A new report presented to the Knesset's Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria on Thursday claims that the Palestinian Authority is using extensive EU-funded agricultural activity to take over lands in the area.
The report was compiled by Regavim, a nongovernmental organization that describes its mission as seeking to "ensure responsible, legal, accountable and environmentally friendly use of Israel's national lands."
The findings claim that the PA's activity follows a specific plan that focuses on Area C of Judea and Samaria, which under the 1993 Oslo Accords is under full Israeli control, with aim of setting facts on the ground so that such agricultural lands would be recognized as Palestinian in any future peace deal.
The report also criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's for his decision to postpone the eviction of Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin village that was illegally built some 6 miles east of Jerusalem.
The High Court of Justice cleared the way for the village's eviction, but international uproar has given the government pause and it was eventually decided to defer the move.
The report slams the government's response to the "Palestinian takeover" of the area where Khan al-Ahmar is located, between the Israeli communities of Maaleh Adumim and Kfar Adumim, calling it "weak to nonexistent."
Regavim claims that the Palestinians' agricultural takeover of lands in Area C takes place in three ways: first, paving hundreds of miles of roads that access lands in strategic locations such as the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion, Ariel and Mount Hebron; second, usurping water resources and setting up illegal grids of water pipes; and third, usurping hundreds of acres of land and setting up agricultural infrastructure.
The report outlines the careful Palestinian choice of areas of diplomatic and security importance and names the various organizations involved in this activity.
"If the government does not come to its senses and does something now, the Palestinian plan will create irrevocable changes and facts on the ground," the report warns.
