In late June, a company called My Israel Home hosted an expo at a Los Angeles synagogue catering to a specific clientele: Jewish Americans looking to buy a new home in Israel â or on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Similar real estate fairs have popped up across North America this year, in places such as Montreal, Toronto, New Jersey, Baltimore, and Brooklyn, and several have faced protests as the war on Gaza has brought the issue of Israeli settlements and Palestinian sovereignty to the fore.
An outbreak of violence at the LA event thrust the incident into the national spotlight. Protesters at the Adas Torah synagogue, who decried the sale of what they called âstolen land,â were met by pro-Israel counterprotesters on the West LA streets. Fights broke out among demonstrators, LA police said, while protesters reported being beaten by police with batons. The fracas was cast in the national media as an incident of violence at a place of worship, rather than a political protest at a corporate event, prompting political leaders from both parties, including President Joe Biden, to characterize the demonstration as antisemitic. The Justice Department said it is investigating the incident.
But homebuyers interested in purchasing a property in the occupied West Bank have a more convenient option for making an offer: a simple scroll through online listings.
Real estate companies are making an explicit appeal to wartime patriotism, leading with the conflict as a selling point and a reason to invest.
On websites largely tailored for Jewish American buyers looking to move to Israel, prospective homeowners can browse properties that include listings for homes in settlement communities, which offer the typical trappings of suburban life.
Around a dozen real estate firms have participated in real estate fairs organized by My Israel Home across North America this year. Six of these firms are actively marketing at least two dozen separate properties for sale located within eight different West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements, according to their online listings. Other real estate firms commonly list dozens of West Bank properties on their sites. The firms mentioned in this story did not respond to requests for comment.
They listed homes for sale in Maâale Adumim, Efrat, Mitzpe Yericho, Ramat Givat Zeâev, Har Adar, Hashmonaim, and Ariel â all West Bank settlements located within a one-hour drive of Jerusalem â as well as Givat Hamatos, which is in East Jerusalem.
West Bank settlements have long drawn criticism from the international community, which regards the settlements as illegal, in violation of Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions. The Israeli government disputes their illegality, however, and recognizes 146 settlements as legal, according to Peace Now, an Israeli advocacy group that tracks and opposes settlement expansion. The Israeli government leases land exclusively to Israelis, the group said, as Palestinians are barred from using the new plots the state has usurped in the West Bank.
Criticism of settlements have only intensified in recent months amid a spike in settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory, as Israelâs war in Gaza rages. And on Friday, Israel announced its plans to adopt five illegal outposts in the West Bank as settlements, which has also invited international condemnation.
On its website, My Home in Israel, which helped organize the LA event and runs a team of U.S.-based real estate agents, posted photos from its other conventions in Teaneck, New Jersey, and Montreal, showing the interior of synagogues lined with booths manned by real estate firms, mortgage companies, and law firms, sitting and talking with prospective buyers. âFind your dream home in Israel,â reads one boothâs banner. âLive the American dream in the heart of Israel,â another reads atop a rendering of luxury apartments.
Screenshot: My Home in Israel
âA lot of people want to live out there â itâs beautiful, the mountains, itâs scenic,â said Baruki Cohen, a real estate agent, referring to West Bank settlements. His firm, Israel Home, did not participate at the LA event, but markets similar properties to Jewish Americans, selling property within Israel alongside houses in East Jerusalem. He plans to list properties in an Israeli settlement in the Palestinian city of Hebron in the future. A native of New Jersey who grew up visiting family in Israel, Cohen bought a second home in 2014 in Jerusalem.
Cohen said real estate conventions, such as the LA event, have been going on for at least the past decade. Conventions are commonly hosted in hotel conference rooms and in peopleâs homes, in addition to synagogues. He estimates as many as 100 different real estate conventions take place across North America each year.
âI have no moral or legal qualms selling property [in the West Bank],â Cohen said. âI would live there myself if I felt it was safe. Anyone who wants to move there, weâre happy to facilitate it.â
âI have no moral or legal qualms selling property [in the West Bank].â
Since the early years after the formation of the state of Israel in 1948, the country has invited the immigration of Jews from across the globe.
In the 1980s, immigration beyond the Green Line – the border between Israel and the West Bank established after the Israeli-Arab War of 1948, during which over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced in a campaign known as the Nakba – surged as settlements grew from small illegal outposts to suburban cities with backing from the Israeli government. This expansion led to the continuous eviction of Palestinians from their homes as settlements expanded.
While most Jewish Americans who choose to move to Israel do not settle in the West Bank, hundreds still make that decision annually. According to Sara Yael Hirschhorn, about 15% of the 3,000 Jewish Americans who immigrate to Israel each year move into settlements. These settlements are home to approximately 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with around 60,000 being American. This number does not include the more than 200,000 Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967.
Despite American immigrants recognizing the border between Israel and the West Bank, real estate companies are profiting off this migration by promoting properties in settlements like Efrat and Maâale Adumim as part of Israel, rather than beyond the Green Line. These settlements are often referred to with biblical names like Judea and Samaria, a term preferred by the Israeli government.
American Jewish settlers in these areas often do not perceive themselves as living beyond the state borders and may even send their children there for schooling, treating the settlements as part of Israel. During the Trump administration, more American Jews chose to overlook the Green Line.
Following the recent Gaza war, real estate agents reported an increase in demand for Israeli properties, with firms appealing to wartime patriotism as a reason to invest in housing as a way of supporting Israel during times of conflict and instability. Firms also credited the support from foreign and American buyers for helping the Israeli economy survive the early years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Violence Against Palestinians in the West Bank Continues Amidst Gaza Conflict
Since the start of Israelâs war on Gaza in October, more than 500 Palestinians, including 133 children, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli military forces or settlers, according to the United Nationsâs top human rights official and an Intercept investigation. The 2023 death toll was the highest since 2005 when the U.N. began tracking casualties in the West Bank.
âAs the worldâs eyes have been primarily focused on Gaza, the settler movement has continued unabated and pushed even harder to establish illegal settlements, to further develop settlements, to take more land,â said Hadar Susskind, president of Americans for Peace Now, which opposes West Bank settlements.
Peace Now, an Israel-based organization that tracks the settler movement, has reported incidents of violence from Jewish settlers, including harassment, burning olive groves, and stealing sheep from Palestinian farmers. In 2023, settlers built 26 new illegal outposts, the most since 2002. So far this year, 14 additional settler outposts have been built.
Americans, including those outside the Jewish community, play a significant role in supporting the expansion of settlements. Evangelical Christian groups, in particular, contribute millions to pro-settler causes. One American Christian pro-settler group, HaYovel, raised $3.5 million in February to provide equipment for settlers in the West Bank and aims to raise an additional $25 million.
Americans for Peace Now has called on the U.S. government to take action to stop the flow of funds supporting settler violence. Bidenâs executive order has allowed the State Department to sanction individuals and organizations involved in violence in the West Bank. The government has already sanctioned several Israeli Jewish settlers and organizations for their role in attacks against Palestinians.
âPalestinians are facing day-to-day problems and will not have justice and equality until the occupation ends,â Susskind emphasized. âDealing with immediate needs is important, but the ultimate solution lies in ending the occupation.â
