A/HRC/37/39 B. How Israeli authorities encourage settlement businesses 43. The Government of Israel actively encourages economic development of and for the settlements through the Israeli and international private sector by creating an attractive financial business market, by providing key financial incentives to companies to operate in the settlements. Ninety settlements have been designated as “national priority areas”, which allows businesses operating within them to benefit from reductions in the price of land, grants for the development of infrastructure, and preferential tax treatment (A/HRC/34/39, para. 24). Businesses in settlements can also take advantage of functional immunity from labour law with respect to the treatment of Palestinian workers. 25 According to the factfinding mission, business owners are able to cut their costs by paying lower rates to Palestinian workers than their Israeli counterparts, with substandard work conditions. This is largely due to a lack of supervision or regulation of employers in the settlements by Israeli officials (A/HRC/22/63, paras. 94-95). 44. Furthermore, Israeli authorities use their permit and licensing regime to encourage international and Israeli business engagement with the settlements. Permits and licenses are readily provided to businesses operating in or servicing settlements, but are rarely granted to companies engaged in providing similar services to Palestinians. 26 Israeli and international companies are regularly given quarrying licenses in Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank, whereas, according to the Palestinian Union of Stone and Marble, no new permits have been issued to Palestinian businesses to open quarries in Area C 27 since 1994.28 45. Domestic laws and regulations in Israel also play a role in inducing businesses to serve individuals in the settlements. The Consumer Protection Law (1981) was amended in 2017 in response to alleged discrimination against consumers living in settlements. The revised law makes it mandatory for businesses to state clearly before any transaction is finalized whether they are not willing or able to provide services to settlements. The Prohibition of Discrimination in Products, Services and Entry into Places of Entertainment and Public Places Law (2000), was amended at the same time to include customers’ “place of residence” to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination. It applies to any business that provides public services, even if it is privately owned, such as transportation services, communications services, entertainment, tourism or financial services intended for public use.29 While these laws do not compel businesses to provide services to individuals in the settlements, they make it more difficult not to do so. C. How businesses contribute to and benefit from the establishment, maintenance and growth of settlements 46. OHCHR notes that businesses play a key role in facilitating the overall settlement enterprise, contributing to Israel’s confiscation of land and the transfer of its population through commercial development. Some are directly involved in the confiscation of land by carrying out demolitions that make way for settlement residential communities or associated infrastructure, or by financing or executing settlement construction itself. Others provide services that ensure the sustainability of residential settlement communities, such 25 26 27 28 29 12 Human Rights Watch, “Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights”, 19 January 2016. Ibid. Under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II) of 1995, the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, was divided into three temporary administrative zones, referred to as Areas A, B and C. Israel retains almost exclusive control over Area C, including control over law enforcement, building and planning (see www.ochaopt.org/location/area-c). World Bank, “West Bank and Gaza: Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy”, Washington, D.C., 2013, para. 30. According to articles 1 to 3 of the Prohibition of Discrimination in Products, Services and Entry into Places of Entertainment and Public Places Law (2000), “financial services” include banking services and the provision of credit and insurance.