Sivan (June) at Regavim: Making history in the desert

<<< לעברית, לחץ כאן >>>

Dear Friends and Partners,

The people of Israel are fighting an existential war, and Regavim is on the front lines – in every sense of the word: While our team members continue to serve on the battlefield, our ongoing battle for the Land of Israel continues on the advocacy, legal and parliamentary fronts.

Despite the unprecedented manpower constraints and the storm of new and ongoing challenges that have arisen as a result of the Swords of Iron War, Regavim hasn’t missed a beat, and together with our partners in the Knesset and the municipalities of Judea Samaria, we’ve seen important achievements. We invite you to learn more about some of Regavim’s dozens of new and ongoing cases, to share updates on our battle against illegal construction in strategic areas, and to read about our most recent successes in the battle to protect our national resources.

As we continue to pray for the success and safety of our soldiers and the return of all the hostages, we wish you – and all of us – a safe and successful summer.

Regavim

Regavim: On duty year-round, year after year for the past 18 years
Due to the outbreak of the war on October 7, Regavim’s 2023 Annual Report was put on hold – but we’re pleased and proud to share it with you at long last. It recaps a year packed with activity that was interrupted by on October 7^th, when the entire Regavim Team was called to duty on all fronts. Read - and share!>>

Dangerous “electricity law” – unplugged The plan to pass reckless and irresponsible legislation – a revised "Electricity Law” that would have encouraged mass-scale illegal construction - was halted in its tracks thanks to a media and political blitz led by Regavim and ministers Orit Strock and Bezalel Smotrich. Here’s a small sample of our efforts to explain the dangers – a video clip that went viral >>>>.

Success – years in the making: After decades of inaction, the State of Israel will restore law enforcement to the Judean Desert nature reserve.
For far too long, Regavim was a lone voice in the wilderness decrying the destruction of the Judean Desert Nature Reserve, a unique desert ecosystem designated under international law as a no-construction zone, handed over by Israel handed to the Palestinian Authority in 1995. Ever since, the PA has systematically destroyed it, and Regavim has been sounding the alarm for over a decade. Over the past two years, the Gush Etzion and Mount Hebron Regional Councils and other grassroots organizations joined us in our fight – and this month, among other responses to the PA’s blatant violations of international law, the Cabinet reasserted Israel’s responsibility for protection of the nature reserve.
Regavim’s Naomi Kahn put the Cabinet decision in context for Kan English News>>>

Ever hear of a murderer sheltering in police station?!? Only in the Palestinian Authority...

An Arab terrorist kills two IDF soldiers – tragically, nothing new. He escapes into the terror den known as Nablus – again, not news. The IDF launches a manhunt to capture him and bring him to justice – also, nothing new. But who gives him refuge, and enables him to go scot free? That’s news. Read more in this Wall Street Journal article by Regavim's Naomi Kahn >>>

Regavim expose’: IDF withers while drug syndicates blossom
For many years, we have been warning about the free-for-all that is pushing the IDF out of its own training grounds and firing zones. We documented thousands of illegal hothouses on IDF properties in the Negev that are fueling a burgeoning drug syndicate. But just as we began to see some a change and a surge of proactive enforcement, the positive momentum was brought to a grinding halt and the lawlessness returned. Learn more here >>> or see for yourself, in this short video clip >>>

Regavim at work: The party’s over at the illegal events complex
About a year ago, we reported on a luxurious vacation and events complex on the outskirts of Duma, a hostile Arab village in the Binyamin region.

We repeatedly demanded law enforcement - and this month we were pleasantly surprised to see justice in action: The complex was demolished. Learn more >>>

Will the next illegal compound be destroyed before the deadline?
Chutzpah, Inc.: There’s a glittering - and completely illegal - event complex built only meters away from the Gush Etzion Tunnels Road at the Beitar Junction, an upscale compound that hosts parties every day. Israeli authorities simply ignored it for months on end, so Regavim sued them for failing to enforce the law.

When the court heared our petition, the State announced its committment to demolish the complex within 120 days – by the end of July. Read about the swankiest annexation tactic in the PA’s arsenal here >> and check out media coverage of our petitions>>>. We’re following the case closely; stay tuned for updates...

Regavim’s month of activism in the Knesset
This month we participated in ten Knesset committee hearings on a range of topics, including environmental protection, enforcement against illegal construction based on security considerations, increased penalties for trespassing on IDF firing zones in the Negev, protection of the Judean Desert Nature Reserve, and more.

Watch Avraham Binyamin, Director of Regavim’s Policy Division, at work (Hebrew) >>>

Once again, a black cloud engulfs the Binyamin Region
The most recent chapter in the ongoing saga of non-governance: Once again, “Mount Trashmore,” the mountain of garbage near Psagot – just a stone’s throw from the headquarters of the Civil Administration! – goes up in flames and toxic smoke envelopes the entire area - two months to the day after the Supreme Court, ruling on our petition against the massive dump, announced that the Civil Administration, on the whole, is doing a fine job. The smoke and the stench prove otherwise.
Read more about the massive illegal dump near Psagot >>

The deceptive silence along the fence
Long before October 7th - and even more so after - Regavim warned about the State of Israel’s abandonment of the “seam line” area that has been overtaken by the Paestinian Authority and the thousands of illegal structures we’ve documented on the ground. The very immediate and now all-too-feasible threat - to the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria and to the towns, kibbutzim and cities of central Israel – are one of the most important lessons of October 7th. Watch Ro’i Drucker, Field Coordinator for Judea and Samaria, in this report from the field (Hebrew)>>>, read Regavim’s report on the PA annexation of the security buffer zone that is making waves in Israeli public opinion, in the policy community and beyond>>>

Selective enforcement: Illegal Arab villas stand untouched, while a nearby memorial for a fallen IDF soldier is demolished
While the Civil Administration's enforcement unit was busy demolishing a pergola erected in memory of Motti Shamir, an Israeli hero killed on Oct. 7, we revealed that only 500 meters away, at the top of the hill overlooking the Chavot Yair area, an Arab neighborhood of illegal villas was built this year on the outskirts of the hostile village of Qarwat Bani Hassan – the subject of a recent Regavim petition. More >>>

Regavim to Minister of Defense Galant:
Neglect begets murder

We sent an urgent letter to Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Central Command Chief Yehuda Fox, demanding immediate demolition of an illegal, life-threatening Arab structure in Gush Talmonim in the Binyamin region, site of a deadly shooting attack in March 2024.

A new Palestinian Authority municipality is born - in an IDF firing zone

One more direct result of the lawlessness that is the rule, not the excpetion, in the open spaces of Judea and Samaria, and in IDF firing zones in particular: The Palestinian Authority recently announced its newest municipal authority in the Hebron Governorate - located on Israeli state land in IDF Firing Zone 917. Back in 2016, we petitioned the Supreme Court against the abandonment of Firing Zone 917 by the Ministry of Defense and the Civil Administration and highlighting the danger posed to Israel’s national interests by the hundreds of illegal structures that have been built in an area designated for IDF training. See media coverage here >>> and here >>>.

What’s next? We will continue to fight. Watch this space for updates as they develop…

Caution, Garbage! (Another) toxic PA dump –
on the back fence of a Jewish community
It seems that environmental protection groups have a (not surprising) blind spot: When it comes down to it, not all green is equally green. Regavim’s team documented and reported on yet another environmental hazard that is being ignored, to the peril of every living thing in the Gush Etzion region: A major health hazard is piling up - literally - just outside Karmei Tzur, and Regavim is taking the steps that no one else has taken to stop the dumping, clean up the site and protect the environment and the health of residents of the region. For the full story (Hebrew)>>

DONATE

Regavim
Protecting Israel's Resources
Preserving Israeli Sovereignty

DONATE