For years, Jerusalem has grappled with a persistent and complex issue: illegal construction in the city’s eastern neighborhoods. Each year, more than 1,000 unauthorized housing units are erected, creating ripple effects that touch economic, safety, and demographic spheres.
Economically, the city forfeits billions in potential revenue from taxes, levies, and regulatory fees that would otherwise accompany legally sanctioned construction projects. Safety concerns are equally pressing, as many of these structures fail to meet even the most basic building codes, posing significant risks to their residents and surrounding areas.
The demographic dimension adds another layer of sensitivity. Unauthorized construction facilitates the movement of PA Arabs who lack official residency status in Jerusalem, allowing them to establish a foothold in the city’s western neighborhoods. This dynamic fuels ongoing political and social tensions in an already fraught landscape.
As city officials continue to wrestle with these challenges, the question of how to address illegal construction in East Jerusalem remains one of the most contentious and unresolved issues facing the city today.
Against this backdrop, an urgent debate was held on Tuesday in the Knesset’s Interior and Environmental Protection Committee regarding illegal construction in eastern Jerusalem. The number raised in the committee’s deliberations is estimated at 25,000 illegal structures that exist in the capital’s Arab neighborhoods. The MKs who signed the request to hold the urgent debate wrote that “the phenomenon of illegal construction in eastern Jerusalem is expanding every year, with only a small portion of the structures actually being demolished.”
WHO OWNS EASTERN JERUSALEM?
Avi Cohen, Director of the Land Enforcement Authority, stated that the core issue lies in the state’s ambiguity regarding whether it genuinely considers certain areas of Jerusalem to be under its full sovereignty. He explained that there are entire neighborhoods surrounding the separation barrier where the only presence is that of the Land Enforcement Authority and the police. “We are truly alone there,” Cohen remarked.
He noted that in recent years, enforcement has improved, leading to a significant reduction in illegal construction. “There are almost no orders we issue that aren’t eventually executed,” he said. However, Cohen emphasized that the absence of a clear government policy regarding these areas, coupled with the lack of land settlement, severely hampers effective governance and enforcement on the ground.
Chaim Silberstein, founder and chairman of the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy, presented the committee with findings from his study, highlighting a significant rise in illegal construction in eastern Jerusalem based on GIS data from the Jerusalem Municipality’s mapping system.
“Approximately 1,200 illegal housing units are built every year,” he stated. The municipality lacks a coherent policy for areas beyond the separation barrier, resulting in chaos and severe damage to public infrastructure.”
Silberstein estimated the cumulative economic damage to be tens of billions of shekels.
He also addressed the situation in Kafr Aqab: “In 1967, the village didn’t exist, but it has since experienced substantial growth. After 2005, the neighborhood was left outside the barrier, effectively preventing government and police intervention, which has further accelerated illegal construction.”
NOBODY REGULATES ARAB JERUSALEM
Attorney Haim Nargassi, Deputy Attorney General of the Jerusalem Municipality, emphasized that significant efforts are needed to regulate land ownership in eastern Jerusalem, as the primary challenges stem from the absence of master plans and the lack of proper land registration.
“Land regulation could bring about a real revolution—for both residents and the municipality,” Nargassi stated. “While the municipality is working to enhance enforcement within the separation barrier, the situation outside the barrier is far more complex and nearly impossible to address without direct government intervention.”
He stressed that enforcement in both the eastern and western parts of the city is conducted professionally and that following the demolition of illegal structures, infrastructure projects such as schools and kindergartens are implemented. However, he acknowledged a persistent lack of up-to-date data on the scale of illegal construction, largely due to insufficient enforcement in past years.
Roy Goldschmidt, a representative of the Knesset Research and Information Center, reported that between 2019 and 2024, a total of 1,340 demolition orders were issued across Jerusalem, with 53% in eastern Jerusalem and 47% in the western part of the city. However, he, too highlighted the absence of reliable data on the prevalence and severity of construction violations in both areas, making it difficult to determine whether enforcement efforts align with the scale of the offenses.
Goldschmidt further noted that during the same period, 1,020 demolition orders were carried out citywide—60% in eastern Jerusalem and 40% in the west. He explained that current enforcement priorities are primarily directed toward cases with significant public impact.
Additionally, he pointed out that, according to the city’s outline plan, the number of land plots in eastern Jerusalem with clearly documented ownership remains extremely limited.
Aviv Tatarsky, from the Ir Amim NGO, said that “the destructive enforcement is destroying the lives of hundreds of families. Since the Kaminitz Law (empowering government to enhance control over illegal construction – DI), the rate of building demolitions has increased fourfold, but at the same time, there is no adequate planning solution for the residents of East Jerusalem. People are forced to build illegally because they have no choice.”
One egregious example of this illegal building was pointed out by the Regavim Movement, which brought documentation showing that the illegal Arab outpost in east Jerusalem, known as Khan al-Ahmar, continues to expand a year and a half after a court order to demolish the illegal construction. Since Regavim first spotlighted this illegal outpost 14 years ago, Khan al Ahmar, located at a strategic point adjacent to Highway 1 between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea in the E1 area, has been the subject of six separate HCJ petitions, countless demolition orders, government commitments, and unfulfilled promises.
Regavim’s field staff has now documented five new structures at the site, showing that rather than disappearing altogether, as ordered by six successive High Court decisions, Khan al Ahmar is growing. Regavim’s Legal Division sent an urgent letter to Defense Minister Israel Katz, Central Command General Avi Blut, and Head of the Civil Administration Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, demanding immediate enforcement against the new, illegal expansion of Khan al-Ahmar.
“These new structures exemplify the worrying trend of illegal Palestinian Authority appropriations in Area C, particularly in areas surrounding Jerusalem, creating an imminent strategic threat to Israel’s capital,” the letter read. “The challenge to Israel’s security and governance presented by this illegal compound has been made abundantly clear in judicial decisions that have emphasized your duty to uphold and enforce the law against the rampant illegal construction,” Regavim reminded the authorities responsible for enforcement in Judea and Samaria, “The very name of this encampment has become a catchword for lack of governance and rewarding criminality. Enforcement in this case is crucial. The new illegal construction is, quite simply, the predictable result of your persistent refusal to enforce the law. There is no vacuum; in the void of law enforcement, criminals rejoice.”
Moshe Shmueli, Regavim’s field coordinator, added: “When we turn a blind eye to the problem, it doesn’t go away, it spreads. The construction criminals and their anti-Israel supporters are working every day to establish a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel that will pose a threat to every Israeli. It’s time for the Israeli authorities to take responsibility and enforce the law. Better late than never.”
According to NGO Monitor, donors to Ir Amim include the European Union, Sweden, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (joint funding from Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands), Norway, Bread for the World- EED (Germany), New Israel Fund, Social Justice Fund, Open Society Institute, and Jewish Funders Network.
The Open Society Institute is funded by billionaire George Soros and funds extreme left wing political agendas. While Soros was born Jewish, he has sharply criticized Israeli and American policies toward the Palestinians and has drawn comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany.
It was reported last year that the organization funneled more than $15 million to groups behind recent pro-Hamas protests in the United States through Tides Center, a left-wing advocacy group.
Earlier this month, Soros was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Biden, noting his Jewish identity.
“Born into a Jewish family in Hungary, George Soros escaped Nazi occupation to build a life of freedom for himself and countless others around the world,” the White House statement read.
Biden also awarded a medal to chef Jose Andres, whose humanitarian group, World Central Kitchen, has provided aid in Gaza. In December, the charity fired 62 of its workers due to links with terrorism.
