An Israeli construction company, Binyanei Bar Amana, affiliated with the Amana settlement movement, is currently selling duplexes in Peduel, a highly sought-after middle-class settlement adjacent to the Green Line. While the company received the land in Peduel from the state at no cost, it is selling properties there at full market value. For instance, a 198-square-meter duplex apartment is being sold for 3.4 million shekels ($930,000), disregarding the fact that the land was acquired without any financial outlay.

Interestingly, Binyanei Bar Amana is also selling properties in other settlements at significantly reduced prices. In Beit Hagai, a settlement in the southern Hebron Hills, a four-room apartment is offered for just 1.3 million shekels ($360,000). In the Kerem Reim outpost, officially part of the Talmon settlement near Ramallah, a four-room apartment is also priced at 1.3 million shekels, while a five-room garden apartment with a 30-square-meter garden costs 1.6 million shekels ($445,000).

The disparity in pricing raises questions about the company's practices. Ze’ev Hever, the general secretary of Amana, provided an explanation during a Gush Etzion Regional Council meeting in January 2022. He confirmed that Binyanei Bar Amana operates as a for-profit company and uses strategic subsidies to balance the profits earned from selling properties in popular settlements with those in less desirable areas. By doing so, they incentivize people to live in settlements that are farther from the Green Line, where demand is lower and construction is more challenging due to developer reluctance.

The extent of these subsidies becomes evident when comparing settlements like Elkana, located approximately half an hour from Peduel. In Elkana, a 3,800-square-foot plot for a duplex construction was sold for between 1.7 and 1.8 million shekels ($472,000 and $500,000). Meanwhile, in Peduel, residents purchasing a ready-to-inhabit apartment for 3.5 million shekels are unknowingly contributing a significant portion of that amount as an informal tax levied by the Gush Emunim movement. This “Amana Tax” subsidized housing construction in other settlements.

The settlements in question can be broadly categorized into two types. The first includes smaller settlements, like Peduel, where the state distributed land at no cost through the World Zionist Organization. Residents in these settlements are authorized to live there but do not officially own the land. Amana makes political use of such land, utilizing cross-subsidization between settlements to balance profits and losses. Some settlements, like Revava and Avnei Hefetz, yield profits for Amana, while others, like Rehelim, Yuvalim, and Teneh Omarim, do not yield any profit.

The second type comprises larger, urban-like settlements like Elkana, built by the Housing and Construction Ministry. The land in these settlements is sold through tenders issued by the Civil Administration. The distinction between these two categories has drawn criticism for discriminating against settlers in different types of settlements.

The arrangement between the state and the World Zionist Organization allows for less transparency and equitable resource distribution in building new settlements. The Settlement Division, funded by the Israeli government but administered by the World Zionist Organization, serves as the de facto executive branch for establishing new settlements, including those in the West Bank.

Amana’s control over land allocation in the West Bamk  allows the company to maintain dominance in real estate development. Due to this control, Amana is a major player in the West Bank real estate market, thanks to its large land reserves yet to be sold.

As the situation lacks transparency, the exact amount of land allocated to Amana remains undisclosed. The World Zionist Organization is not obligated to publish figures regarding land allocation in the West Bank, having received an exemption from doing so in 2015.

Critics argue that the absence of transparency allows Amana to dictate property prices and allocate state-owned land as it sees fit. Developers and other companies have joined projects in World Zionist Organization settlements in recent years, indicating a shift from the automatic transfer of lands to Amana.

Despite the complexities surrounding the subsidy system, residents of these settlements, like Avihai Peretz from Avnei Hefetz, express dissatisfaction with the arrangement. Peretz, who bought an apartment in the settlement in 2012, feels that developers like Binyanei Bar Amana and the National Land Redemption Fund profit at the expense of the settlers.

In response to the criticism, the National Land Redemption Fund maintains that it operates in accordance with a government decision, charging settlers a management and handling fee but not for the land itself. The Fund insists that it does not receive land from the Settlement Division.