Israel's biggest challenge, the fight over land:
The day after he entered the Defense Ministry, Barak gave the order that structures, mobile homes and shipping containers erected in the West Bank without permits not be permitted to see the light of day. He said he would not allow the existence of "disputed buildings," like the Jewish settlers' compound in Hebron that was established and populated right under the nose of the Israel Defense Forces. The ignorance, whether intentional or the result of negligence, of the new enterprise dragged the security establishment and attorney general into legal proceedings, whose outcome is unknown.
I am anxious to see how this will play out:
According to a source close to Barak, ministerial permission will no longer be required to dismantle new structures. However, Barak's new order is just a tiny plug in one of the many holes Talia Sasson?s outpost report proposed closing two years ago. Sasson pointed to the construction of entire outposts on Palestinian-owned land. As published here, the Sasson committee last convened during (Kadima MK) Haim Ramon's brief stint as justice minister. Kadima MK Meir Sheetrit and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni left this hot potato to the next in line.
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Meanwhile, life is business as usual for the settlers. While everyone is making noise about the "illegal outposts," the land thieves are turning to dealing quietly with the "legal" settlements. The Civil Administration has told Haaretz that even houses in a veteran settlement like Ofra, where settler leaders live, are built on private Palestinian land. Civil Administration spokesman Captain Tzidki Maman told Haaretz that "in addition to the expropriated territory that constitutes a considerable part of the area of the settlement, there are a number of plots purchased by the Himnuta Company and registered in the Land Registry in its name. However, it should be noted that throughout the years, some of the construction in the settlement deviated from the area of the expropriated lands." He noted that "some of the buildings in Ofra were erected on private lands" (meaning legally registered in the Land Registry in the names of Palestinian owners). The Civil Administration spokesman cited "various reasons" in refusing to relate to the number of buildings or to provide details about the owners of the lands.
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http://www.haaretz.com/...
"Regarding anywhere else within the State of Israel," says Etkes, "the Land Registry is open for public viewing. Only in the territories of the West Bank is it defined as a state secret. The claim of land ownership anonymity is a means the state and its settler agents have created to limit the public and legal oversight of the phenomenon of land theft. This is an attempt to conceal conduct that can only be defined as a mafia state."
News on the ongoing Hebron issue:
'Settlers forged ownership of Hebron house'
The documentation submitted by Hebron settlers as proof of their legal ownership of the disputed house in the city may be a forgery – this according to the State prosecution on Tuesday in its answer to the High Court of Justice. The petition against the settlers was filed by a Palestinian who claims the settlers illegally seized his property.
http://www.ynetnews.com/...
Settlers have not backed down at all:
Rightists plan new illegal outposts
Settlers in the West Bank are planning to establish several illegal outposts on the hills surrounding Gush Etzion.
According to a decision by settler leaders, a group of settlers will establish the first outpost on Efrat’s Eitam hill in about three weeks. In the weeks to follow, four other outposts are expected to be established.
According to the settlers, the hill in question is within the borders of Efrat in Gush Etzion. However, the hill will become Palestinian property upon completion of the separation fence in the area, which will exclude it from Efrat.
For fear of losing the land, Right-wing organizations have begun spreading notices calling for a renewal of settlement activity.
"The establishment of a settlement in Eitam will be the first step in renewing a wave of settlements in Judea and Samaria. This is our response to the ongoing policy of surrendering to the enemy," the notices read.
http://www.ynetnews.com/...
90 percent of settlements exceed their bountaries, yet only 9% have been built on and only 12 percent used at all:
Report: Settlers use just 9% of state-allocated West Bank land
West Bank settlements have been allocated huge amounts of land, but use very little of it, according to a Peace Now report.
The findings attest to the government's ongoing cooperation with the settlements' expansion, Peace Now charged: On one hand, the state earmarks huge tracts for the settlements, out of all all proportion to their size, in order to prevent Palestinian construction in those areas. Yet once an area is closed to Palestinians, the settlers begin seizing adjacent Palestinian lands, often privately owned, that lie outside their jurisdiction.
For years, the settlements' borders were concealed: The Civil Administration and other agencies refused to provide this information to nongovernmental organizations and the media, although within the Green Line, such data is readily available. The figures in this report were obtained only after Peace Now and the Movement for Freedom of Information petitioned the courts under the Freedom of Information Act last year.
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Illegal construction outside a settlement's area of jurisdiction is often encouraged by the state, as demonstrated by the illegal outposts, Etkes said. The Civil Administration prevents Palestinians from building in areas under settler jurisdiction. Yet virtually no legal action is taken against illegal settler construction, and such structures are rarely demolished, he charged.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
Has Barak realized that the settlers are the biggest security threat Israel has?