s operations, will expire on October 7, 2024, or upon final approval of the bill in the Knesset Plenum. The bill further stipulates that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may have any contact with UNWRA or a representative of the agency, and that Israel’s National Security Council must report to the committee every two months regarding the bill’s implementation.

Both bills were approved by the committee unanimously, and they will enter into force 90 days after their final approval in the Knesset Plenum. During the debates on the bill, some of which were classified, the committee heard from social organizations, researchers and representatives of bereaved families whose loved ones were either held captive in Gaza by UNRWA members, or were murdered with the assistance of UNRWA members.

During the classified deliberations, the possible legal, diplomatic, economic and security-related implications of the bills were discussed at length with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Defense Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the National Security Council and security agencies. In addition, the committee’s legal team, led by Adv. Miri Frenkel Shor, held numerous meetings with various professionals to ensure that the bills would provide a response to the wide array of issues that were raised in the deliberations.

Committee Chair MK Edelstein said, “The UNRWA problem did not begin on October 7; it merely came to the surface and was revealed in all of its evilness (on that day). For many years now, Members of Knesset from all ends of the political spectrum have raised the issue and have advanced bill related to the matter. We all witnessed UNRWA’s activity on October 7; there was no concern there for ‘relief and employment.’ We know that some of the hostages were held by workers of the organization.

“This is a complex issue with widespread implications, and for that reason, in the last few weeks the committee staff and myself, together with Members of Knesset, have worked very intensively with various parties in order to reach significant and operative drafts of the laws. A short while ago, the UNRWA laws passed in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and they will come up for second and third readings in the Knesset Plenum. UNRWA is out!”

While critics of Israel in general and Prime Minister Netanyahu in particular, welcomed with glee excerpts from Bob Woodward’s book “War,” of President Biden cursing Mr. Netanyahu, the excerpts actually reveal the disturbing inability of Mr. Biden to concede that he and his team have been consistently wrong in their assessments and advice.

Since the tragic October 7, 2023 debacle, Israel has been constantly reassessing the situation and revising its planning and operations accordingly.

This while the Biden team remains stuck on the same messianic fantasy that creating a sovereign Palestinian state will magically put an end to the existential threat of those committed to a “no Jewish state” solution.

The New York Times report on the book relates that in April, for instance, the president questioned Mr. Netanyahu’s conduct in the war in a phone call, asking, according to the book, “What’s your strategy, man?”

When Mr. Netanyahu answered, insisting that the Israeli military needed to push deeper into southern Gaza and invade the southern city of Rafah, a key border crossing with Egypt, the president, using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname, dismissed this response.

“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Mr. Biden replied, according to Mr. Woodward.

In May, Mr. Biden halted a shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel out of concern that they would be used in the Rafah operation and cause excessive civilian casualties. After Mr. Netanyahu proceeded with the invasion of Rafah anyway,Mr. Biden told advisers that Mr. Netanyahu was a liar, using an obscenity, and added that “18 out of 19 people who work for him” were also liars, the book says.

He questioned Mr. Netanyahu’s motivations, saying that “he doesn’t give” a damn about Hamas but gives a damn “only about himself,” although he used an earthier term than “damn.”

The outcome of the Rafah operation was completely at odds with the warnings of the Biden team.

It took a fraction of the projected time with a bare minimum of civilian losses.

But instead of adapting to this reality, Mr. Biden remains angry.

And his team remains doggedly driven to impose its two-state solution fantasy.

This while another self-serving fantasy regarding Iran drives American policy. It is that Iran, whose theology is committed to the destruction of the Jewish State, achieving world dominance and which sees an apocalypse that would also destroy Iran as a welcome path to Paradise, can also somehow be placated by the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

The Woodward book reveals a dark hour in American leadership as a desperate world seeks light.

“All that we are experiencing is part of an Iranian plan that has established this ring of fire around us.” Yossi Kuperwasser, former chief of the IDF’s military intelligence research division, breaks down Iran’s “ring of fire” around Israel and explains what went wrong with Israel’s security on October 7th.