EU Accused Of Funding Unauthorized Palestinian Road

The European Union is funding an unauthorized Palestinian access road near the Dead Sea, according to Regavim, an NGO which monitors illegal Palestinian construction, The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.

The road is supposed to be an access route from homes in the Palestinian village of Teqoa to nearby agricultural lands in Area C, under Israeli civil control, in Yehudah and Shomron.

But Regavim charges that it is just the beginning of a much larger infrastructure project representing an illicit Palestinian land grab with EU backing.

“When a road like this is built by the PA with EU funding, it allows it [the PA] to rule over a large area in the Judean desert and annex it,” he explained. “The state of Israel can’t afford to give up on this territory and it certainly can’t allow foreign governments to break the law in this way.”

“It’s like a snake that is hiding in the grass,” said Oved Arad, who is in charge of Regavim’s land division. “We’re talking about what will be a highly strategic road,” Arad added.
The group submitted a petition to the High Court last month to halt construction of the road, of which 15 miles are under way. It is also scheduled to testify on the matter before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s sub-group on Yehudah and Shomron.

Regavim says that appeals to the Civil Administration, which must approve all infrastructure projects, went unanswered. The High Court has given the state until the 18th of this month to respond to the petition.

The office of the EU Representative to the Palestinian territories had no immediate comment on the matter.