Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
When West Bank settlers recently launched an ambitious campaign to sell homes in settlements to American Jews, Peace Now warned that investing in real estate across the Green Line was not only politically and morally wrong but also financially risky.
Little did we know that this real estate twilight zone would play a role in bringing Heftzibah Construction, one of Israel’s largest contractors and a chief builder of West Bank settlements, to the brink of bankruptcy… The story of Heftzibah’s entanglement in Modi’in-Illit is a microcosm of how land has been grabbed and manipulated by settlers, dealers and contractors — with the generous helping hand of Israeli politicians and government bureaucrats. …
The intensified litigation efforts by Peace Now obviously are not an alternative to political action by the Israeli government to freeze and then reverse the settlement enterprise… Court action is a tool to focus Israelis on the tremendous political value of the West Bank as the territory from which Israel will need to withdraw if it is to continue to exist as a democratic Jewish state.
Hopefully, by giving a second thought to the financial risks of investing in West Bank real estate, Israelis and American Jews will also ponder the damage done to Israel’s future by constructing settlements across the Green Line. Access the full article>>