Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-06-29)

◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek June 29, 2020

A similartransitionfrommilitarytocivillawin

occupiedareasoftheWestBankwoulddramatically

increasepropertyvalues,saysMaayanBachar,an

attorneyforGavishShahamGroup,a developerof

high-endhousing.Regulationswouldbestream-

lined,therewouldbefewerpoliticalissues,and

roadsandotherinfrastructurelinkingsettlements

withtherestofthecountrywouldbeupgraded.“If

there’sa changeinthestatus,thevalueofhomes

willrisesignificantly,”Bacharsays.“Wecandeal

withit likerealestateintherestofIsrael.”

Yetit’shardtoseetheplanleadingtopeace.With

Palestiniansfuriousattheidea,IsraeliMinisterof

DefenseBennyGantzhastoldtroopstopreparefor

heightenedtensionsintheWestBank.Annexation

maybea boontoJewishsettlements,butthepros-

pectis hurtingpropertyvaluesinPalestinian-

controlledareas.Afterrisingrapidlyformostofthe

pasttwodecadesbecauseofa relativelystrongecon-

omy,accordingtothePalestineEconomicPolicy

ResearchInstitute,priceshaven’tchangedsince 2018

becauseofslowinggrowthandescalatingtensions

withIsrael.“Somanyflatsareemptybecauseoftwo

things,”saysAdelOdeh,formerpresidentofthe

PalestinianContractorsUnion.“Decreasingfinan-

cialresourcesandtheunstablepoliticalsituation.”

�IvanLevingston,withFadwaHodali

THE BOTTOM LINE Increased home prices in Jewish settlements

signal a growing sense that there’s little chance of Israel agreeing

to an independent Palestinian state anytime soon.

▲ Prices in Ma’ale

Efraim have climbed

by more than a third in

recent years

is security,” says Daniel Wach, owner of brokerage
Shorashim in the settlement of Eli. He says he’s gone
from an average two deals a month to about five this
spring, and he predicts annexation could boost val-
ues more than 20% over the next two years. “Judea
and Samaria always had a question mark, and a
question mark is not good for real estate,” he says.
“They’re now putting on an exclamation point.”
Even though a unilateral step wouldn’t resolve
the international dispute, it could end debate
over whether some territory will ever return to
Palestinian control. Already the increasing number
of Israelis making their life on disputed land reflects
growing sentiment that there’s little chance of the
creation of a Palestinian state anytime soon—and
will make it harder to achieve any deal. In the past,
Israel indicated a willingness to swap some larger
settlement blocs (effectively suburbs of Jerusalem)
for land elsewhere, but this time there’s no con-
crete offer on the table.
The last territory Israel annexed was the Golan
Heights, which it took from Syria. Israeli troops had
occupied the fertile plateau overlooking the north-
ern part of the country during the Six-Day War; in
1981 the government declared the land was part of
Israel and shifted control from military to civilian
administration. That change led to rapid develop-
ment of Golan, now home to wineries, a ski resort,
and about 20,000 Jewish residents even as only the
U.S. recognizes Israel’s claim to the land.

37