Under the Cover of War, Israel Is Moving to Build a New Neighborhood for Jews in East Jerusalem
Under the Cover of War, Israel Is Moving to Build a New Neighborhood for Jews in East Jerusalem
Nofei Rachel is one of four neighborhoods set to add 3,000 new residential units for Jews to East Jerusalem. In recent years, the Justice Ministry has become a key player in advancing plans to construct these Jewish neighborhoods
Israel is moving forward with plans for a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, located on the doorstep of a Palestinian neighborhood. Right-wing activists are participating in the planning of the new Nofei Rachel neighborhood, which will be established just meters from Palestinian homes in Umm Tuba.
The initial plans call for the construction of 650 residential units right next to the neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem. Similar to other developments of this kind, Nofei Rachel is a joint project of the Justice Ministry's administrator general and official receiver (formerly the Custodian of Absentee Property) and a real estate company controlled by right-wing activists.
Nofei Rachel is the fourth new neighborhood for Jews in East Jerusalem moved along by the Administrator General in recent years. It follows one planned inside the Palestinian village of Umm Lisan; Givat Hashaked, adjacent to the Palestinian town of Beit Safafa; and Kidmat Zion, between the Ras al-Amud neighborhood and the separation fence.
Another neighborhood being advanced by the zoning authorities is Amat Hamayim Hatahtona, also adjacent to Umm Tuba, and straddling Israel's 1967 border.
According to organizations that monitor construction in the West Bank's settlements, all of these neighborhoods – planned to have a combined 3,000 residential units – are being swiftly advanced. Since the war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, these neighborhoods have particularly benefited from exceptionally rapid approvals by zoning authorities.
In recent years, the Justice Ministry has become a key player in advancing the construction plans of housing for Jews in East Jerusalem, territory captured from Jordan in the Six-Day War. Two major agencies at the Justice Ministry are dealing with the subject: The Administrator General, and the land registry unit.
According to a 1970 law, Jews who owned property in East Jerusalem before Israel's establishment in 1948 are entitled to demand it back. This is in contrast to Palestinians in the same situation who owned property in West Jerusalem, which became Israeli territory after Israel was established. In many instances, however, it's not clear whom the land belongs to, and the Administrator General manages it until the legal owners are identified.
In some cases, the construction plans are developed together with private real estate companies controlled by right-wing activists. The most prominent of the firms is Topodia. One of its directors is Yehuda Ragones, a well-known real estate figure in East Jerusalem and former spokesman for the City of David Foundation, which has worked to encourage Jews to move into the East Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan. Ragones is also a former CEO of the Makor Rishon newspaper.
Also on the board of directors is Kevin Bermeister, a wealthy Australian-Jewish businessman who has contributed large sums to settle Jews in East Jerusalem.
In the past, Topodia and the Administrator General's office have worked to advance a construction project in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Umm Lisan, and are doing the same now in Nofei Rachel. In 2018, Haaretz reported that a senior official in the Administrator General's office in East Jerusalem is Hananel Gurfinkel, a right-wing activist who founded a nonprofit organization advocating to increase the Jewish presence in Jerusalem.
In a response to this article, Yehuda Ragones said that "We are indeed leading the planning of housing on land that we have acquired. The vast majority of the land is owned by us and therefore doesn't require the cooperation of any [other] party." He added that anyone within the confines of the area slated for the project will benefit from it.
At the same time, another Justice Ministry unit – the one dealing with land ownership and registration – has also been assisting in efforts to build housing for Jews in East Jerusalem, and is advancing efforts to register the land slated for construction in the area in the names of Jews.
Five years ago, as part of a five-year plan to narrow economic disparities in East Jerusalem, the government ordered the land registrar to begin a project aimed at creating an orderly registry for land ownership in East Jerusalem, to streamline planning procedures there. At the time, however, most of the registration efforts focused on blocs of land where there were Jewish owners or where housing for Jews was planned.
In addition to the work of the two Justice Ministry departments, it appears that since the outbreak of the war on October 7, Israel's Planning Administration has also been fast-tracking construction for Jews in the eastern part of the city.
On October 9, just two days after the war began, the district planning committee gave approval, subject to public comment, for Kidmat Zion. In January, plans for another East Jerusalem project, Givat Hashaked, were approved just five weeks after objections from the public were filed. The district planning committee has had several hearings regarding the Amat Hamayim Hatahtona project and has rejected public objections to the plan.
At the same time, construction in the adjacent Givat Hamatos neighborhood is quickly progressing. The Jewish neighborhood in Umm Lisun, which is also a joint effort by the Justice Ministry and Topodia, was on the district planning committee's agenda twice in the past two months – only to be removed from the agenda both times at the last moment. It was rescheduled for Monday of this week.
The Justice Ministry stated that the land in question is managed, by law, by the Administrator General, which acts on behalf of those with rights to the property, in part by developing organized land ownership records and through the improvement of the property.
Since October 7, according to a report prepared by two Israeli nonprofits, Ir Amim and Bimkom Planners for Planning Rights, planning committees have advanced 17 master plans involving 8,434 housing units for Jews in areas of Jerusalem beyond the 1967 border. Nearly 3,000 of them are being advanced as a part of plans by the Administrator General.
The others are part of the Amat Hamayim Hatahtona project or plans for expansion or urban renewal in the large Jewish neighborhoods built in East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War, such as Gilo, French Hill and Ramat Shlomo.
At the beginning of January, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee rejected all public objections submitted in connection with the Givat Hashaked project. As noted, this was just five weeks after they had been submitted – and two weeks after the hearing on the matter.
The individuals filing objections, including residents of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa, noted that the fact that the project was given a Hebrew name and that the plans call for synagogues there indicated that the project was planned for Jews – in disregard of the shortages of housing and public facilities in Beit Safafa itself.
For its part, the committee said the character of the religious facilities in the plans for Givat Hashaked won't be designated as synagogues at this stage. The Planning Administration, however, did not respond to requests for comment for this report.
According to Ir Amim, which defines its mission as "rendering Jerusalem a more equitable and sustainable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it" and Bimkom, which states that it works "with both Jewish and Arab communities" to create "fair, equitable and appropriate planning of the physical spaces in which they live," the authorities have been making it more difficult for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem particularly to obtain construction permits. This difficulty is due largely to changes in regulations relating to proof of ownership. In addition, since the beginning of the war, the Jerusalem Municipality has stepped up the pace of home demolitions in East Jerusalem.
"During the period of the war, the planning institutions in Jerusalem have been continuing to advance the settlement enterprise in the city at an accelerated and unprecedented pace," a report by the two organizations stated. "While essential public services have been harmed due to the conduct of the war, from the standpoint of political officials, the war is another opportunity to create facts on the ground."
The report added that "The new settlements will deepen the prevention of the contiguity of the Palestinian space in Jerusalem and constitute additional impediments to the possibility of a different future for Israelis and Palestinians in the city and the entire area."
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