Defense Minister Naftali Bennett is working to implement his commitment to stop a European-funded Palestinian takeover of unpopulated parts of Judea and Samaria through unpermitted construction, Israel Hayom has learned.
The paper has obtained the instructions Bennett recently issued to the security establishment.
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In the past few weeks, Bennett has held several meetings with high-ranking officers in the IDF's Central Command; the Coordinator for Government Activities in Judea and Samaria; and additional officials in the security establishment to define specific priorities for enforcement by the IDF Civil Administration. Bennett seeks a "total stop to illegal Palestinian construction within two years."
At a meeting in Bennett's office, top-ranking officials were presented with comprehensive data about a years-long Palestinian and European attempt to establish facts on the ground, according to which Area C – which is supposed to be under Israeli control and which comprises some 60% of all territory in Judea and Samaria – is home to some 200,000 Palestinians who live in about 25 recognized villages and hundreds of clusters of illegal housing.
Israel's security establishment estimates that over 1,000 illegal housing starts – the majority of which are funded by foreign money – are underway in Area C. These illegal construction projects have a combined value of tens of millions of dollars.
Participants in the meeting were shown a map that lays out the extent of the illegal Palestinian building activity, which Israel has done little to counter in recent years.
Defense and security officials call the illegal construction "a well-organized tactic by the Palestinian Authority to illegally take over large areas of Area C that are under Israeli control, as part of a broader strategic move."
The officials say the Palestinian plan is being carried out as part of the "Fayyad Plan," named after former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The program includes many tools that the Palestinians and Europeans can use to wrest Area C away from Israel, such as foreign money going to fund illegal construction at key locations, like ones that threaten to cut off Israeli settlements. In addition, the Fayyad Plan calls to flood the Israeli legal system with petitions for injunctions against Israeli demolitions of illegal construction.
Bennett's plan to stop the Palestinians from chipping away at Area C demands action in four areas: Operational, economic, legal, and PR. He wants to change enforcement priorities to put an emphasis on eradicating illegal buildings in strategic locations rather than by numbers. For example, home demolitions would be carried out in accordance with Israeli interests, prioritizing illegal buildings next to roads or settlements.
Bennett also instructed the Central Command and the Civil Administration to work more closely to implement his plan and asked that the Civil Administration report to him monthly to update him on progress.
Meanwhile, the defense minister is weighing the possibility of allocating more resources to the Civil Administration for enforcement, which would entail hiring more personnel. Bennett also wants to take steps to stop the flow of European money that funds the illegal Palestinian construction in the first place, allowing the Fayyad Plan to flourish.
Touching on the issue of foreign funding, Bennett said in the meeting with defense officials that "We will no longer stand aside while the European Union builds political, illegal construction here. We have a position, and it is that this must be stopped." Bennett sent a similar message to EU envoys when he met with them two weeks ago.
