Israel to build 1,285 housing units over Green Line

JERUSALEM -- Israel on Tuesday published tenders for the construction of 1,285 new units of Jewish housing in the Jerusalem area and the West Bank settlement of Ariel, all on land seized by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war, according to the anti-settlement group Peace Now.

The new housing proposals, one of the biggest tender offers in months, includes 607 units in Pisgat Zeev and 606 units in Ramot, both located on land that Israel annexed into Jerusalem but that Palestinians claim for their state.

Another 72 units will be built in Ariel, a large Jewish settlement built deep in the West Bank near Nablus.

Plans for the units were previously announced and approved by the government. The tender offer represents one of the final stages before construction can break ground.

Peace Now officials criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for expanding settlements beyond the Green Line that marks land seized in 1967 and accused the Housing Ministry of trying to hide the last announcement by releasing it on a day that attention was focused on U.S. elections.

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Photo: The Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev in East Jerusalem is seen in 2009 with the Shuafat refugee camp in the background and Israel's separation barrier running between them. Israel said Tuesday that it was pushing forward with construction of more than 1,200 new homes in Pisgat Zeev and another Jewish enclave in east Jerusalem as well as Ariel, a large Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Credit: Sebastian Scheine / Associated Press

Two new settler outposts go up in West Bank, activists report

JERUSALEM -- Two new outposts of settlers have gone up in the West Bank in recent months, according to a report by the Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now.

The organization noted that unlike the usual makeshift set-up of such outposts, the new ones come complete with paved roads and infrastructure connections to electricity and water, suggesting official support.

"They wouldn't have been able to do this without the authorities' assistance," Hagit Ofran of Peace Now told Israeli media. The group said these are the first outposts to enjoy such official backing since 2005.

Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council, the settler umbrella group, dismissed the report as "nonsense," saying neither outpost was new or illegal and that both were built inside existing settlement boundaries.

The Civil Administration, a branch of the Israeli military, was aware of the two locations and has begun procedures to stop work on the site and issue demolition orders, according to Israeli media.

Christian monastery is target of political vandalism in Israel

JERUSALEM -- A Christian monastery near Jerusalem was defiled overnight by vandals, who set the front door on fire and spray-painted insults to Christianity, including "Jesus is a monkey" on the outside walls.

A monk sleeping in one of the guest rooms at the Trappist monastery of Latrun awoke from the noise outdoors and extinguished the flames, while the guard called the police, according to Israeli media accounts.

Graffiti in Hebrew included the words "Ramat Migron" and "Maoz Esther" -- the names of two unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank recently removed by Israeli authorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, calling for severe punishment for the perpetrators.

"Freedom of religion and freedom of worship are among Israel's basic foundations," Netanyahu said in a statement after meeting with the ministers of public security and defense to discuss what actions were being taken to apprehend the vandals.

Israeli police evict residents from West Bank outpost of Migron

JERUSALEM — The six-year legal battle over Migron came to an end Sunday as the flagship Jewish outpost in the West Bank quietly emptied of its residents, leaving security forces to deal with outside pro-settlement activists on the site throughout the morning and Defense Ministry crews to pack their belongings.

"Jews do not expel Jews," supporters of Migron chanted at the special police units filing into the outpost in the morning, carrying shields in case of possible clashes. By late afternoon, officials were satisfied with the operation. Some families had left overnight, others early in the morning in cooperation with authorities, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told reporters.

Police roadblocks deployed overnight kept most protesters out; the few activists holed up in vacated homes were carried out by police, who arrested eight people. No injuries were reported. The roadblocks will remain another day while the site itself is turned over to government authority.  

Rosenfeld said the police would step up patrols over the next 24 hours to counter possible backlash from Jewish extremists, including small-scale retaliation in the West Bank or blocking roads in Jerusalem.

Putin from the West Bank: Unilateral acts not constructive

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that "unilateral acts" in the Middle East conflict were not constructive, remarks widely interpreted as a criticism of Israel's continued construction of West Bank settlements.

Putin made the statement from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, where he arrived following a one-day visit to Israel.

Speaking to the media after meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Putin said: “I am sure that all unilateral acts before there is a final solution are not constructive.” He urged Palestinians and Israelis to “show maximum restraint” and to stick to signed agreements.

While Putin did not specify any particular party, it was assumed he was talking about Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank. Russia shares the dominant view of the international community that the settlements on territory seized by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War are illegal.

In Israel, Putin spoke about Iran and its nuclear arsenal. In the West Bank, he spoke about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and avoided all other issues, including the situation in neighboring Syria. He refused to take questions at a press appearance, which was limited to brief statements.

“We spoke about how to overcome the impasse in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process,” Putin said, praising Abbas for “taking responsible positions to reach a peaceful settlement based on the two-state solution.”

Abbas, on his part, reiterated the Palestinian position that “negotiations are the only road to peace,” and that Israel's “settlement activity remains a major obstacle to the peace process.”

He called on Putin to revive a years-old plan to convene an international peace conference on the Middle East in Moscow, adding that he also discussed with Putin the situation in the Arab region.

“We discussed the Arab situation because we know that this is important for Russia just as it is important for us,” he said.

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Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during a media briefing following their meeting Tuesday in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Credit: Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service / RIA Novosti / Associated Press

Jewish families begin quiet evacuation of West Bank homes

JERUSALEM -- Israeli authorities began evacuating an outpost in the West Bank on Tuesday after the country's Supreme Court recently held the government to its promise to remove five houses from the Ulpana hill outpost, built on privately owned Palestinian lands in violation of Israeli law.

After holding morning prayers together, residents took their children to school and began packing quietly, helped by staff provided by the Defense Ministry. The settlers were to be moved to a temporary site on a military base two miles away, where mobile homes provided by the government have been set up. Around half of the 33 families to be relocated were moving Tuesday, and the eviction of the disputed buildings is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

The empty homes will be sealed off and the government may ask the Supreme Court for a three-month extension to allow for their physical relocation. 

Anxious to avoid scenes of violence and clashes between settlers and security personnel that might harm both settlers and government, the two sides reached an agreement: The government promised no police or army and the settlers promised a peaceful move with no children on the scene. Young right-wing activists who set up camp on the site in recent weeks with intentions of clashing with authorities were sent away. 

Jewish settlers agree to voluntary evacuation of outpost

JERUSALEM-- Thirty Jewish families have agreed to evacuate their homes in the West Bank outpost of Ulpana and avoid confrontation with Israeli authorities acting on a court order to evict them, Israeli media reported.

The agreement comes 10 days before the deadline for compliance with a ruling by the Supreme Court that holds the government to its promise to remove five buildings from the  outpost in the West Bank, built on privately owned Palestinian land in violation of Israeli law.

As the deadline approached, many young pro-settlement activists had set up camp around the houses slated for removal, preparing for a fight with the authorities. Past outpost dismantlings have often turned violent. A recent rash of vandalism, including the torching of a mosque in a Palestinian village, worsened the tense situation, heightening concern of violence among authorities and settler leaders alike.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  sought a legal solution that would spare the houses and himself the need to evacuate Jewish settlers, who are a base of support for his ruling right-wing coalition. None was found and Netanyahu announced the government would comply with the ruling, but he pledged to build 300 new apartments in the Beit El settlement. 

Ulpana is adjacent to Beit El, which Israel vows it will keep in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Residents of Ulpana  have agreed to avoid confrontation that would tarnish the image of settlers, reports said. They will vacate their houses by the end of the month and move into mobile homes until the houses are physically relocated, in keeping with the government's promise.

Last week, the Cabinet approved the establishment of a ministerial steering committee on settlement affairs, seen as a move to appease Netanyahu's right-wing flank after shooting down a bill to approve illegal settlement outposts, possibly cutting into the defense minister's jurisdiction over settlement affairs, though some question this.

During the committee's first meeting, held Wednesday, Netanyahu briefed ministers on how the government plans to comply with the court ruling by removing the houses, relocating them and building 300 new apartments on land that will be vacated by an army base. Netanyahu told the members that the solution meets his two goals, "upholding the law and strengthening the settlement movement."

The state plans to ask the court for a three-month stay during which the houses will be relocated.

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Photo: The Ulpana outpost in the West Bank. Four of the five buildings scheduled for removal are visible: those in the top row, and the building on the left in the second row from the top.  Credit:  Sebastian Scheiner / Associated Press

 

West Bank mosque set on fire; extremists suspected

JERUSALEM -- A mosque in the West Bank village of Jabaa was set on fire late Monday or early Tuesday in an apparent act of political vandalism. The assailants spray-painted the walls with graffiti saying "the war has begun -- pay the price" and "Ulpana -- war," the latter a reference to an outpost of Jewish settlers soon to be dismantled.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the act and pledged swift apprehension of the perpetrators, whom he called "lawless, intolerant and irresponsible." In an update to his Facebook page, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said, "We must not allow such terrorist acts to continue." 

Pro-settlement extremists are suspected of carrying out what has become known as a price-tag operation: vandalism meant to impose a price for actions that are perceived as attacks on the settlers' movement.

The arson at Jabaa comes as the Israeli government is preparing to evict residents from five buildings at an outpost known as Ulpana hill by the end of the month and negotiating with settlement leaders in hopes of avoiding violence.

'Oasis of Peace' Israeli village targeted by vandals

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Arab and Jewish residents living together in the village of Neve Shalom -- Wahat al-Salam ("Oasis of Peace") awoke Friday to find the community had been vandalized overnight.

The perpetrators spray-painted "death to Arabs" and "revenge" on buildings and cars, and slashed the tires of more than a dozen cars.

The vandalism is the latest in a series of attacks attributed to right-wing Jewish extremists. Dubbed "price-tag operations," these actions target Palestinians in the West Bank and pro-peace bodies inside Israel in response to government moves against settlers. There have been arson attacks against mosques and death threats to staff of the anti-settlement organization Peace Now.

Earlier this week, the Knesset -- Israel's parliament -- defeated a bill to legalize settlement outposts built illegally on privately owned Palestinian land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invested considerable political effort to block the bill, which would have caused Israel trouble with the international community.

It would also have contradicted the government's pledge to the Supreme Court to dismantle houses on Givat Haulpana, a disputed project in the West Bank settlement of Beit-El. Netanyahu will relocate the houses and intends to build hundreds more in the West Bank.

Following the vote upholding the evacuation, settlers and supporters clashed with police in Jerusalem. Netanyahu is negotiating with settlers for a peaceful evacuation but some are concerned that the removal, slated for coming weeks, could turn violent as in previous cases.

"Regards from Givat Haulpana," read one graffiti message left overnight, making the connection clear.

This is the first time the village has experienced such an attack. 

"These crimes are a direct continuation of incitement waged by ministers and lawmakers against Palestinian citizens of Israel," said Ahmad Hijazi, director of the School for Peace, which runs programs from the village. "Now this is spilling over to target the left wing too," Hijazi said.

Netanyahu seeks to save outpost homes from demolition

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday outlined a plan to save five houses in a West Bank outpost, despite the government's promise to the Supreme Court that it would remove the structures built illegally on land claimed by private Palestinian owners. 

The proposal would relocate the five buildings in the Givat Haulpana outpost several hundred yards into the Beit El settlement, which Israeli considers legal. The plan is the latest government attempt to deal with a controversy that has been both a legal and political challenge for Netanyahu.

The prime minister said Sunday that Israel's policy was to "strengthen settlements while adhering to the law."

While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are widely viewed internationally as illegal, the debate in Israel is focused on smaller outposts that were built without government permission or on disputed land.

Political hard-liners, including some within Netanyahu's ruling coalition, are pushing a bill to bypass the Supreme Court and legalize outpost houses built on privately owned Palestinian lands, obliging the owners to accept compensation and not demand the structures' demolition.

Previously blocked by the prime minister's intervention, lawmaker Zevulun Orlev intends to offer the bill for a preliminary vote on Wednesday. The houses are scheduled to be removed by the end of the month.