The government of the State of Israel announced Sunday that it would take nearly 1,000 acres of land in the West Bank for affordable housing. 1,000 acres is one of the largest acquisitions in three decades. It is located West of Bethlehem in an area known as Gush Etzion; and it might one day become a town called Gvaot
If there are about 640 acres in a square mile, we can say the 1000 acres is 1.5 square miles. Manhattan’s Central Park is about 850 acres, so… 1,000 acres is like acquiring Central Park and Midtown down to Rock Center, including the Christmas Tree
Is it a real seizure to build a bloc and town? Is it a ploy to destabilize the P.A.? Is it a negotiation ploy?
I don’t know. Ask Kissinger.
But what is of greater concern to me at the moment is Israel’s “seizure” of swaths of Connecticut and Illinois.
Over the past few weeks, the Clal Insurance Group, a Tel Aviv based Israeli organization that is controlled by (or a front for) Bank Hapoalim and IDB, bought Harper Court, a mixed-use office complex in Chicago’s Hyde Park – figuratively U.S. President Barack Obama’s backyard, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s playground.
In addition to this University of Chicago related property, Clal purchased a good amount of the 1.2 million-square-foot office building at One South Wacker in Chicago. Combine this with their acquisition of a 100 unit apartment complex in Edgewater, N.J. (bordering Manhattan), and the 334-unit Stamford, Conn. apartment complex on 75 Tresser.
What is their end game? Is this part of larger plan ?
