The European Union Parliament in Brussels. The EU is funding illegal Palestinian construction in parts of Judea and Samaria that are under full Israeli military and civil control. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Findings regarding the European Union’s funding of illegal Palestinian construction in Area C—the parts of Judea and Samaria that are under full Israeli military and civil control—were presented on Wednesday at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria.

Member of Knesset Moti Yogev (Jewish Home), the chairman of the subcommittee, said, “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of illegally constructed buildings. Quite simply, this is construction terrorism directed by the Palestinian Authority and deliberately funded by European Union countries with around 110 million euros ($120 million) per year.”

Yogev accused the Civil Administration—the Israeli governing body that operates in Judea and Samaria—of “inaction, incompetence, irresponsibility, and abandonment” in Area C.

Col. Uri Mendes, deputy head of the Civil Administration, said, “There is no illegal construction that is not dealt with by us. Just last week, we demolished five buildings and confiscated tents that were donated by the European Union.” According to Mendes, 904 buildings were illegally constructed in 2014, and 408 of them were subsequently demolished.