The Biden administration appears no less determined than Trump to shield Israel from the consequences of its actions.
By Tamara Nassar | The Electronic Intifada | Feb 15, 2021
The JNF purports to own roughly 15 percent of land in present-day Israel. This land is reserved for exclusive use by Jews, even though much of it was stolen from Palestinians.
Israel’s Jewish National Fund is reportedly planning to purchase privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank to expand Jewish-only settlements.
The organization’s leadership approved the proposal on Sunday, which was reported in Israeli media days earlier.
The board of directors is expected to make a final decision after Israel’s general election in March.
The JNF proposal reportedly prioritizes expansion of settlements in the Jordan Valley, occupied Jerusalem, the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the southern West Bank and in the South Hebron Hills area.
According to Israeli media, the group will not be constructing new settlements but expanding already existing ones.
“Expansion” of existing settlements – often far beyond their original boundaries – is a ruse Israel has long used in an effort to minimize international criticism of its colonization of Palestinian land.
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