(JNS) Israeli government officials, local municipalities and NGOs are waiting to see whether Israel’s Civil Administration will implement a recent cabinet decision calling for Israel to reclaim responsibility from the Palestinian Authority for a nature reserve just east of Gush Etzion in the Judean Desert.
Following the cabinet decision, the head of IDF Central Command signed orders allowing for Israeli law enforcement in the reserve.
During a briefing and tour of the site for journalists this week, led by the Israeli NGO Regavim, Religious Zionism Party Knesset member Simcha Rothman, who co-chairs the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus and helped push the measure through, told JNS, “It will not be easy to enforce this decision, but I hope the Civil Administration will now act. The system needs to be readjusted.”
He went on to say that “anyone who doesn’t understand after Oct. 7 that a quiet village can’t become a base for terrorism didn’t get the memo.”
Under the 1998 Wye-River Memorandum, as an extension of the 1993 Oslo Accords, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and PLO head Yasser Arafat signed an agreement which transformed the status of the reserve, comprising over 166,000 dunams (around 41,000 acres) in Area C (full Israeli control) of Judea and Samaria to Area B (P.A. municipal control), on condition that the reserve’s integrity would be preserved.
However, instead, the P.A. began building illegally in the area, funded by the European Union, Japan, the United States (via USAID) and others.
Construction has ramped up significantly over the past several years, resulting in the formation of what is essentially a P.A. town in the area, the explicit goal of which according to Regavim is cutting off Jewish communities in Gush Etzion and the Judean Desert from the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea.
Naomi Linder-Kahn, director of Regavim’s International Division, explained that the countries involved are abetting the P.A. as “they are acting in violation of international law [Oslo Accords].” They have not only failed in their mandate to protect the nature reserve, but “are doing the opposite by encouraging building,” she said.
“Israel handed over jurisdiction to the P.A., but the P.A. allowed private contractors with foreign governments to develop here,” she added. “They are not private individuals building homes,” she emphasized, “rather this is a massive project, supported by a P.A. master plan to take over the area.”
Nor is the phenomenon an isolated one, according to Kahn. “As of 2023, there are over 92,000 illegal Palestinian structures in Area C. The Arabs are trying to isolate Jewish communities from each other by creating ‘land bridges.’”
Kahn stressed that while 70% of the territory under P.A. control is bare and available for necessary construction, the goal of the illegal construction is to take over Area C utilizing foreign funding. The P.A. is one of the largest recipients of foreign aid in the world.
During the tour it was evident that large numbers of homes were under construction or had been completed, with newly paved roads winding through the community. There was even a building designated as a sales office for those considering moving into the nature reserve. Toward the very top of the enclave, a new vacation resort is under construction, with 10 guesthouses on their way towards completion.
Moshe Coblentz, an independent Judean Desert researcher and expert, said the P.A.’s goal, as spelled out in the 2009 Fayyad Plan, “is to connect Bethlehem with the Dead Sea, draw a straight line from Gaza to Lebanon, and Arad to Jericho.” He fears that such a reality would lead to tremendous security threats for Israel. “The P.A. should never be allowed to have the ability to connect [its territory] to Jordan,” he said.
At the same time, Coblentz said, if the construction in the nature reserve isn’t reined in “Israelis won’t be able to cross the Judean Desert from Jerusalem or Ma’ale Adumim to the Dead Sea or Jordan Valley.”
Kahn also stressed that Israel must assume control in the nature reserve as the fear is that arms smuggling routes from Jordan could lead right through the reserve, allowing weapons to get into the hands of both P.A. terrorists and those from Hamas, who have a nearby presence, especially in the area of Hebron.
Then there is the matter of the havoc the illegal construction is wreaking on the local environment.
Roi Drucker, Regavim’s field representative in Judea and Samaria, showed JNS the environmental damage caused by the P.A. within the reserve.
“As a result of the construction, the animals here have limited food and water sources. At the same time, the P.A. residents have started hunting animals here, including deer. There is raw sewage in the streams floating down to the dead sea. But worst of all is the air quality,” he said.
Drucker pointed to large blackened areas on a nearby hill and explained that the Arabs were accustomed to burning trash, including and especially damaging to air quality old electronic devices, something he said he had witnessed personally.
He expressed his hope that the government will act quickly and issue demolition orders on all of the illegal construction. When asked about the possible blowback from the international community, he replied heatedly, “Who’s in charge here? This is Israel!”
Kahn said Regavim will now apply pressure to the Civil Administration and relevant government bodies including the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which is charged with ensuring that the decision to turn responsibility over the nature reserve back to Israel is implemented, until the appropriate action is taken.
She added that one of the flaws in the Wye accord was that it did not stipulate what the consequences would be should one of the parties violate it. “But here in this nature reserve, the government of Israel admitted the P.A. was in violation of a treaty it signed, and now we are taking responsibility by reinstating jurisdiction. We will resume reinforcement in this specific nature reserve,” Kahn said emphatically.
