What are the settlers doing in the East Jerusalem village of Silwan? How do their actions and the policy of the Netanyahu government impact the Palestinians living there? What is the impact of the Trump administration’s collusion with the settlers and with Netanyahu’s government regarding East Jerusalem impact prospect for peace? More broadly, what are current trends in East Jerusalem, and how do they effect a possible two-state solution? On July 11th 2019, APN hosted Hagit Ofran and Daniel Seidemann for a briefing call to explore these questions. 

Hagit Ofran is the co-director of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch project. Widely-recognized as Israel’s foremost expert on a full range of issues related to West Bank settlements and settlement-related developments in East Jerusalem, Hagit’s work includes traveling daily throughout the West Bank, examining aerial photos and browsing official Israeli documents. The “Settlement Watch” project serves as a resource for Israeli politicians, diplomats, international media organizations, and first and foremost – for the Israeli public. Ofran has been chosen by Haaretz newspaper as one of “66 Israeli women you should know,” women “breaking barriers, defying stereotypes and wielding influence.”

Daniel Seidemann has been a practicing attorney specializing in legal and public issues in East Jerusalem for over three decades. He has also worked on issues and cases related to government and municipal policies and practices in Jerusalem, representing Israeli and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem before the statutory Planning Boards regarding development issues. Danny is the founder and director of Terrestrial Jerusalem an Israeli NGO that works to identify and track the full spectrum of developments in Jerusalem that could impact either the political process or permanent status options, destabilize the city or spark violence, or create humanitarian crises.