Settlers push for new settlement outside boundaries of Trump plan
On Wednesday close to 1,000 right-wing activists held a rally in an area known as Ma’aleh Halhoul on the outskirts of the Gush Etzion Region of the West Bank.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF1,000 right-wing activists held a rally to expand Israel’s holding in the West Bank beyond the 30% allowed in US President Donald Trump's peace plan(photo credit: GARI'IN YEHUDA)
Some settlers have pushed to expand Israel’s holding in the West Bank beyond the 30% Israel would be allowed to retain under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan through the creation of a new settlement.On Wednesday close to 1,000 right-wing activists held a rally in an area known as Ma’aleh Halhoul on the outskirts of the Gush Etzion Region of the West Bank, located between the settlements of Kiryat Arba and Karmei Tzur.They asked that the government authorize a new settlement at that site, which is 1,013 meters above sea level. In the aftermath of the rally activists set up at least seven tents at the SITE, with the intent of creating a new outpost there.On Friday security forces removed them, according to an activist from the group. The push to settle Ma’alot Halhoul is led by the Nachala Movement, which has rejected the Trump plan and calls for Israeli sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria.Trump’s plan would allow Israel to retain only 50% of Area C, and would prohibit any Israel settlement building in the remainder, which would be designed for a Palestinian state.At Wednesday’s rally, Nachala Movement director Daniella Weiss said that Trump’s “plan and map speak unequivocally of establishing a Palestinian state in 70% of the territory.”The plan has the support of a group known as the Gari’in settlement in Judea composed of some 40 families that want to live in Ma’alot Halhoul.A member of the group, Roniel Eldad, told the rally that construction of a new community is the best response to Trump’s plan.Kiryat Arba Council head Eliyahu Liebman said: “We don’t need the Trump administration to approve our right to the Land of Israel.”Over the last two decades settlers have tried a number of times without success to construct a new outpost in Ma’alot Halhoul.
