You drive into Efrat, and you feel like you’re in small-town USA. There’s a supermarket, coffee shops, tidy roads and American families pushing buggies.
The two main differences? Firstly, the flags are Israeli. Secondly, we’re in the occupied West Bank, a half-hour drive from Jerusalem.
Efrat is a settlement, set up on Palestinian land more than four decades ago. According to international law, its very existence is illegal – a ruling that Israel has long rejected and ignored.
We’re here because Efrat has been the pilot for a new project that, like so much in Israel, has delighted some and enraged others.
Officials from the American Embassy have come here for one day to create a “pop-up” consulate to serve the thousands of US citizens who live here.
It’s a move that’s never been done before.
Around 4,000 people in Efrat – that’s about a third of its population – are US citizens. And as we watched, a decent chunk of that number came to a community centre, clutching passports, documents, small Stars and Stripes flags and paperwork.
For those residents, it’s a very welcome new initiative – applications that used to involve a day spent in Jerusalem were now being sorted in one visit. But for others, this is another step along the road towards settlements being legitimised and the West Bank being annexed.
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‘It’s a game-changer’
We meet Yonatan Marcus, the municipality’s chief of staff. He’s originally from New York state, and says he’s hugely proud that Efrat has been picked to be the trailblazer for this. He offers credit to both President Donald Trump and to Mike Huckabee, America’s ambassador in Israel.
“I think it’s a game-changer – a real change. It comes from a real love. It’s unbelievable. Ambassador Huckabee’s love for this country and caring for this country, for the people here, and his love for America,” he says.
“He knows that if America and Israel are together, it makes both countries stronger. Doing these acts and providing these services comes from understanding our history and our instinct for survival,” he beams.
‘We don’t see Arabs as our enemies’
The Weinbergers are here with their documents. Michael and Roxanne, along with three children. He’s originally from New Jersey, she from Oregon, and both still have deep affection for their homeland. But they love their lives here, on a settlement set on a West Bank ridge.
“I can probably name more congressmen than Knesset members,” says Michael. “I feel love for both places. Biblically, Israel has a strong meaning for us, but when the US beat Canada at the Winter Olympics I was very excited.”
Roxanne is more emphatic. I ask which country has her heart, and she has no doubt. “My heart is here but I am still very much an American. As an American Jew there is no good answer because both places feel like home.”
They see Efrat as a town that unites more than it divides. “People from outside think ‘oh, every Arab and Jew hates each other’, but that’s not the case,” Michael says.
“We don’t see Arabs as our enemies. We want to have some future together. We could have some future together. In this region we have coexistence groups, and there is a desire for that.”
West Bank compared to the Falkland Islands
Inside, we talk to the town’s mayor, Dovi Shefner – more forthright, more anxious. Proud that the American officials are here, but also nervous about the future.
“We want peace, but all the years, and especially after October 7, we know many of them want to kill us and throw us from our land. We want to live in peace, but when someone tries to kill you, you don’t wait for them to kill you. You fight.”
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The West Bank, he tells me, belongs to Israel, as written in the Bible, and he draws a parallel between this territory and the 1982 war to regain the Falkland Islands. “No British citizen knew where it was, but it was the centre of their lives. You had to fight for it.”
Efrat is calm, neat and tranquil. But settlements like this are desperately controversial and divisive. We leave and drive to Bethlehem, just down the road.
‘The situation has deteriorated further’
Ahmad al Nawawreh is cooking falafel (warm and delicious) when we meet him. He smiles easily, talks willingly, and worries when we ask him about the effect of American support for the nearby settlements.
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“The situation has deteriorated further,” he says. “Nothing has improved. On the contrary, their behavior has become even more aggressive. The settlers claim that Trump supports them, which seems to embolden their actions. It feels as though both we and our land are being taken from us.
“They are continuously violating our rights. Not long ago, they stole livestock belonging to local residents, and have also vandalised public property. There is no sense of brotherhood or goodwill here. Everything feels strained and unjust.”
