This article was originally published by Al-Ahram Weekly and is republished with permission.

A Palestinian from the West Bank village of Azzun Atma holds a sign reading: "enough with the occupation!" during a protest against Israel's separation wall. (Khaleel Reash, Maan Images)

The Al-Masri family living in the Old City of Jerusalem is on edge after the municipal council, headed by Jewish extremist Nir Barakat, informed them that their house will be destroyed within the month. This decision is justified by the fact that the house was built without a permit.

This family, like so many other Palestinian families, was forced to build illegally because the municipality does not grant Palestinians building permits. The family claims, however, that the municipality has no real interest in upholding the laws concerning building permits, but rather the real reason for this decision is that the Jewish extremist group "Ateret Cohanim" wants to build a new Jewish settlement.

Financing these new settlements is Jewish American billionaire Irving Moskowitz, who does not hesitate to invest in any new Jewish settlements in Jerusalem. Behind the scenes, and thousands of miles away, Moskowitz has been carefully following the progress of settlement-building. There is no Israeli report written on the settlement projects that does mention Moskowitz's name.

According to Khalil Tufakjy, official cartographer for the Arab Society in Jerusalem, Moskowitz holds nothing sacred and his support for settlement-building includes purchasing the Shephard Hotel in East Jerusalem, originally the home of Mufti Amin Husseini, who was the Palestinian commander of the 1936 Revolution. Tufakjy told Al-Ahram Weekly that collaboration between Moskowitz and Tel Aviv's ruling political elites is clear: the elites push the settlement-building forward through legislation, and Moskowitz finances them.

One particularly ambitious project included former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who at the time was serving as the minister of housing, and aimed to increase the Jewish population in Jerusalem to a million settlers. The plan was to build 26 new Jewish neighbourhoods, and of course, Moskowitz was financing their construction. Tufakjy stresses that Moskowitz is a religious extremist who considers the homeland of the Jews to include the so-called "Sacred Basin", where the graves of ancient Jewish ancestors supposedly lie. This, Tufakjy told the Weekly, explains Moskowitz's enthusiasm for investing in the East Jerusalem town of Sulwan, a town Jews believe to have been built by the prophet David 2,000 years ago. Moskowitz financed the purchase of some 560 acres in this so-called historical "David City" and most of its houses, hoping to prevent any future division of the city of Jerusalem.

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Journalist Iroshalmi Shalom says that Moskowitz not only finances Ateret Cohanim's projects, which are headed by Motti Dan Hacohen, but also those of Elad, led by David Parry. Shalom noted in an article published in Bmarev that these two organisations head the settlement-building in Jerusalem, and that Elijah Begiv, member of the Likud Party, is at the head of this movement. The article also notes that Yuri Bin Ezra, Moskowitz's son-in-law is the one responsible for converting funds for settlement-building. Moskowitz is a committed Zionist and has a close relationship with Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the leading public figure behind the expansion of Jewish settlements in Jerusalem. The leaders of Ateret Cohanim and Elad emphasise that the goal of settlement-building is to "judaise" East Jerusalem to make any future division of the city impossible and to destroy any Palestinian connections.

The American funding that Moskowitz provides in support of Zionist settlement projects should by rights be taxed by the US Treasury, but Moskowitz has been exempted from paying taxes, having convinced US tax authorities that he is contributing his funds to charities. Many other wealthy Jewish businessman have done the same, evading taxes and at the same time supporting Israeli settlement projects. Israeli Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu praises Moskowitz's work as "the sacred work of the faithful".

While Moskowitz is responsible for investing in East Jerusalem, Australian Jewish billionaire Yitzhak Gutnik invests in the Jewish colonisation of Hebron. Israeli settlers were able to buy up real estate in Hebron because of the generous contributions provided by Gutnik. He has dedicated billions he made in the sale of jewels to Jewish settlement- building in Hebron, particularly in the old part of the city, and especially the settlement of Kiryat Arba. Gutnik also finances political and social activities organised by settlers in Hebron, as well as the legal defence of many settlers in Hebron who have been taken to court for attacking Palestinian civilians. Gutnik has been linked to the religious extremist party Kach, which calls for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel and Palestine. Unlike Moskowitz, Gutnik has been active in his interventions in the Israeli party system and was a key contributor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's campaign, financing his trips abroad.

Tel Aviv and Washington have reportedly reached an agreement that would legitimise settlement-building in East Jerusalem in exchange for Israel's commitment to temporarily suspend settlements in the West Bank. Haaretz stated that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a number of European leaders that Tel Aviv and Washington had reached an agreement on this issue, saying that Israel had agreed to the "temporary suspension" of "most" of the West Bank settlements. Haaretz stated that Clinton has called on her European counterparts to support Israel's position without reservation. According to the agreement, Israel will be allowed to finish settlements already begun, which means 2500 new Jewish families will move into the West Bank, raising the number of settlers by 12,500. According to the Israeli Central Statistics Centre, the number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank alone has soared to 300,000.