EFRAT, West Bank — The Israeli police made their first arrests on Wednesday as part of the state’s effort to enforce a temporary construction freeze in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, briefly detaining the mayor of a settler council and at least two Jewish protesters. Both sides are trying hard to show how determined they are — the state in enforcing the moratorium, and the settlers in thwarting the state’s plans.
The recent decision by the Israeli government to prohibit new housing starts in the settlements for 10 months was meant to help the Obama administration’s efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. So far, it has succeeded only in pitting the settlers against the state.
The Palestinians have refused to return to the talks, saying the building moratorium is insufficient because it does not include East Jerusalem, which they hope will be the capital of a future state, and because it allows for the completion of settler homes where construction has already begun.
The settlers, however, view the pause as a grave threat. Scuffles have broken out in the past two days at numerous settlements as residents have tried to block inspectors sent by the Israeli Defense Ministry from reaching construction sites and handing out stop-work orders. The top members of the settler leadership gathered Wednesday in the settlement of Efrat, in the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, and poured concrete foundations for a new synagogue in defiance of the ban.
Dani Dayan, the chairman of Yesha Council, the settlers’ umbrella organization, told reporters, “We do not intend even for one second, and certainly not for 10 months, to deviate from our mission of building the land of Israel.”
“We prefer to do it with the government,” he said, “but the government, unfortunately, has caved in.”
Avi Naim, the mayor of the Beit Aryeh settlement council, was detained after he confronted the police officers accompanying the inspectors, settlers and the police said.
At the settlement of Elon Moreh in the northern West Bank, two residents were detained after clashing with the police. Settler leaders in the area, who said residents had prevented the inspectors from reaching some construction sites, complained that the police had beaten protesters with clubs.
Security officials say inspectors have toured scores of settlements throughout the West Bank since Monday, handing out more than 60 stop-work orders and, in some cases, impounding heavy construction equipment.
The settlers fear the moratorium could last much longer than 10 months. They say that the government made the concession under American pressure.
The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has promised that building will resume “at the end of the period of suspension,” but has avoided mentioning any specific dates in relation to renewing construction.
Separately, an Israeli human rights group said Wednesday that government statistics it had obtained showed a leap in the number of Palestinians who had their Jerusalem residency status revoked by the Israeli Interior Ministry in 2008. The group, HaMoked, said the 2008 figure of 4,577 residents of East Jerusalem whose residency was revoked equaled more than half the total recorded revocations in the previous 40 years since 1967.
Most of the 2008 revocations were carried out on the grounds that the individuals had been living abroad for more than seven years, the ministry said in a letter to HaMoked. The ministry said the revocations were a result of a campaign to check the status of East Jerusalem residents.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war. The Palestinians became permanent residents of Israel, but under Israeli law, permanent residents may have their residency rights revoked if they live at least seven consecutive years outside Israel or receive foreign residence or citizenship.
Official statistics for previous years (except 2002, for which no figures were available), showed that 8,558 Palestinians had their Jerusalem residency rights revoked in the years 1967 through 2007, according to HaMoked.
Israel claims sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. The Palestinians say that the Israelis use various measures to try to push the Palestinian residents out in an effort to lessen their claim to the city. Up to a quarter of a million Palestinians live in Jerusalem today.
Front Page Features