The yellow hills that lead down from Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim are patient, and have a long memory. They remember hearing the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir promise that Jewish neighborhoods, part of Maaleh Adumim, would be built on them. They were excited when the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin approved these plans and ordered work to begin. They held their breath when they heard that they would be home to 4,000 housing units to be known as "Mevasseret Adumim," but in the end, let their breath go because even hilltops can't wait that long.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
It's been 27 years, and the E1 area is still empty of Jews. The Palestinians? They've already started building there. That construction is part of the great plan they share with the UN and the EU for a de facto occupation of Jerusalem and its environs. This plan is funded at about a billion dollars, and includes the construction of government buildings and massive construction to encroach on enormous swathes of territory. Under the name "Jerusalem district development," the plan lays out how to move from "reaction to initiative, and establish facts on the ground," making it possible to turn Jerusalem into the capital of Palestine by 2030.
We can learn from the conduct of the Palestinians and their helpers: they are moving to action. Without permits, plans, or brakes, the Arabs are working quietly in E1 and taking it over. They have already planted an orchard and fenced off land, and now, try to kick them out, as we saw with the nearby Al-Akhmar. Make no mistake – these aren't poor peasants who need a little land for their three olive trees, this is a well-organized, well-funded seizure with borders carefully mapped out by the PA, with corrections in English and French.
Six months ago, construction plans for E1 were placed before the public. The yellow hills weren't too excited, because they realized whom they were dealing with. And that's good, because discussion about objections to the plan was repeatedly delayed.
Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Katriel petitioned the High Court to demand that the IDF Civil Administration discuss the matter, and the government, which knew it would lose in a court hearing, allowed it to be held about two months from now, after US President Joe Biden visits.
Given that decision, do you think that the hills started dancing a hora? Of course not. They know, like we do, that the decision to hold a discussion about the construction plan was made because of legal pressure and not because the government decided to, and so as long as it's up to the current government – the Palestinians will be the only one making the desert bloom. They are under no international pressure not to build, the opposite, and even if there were such pressure, they'd build and erect fences and seize land. Don't make the mistake of thinking they're stupid.
As usual, the problem lies with us, not the Arabs. If we'd started building 27 years ago, or if now we would clear out the illegal Palestinian construction, we'd have a different story.
But we aren't other people, and the decision to carry out construction for Jews is something the government will reject time after time.
Although we are on the brink of an election, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked might try to signal to their base, there is no need to buy earplugs. The bulldozers won't start working on the yellow hills any time soon.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
