Special Edition: The Israeli Government’s Creation of a Settler Realm in and around Jerusalem’s Old City
In recent weeks and months, the world’s focus, as it relates to Jerusalem, has been fixed on important issues like the formal shift in American policy vis-a-vis Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and questions related to moving its embassy, and like efforts in the Knesset to redraw the city’s borders both to include West Bank settlements […]
Why Is Jerusalem Municipality Targets UN & Churches for Taxes?
The Jerusalem Municipality has declared its intention to start collecting municipal taxes (called “arnona”) on 887 properties belonging to various churches and UN institutions in Jerusalem. This move, initiated by Jerusalem Mayor Barkat, is a major deviation from long standing government and municipality policies regarding taxation. To understand what is happening here requires first understanding […]
A New Neighborhood to Expand the Footprint of the settlement of Gilo
On February 21, the Jerusalem Municipality’s planning committee will consider Town Planning Scheme 125195, aka the Southeastern Gilo Master Plan (see the agenda of the committee in Hebrew here). According to the plan, 2,992 units could be built in a new neighborhood on the southeastern slopes between Gilo and Bethlehem, to the west of the […]
New Checkpoint to Prevent Al-Walajeh Residents from Accessing Their Land & Spring
In a recent report, we warned that the Jerusalem Municipality was getting set to make life harder for the residents of the embattled village of el-Walajeh. This is now coming to pass: Israel has started building the new Ein Yael checkpoint between Jerusalem and the settlement of Har Gilo, at the southern exit of Jerusalem. […]
The Site for the New U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem: What You Need to Know (So Far)
The Trump Administration has reportedly started moving ahead with its plan to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Below is an examination of what is known so far about these plans. A map showing the location of the site for the planned embassy and the surrounding area can be viewed/downloaded […]
A New Neighborhood to Expand the Footprint of the settlement of Gilo
On February 21, the Jerusalem Municipality’s planning committee will consider Town Planning Scheme 125195, aka the Southeastern Gilo Master Plan (see the agenda of the committee in Hebrew here). According to the plan, 2,992 units could be built in a new neighborhood on the southeastern slopes between Gilo and Bethlehem, to the west of the […]
Pressure Builds to Advance Greater Jerusalem Bill
As we reported, the Greater Jerusalem bill drafted by Likud MK Yoav Kish and Jewish Home MK Bezalel Smotrich, that aimed to annex the West Bank settlements located north, south, and east of Jerusalem to municipality of jerusalem (Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Zeev and the settlements in the Etzion bloc), was put on hold before moving […]
New Bill to Revoke Residency Status of Jerusalem Palestinians
On January 3, 2018, a bill granting the Minister of Interior full discretion to revoke the permanent residency status of Palestinian residents living in East Jerusalem, or of residents living on the Golan Height, passed preliminary reading. Based on the proposed bill, the Minister of Interior will be able to revoke residency rights if, “according to his […]
Another Eviction Looms in Silwan
Israel, pushed by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), is moving ahead with efforts to evict another Palestinian family from its home in Silwan. The case this time revolves around the Sumarin family, which the JNF, through its Israeli partner company, Himnuta, as been seeking to evict from the Wadi Helwa area of Silwan since 1991. The JNF’s claim […]
New Jerusalem “Trump Train Station”?
The day after Christmas 2017, Israeli Minister of Transportation Yaacov Katz announced that, as a thank you for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a new train station in the Old City would be named for President Trump. Katz stated: “The Kotel is the holiest place to the Jewish people, and I have decided to name the […]