In the heart of Paris, Israeli settlers are putting the West Bank up for sale

By Marie Gréco

“A sales fair dedicated to Jews in France who are considering moving to Israel.” It is with these completely neutral words that the marketing agency Garkan presents on its Instagram account the Icube fair, dedicated to Israeli real estate, which was held twice in Paris during 2024.

Suspecting that exhibitors are selling apartments and houses in illegal colonies located on stolen land in the Palestinian territories, similar to what happens in the United States and Canada, Blast managed to get in twice. In March 2024, no exhibitor admitted to selling property in the Palestinian territories, a practice condemned by international law. Last September, however, the Garkan agency, whose offices are located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, notably offered for sale apartments located in an Israeli colony in the West Bank.

Flashback. Sunday, September 8, 2024 in the morning, in the beautiful neighborhoods of Paris. On the chic Avenue Hoche, the Salons Hoche are hosting the Icube event dedicated to Israeli real estate. On this occasion, companies are selling properties located in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Eilat, and other Israeli cities. The authors of these lines are posing as potential buyers. One claims to be looking for a house for his father, while the other claims to be there only to accompany.

While, in an opinion of July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the UN, declared illegal the occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories by Israel since 1967, we informed several agencies of our wish to buy a house in "Judea and Samaria", the name used by Israeli settlers to designate the West Bank. Among the exhibitors approached was obviously Garkan, the real estate marketing agency. Prudently, no exhibitor openly claims to sell such shady properties, this does not prevent us from asking for the contact details of interested people... and discreetly reconnecting.

Kedem Project

Thus, two weeks later, a man claiming to be from the Garkan company came back to us via WhatsApp. After making sure that we were still interested, he sent the presentation brochure of a project, called Kedem, and located in the Avnei Hefetz colony, in the heart of the Palestinian territories.

The PDF document shows a dozen buildings lined up, presented as future residential buildings that are to be completed in the coming years, and whose work is well advanced. Indeed, according to satellite images dated August 2023, the structures of several buildings have already emerged from the ground. By comparing these images with those of the same place in 2014, it appears that the Avnei Hefetz colony is expanding year by year, and is therefore encroaching on territory, threatening several Palestinian villages located nearby. According to an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published in 2018, this territorial and real estate development of the colony is part of a broader project, supported by the most fervent supporters of colonization, aimed at establishing a million settlers in the West Bank alone (excluding East Jerusalem), compared to nearly 500,000 today. In this perspective, the Yesha Council, an association that represents settlers in the West Bank, advocates building apartment buildings with many apartments, rather than individual houses, in which the population density is lower. With its 900 planned housing units, the Kedem project is fully in line with this perspective, and has thus received significant support from the Yesha Council, according to Haaretz.

The Russian dolls of real estate colonization

In charge of selling the properties internationally, Garkan is not at the origin of these constructions. His client turns out to be the developer Harey Zahav, a key cog in Israel's colonial enterprise in the Palestinian territories. In an old version of its presentation text still available on its website, the company described itself as having "the mission of building colonies and neighborhoods in the region of Judea and Samaria". On this same site, twelve projects located in colonies are highlighted.

Eviction of squatters

Harey Zahav is not a simple real estate developer: it is a distillation of Israeli colonial violence. On the company's Instagram account, for example, we find videos of Shlomo Warmstein, one of its directors, proudly filming himself in military uniform in the ruins of Gaza. There is also a photomontage showing sketches of homes lined up and superimposed on the ruins of Gaza. With this subtle caption: "A number of our employees have started working on the restoration, clearing of debris and eviction of squatters". The term "squatters" here refers to Palestinians from Gaza... The text also calls for the "return of Gush Katif", the name given by Israeli settlers to the colonies located in the Gaza Strip before their dismantling in 2005.

At the time, the Instagram post had provoked many outraged reactions around the world. Harey Zahav defended himself to our colleagues at Libération, explaining that the visual was a simple “parody” aimed at “opening a discussion.” The promoter added that the installation of Israelis in Gaza and the departure of the Palestinian population to neighboring Arab countries represented “the only solution for lasting peace.” This project, which constitutes ethnic cleansing, is shared up to the top of the Israeli state by the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, and by the now ex-Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who resigned from his post on January 19 to protest against the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. The idea of expelling the population of Gaza in order to guarantee peace in the region also seems to be shared by Donald Trump, who mentioned this desire to “clean house” on January 28.

Tricolor benevolence

Despite the recurring condemnations by the French authorities of the colonization projects of the Palestinian territories and the desire to expel their population, neither the Paris Police Prefecture nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to the sale of real estate located in the Israeli colonies during a fair taking place in the heart of Paris. The Prefecture was content to set up a security perimeter to ensure the smooth running of the event.

A surprising and recurring benevolence: according to information published on social networks by Icube, the organizer of the event, this is the 87th time that such a fair has been held in France. And several exhibitions of the same type have benefited from the sponsorship of the World Zionist Organization as well as the Jewish Agency for Israel, according to information also published on social networks by the organizers themselves.

The links displayed between Icube and these two organizations should have alerted the French authorities about the sale of property located in illegal Israeli colonies. Indeed, the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel actively participate in the Israeli colonization policy in the Palestinian territories. In an article published on the Blast website last September, journalist Caroline Brenière analyzed the central role of the World Zionist Organization: "The Colonies Division [of the World Zionist Organization, Editor's note] is a non-governmental organization invested with governmental powers, which works in favor of the establishment and development of colonies."

It is cheaper to live in the West Bank

For its part, the Jewish Agency for Israel posts on its website a list of contacts to help newcomers to Israel integrate. It includes in particular an integration coordinator for the "region of Samaria", which corresponds to the northern part of the occupied West Bank. The sale of properties located in Israeli settlements at a fair in Paris is therefore not a simple private initiative of the real estate marketing agency Garkan and the developer Harey Zahav. According to Shai Parnes, spokesperson for the Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem, it is a government project that has been going on for decades: “It is cheaper to live in the West Bank, housing is more affordable, settlers benefit from more subsidies. It is not surprising that they are trying to sell projects located in the settlements in Paris,” he denounces to Blast.

Beyond the political project of conquering Palestinian territories, the promoters of colonization also sell settlers a living environment. This is what emerges from the website dedicated to the Kedem project, created by Harey Zahav. It states that, by purchasing an apartment in Avnei Hefetz, settlers will be able to “have a coffee in [their] garden”, or even “send their children to quality educational institutions”. All this “just ten minutes from Route 6”, which crosses a large part of Israeli territory from north to south.

They benefit from infrastructure provided by the government

Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem since the Six-Day War in 1967. And, according to the UN, at least 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A figure that has been on the rise since the start of the Israeli offensive against Gaza on October 7, 2023. “As of March 26 [2024], 4,780 new housing units for settlers had been approved in Area C of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” is given as an example in a report by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People published on August 31, 2024.

And although all of these settlements are considered illegal under international law, more than half of them are authorized under Israeli law. The others, also recognized as illegal by the Hebrew state, are considered “outposts.” “Most of the outposts are linked to existing settlements. And even if they are officially illegal under Israeli law, when you go there, you can see that they benefit from infrastructure provided by the Israeli government, such as water or electricity, for example,” says Shai Parnes indignantly. The Israeli authorities are thus often accused of playing a key role in the development of these outposts. In particular because these so-called “wild” colonies often end up being legalized. This was also the case recently: in June 2024, the Israeli war cabinet approved the legalization of five outposts in the West Bank. This had been condemned in particular by the heads of G7 diplomacy.

Establishing facts on the ground

It must be said that all of these colonies, legal or not in the eyes of the Israeli authorities, allow Israel to gradually establish itself as the only viable state on these lands. A political project clearly assumed by the Netanyahu government. According to information reported by the online daily Times of Israel in August 2024, Bezalel Smotrich, the Jewish state’s finance minister, assures that the colonization aims to “establish facts on the ground” to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. “The entire territory between the sea and the Jordan is controlled by Israel. This includes both Israeli territory and the Palestinian territories. Israel does not even need to declare the annexation of the West Bank, since it already controls the territory. This is why B’Tselem says that it is a regime of apartheid and Jewish supremacy, with a policy of recovering as much Palestinian territory as possible, with as few Palestinians as possible living on it.” "This policy is not new; it has existed since at least 1967. So it is not just a problem with the current government, but rather Israel's policy for decades," notes the B'Tselem spokesperson.

The gradual erasure of Palestine

This blockage of any creation of a Palestinian state is sadly about to bear fruit. With very concrete consequences on the daily lives of Palestinians. “The settlers regularly burn the olive trees of Palestinian farmers, prevent them from feeding their livestock, take control of their land, prevent them from cultivating it, and consequently from feeding themselves. The farmers therefore lose money and sometimes have to leave. This is the goal sought by the settlers, who then recover the land to Judaize it,” analyzes Shai Parnes. The Avnei Hefetz colony, created by stealing land from a Palestinian village, and in which the project offered for sale at the Israeli real estate fair we visited is located, is a perfect illustration of this. By breaking the territorial continuity of the West Bank, the colony and its checkpoints have the effect of hindering the movement of the Palestinian population. This is what emerges from the data collected by B’Tselem. According to the organization, the road connecting two Palestinian villages, located on either side of the Avnei Hefetz settlement, is now inaccessible to Palestinians. In addition, the settlers have de facto control over agricultural land belonging to Palestinian farmers. Since October 7, 2023, the latter have been prevented from accessing their land.

According to the UN, this settlement policy, which is intensifying and accompanied by violence, risks “eliminating any practical possibility” of creating a Palestinian state and compromises “the chances of achieving a two-state solution.” Faced with this situation, B’Tselem is calling on the international community: “International law must now be respected. Condemnation is not enough. It is time to act,” says Shai Parnes.

Do the French authorities accept that an Israeli real estate fair, held in the heart of Paris, is participating in a project of colonization and annexation of Palestinian territories, in total violation of international law? Contacted several times, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prefecture did not respond to our requests. Despite our repeated requests, Icube, Garkan and Harey Zahav did not respond to our emails. Salons Hoche, contacted by telephone and email, also did not wish to answer our questions.