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Israel's Religious Right and the Question of Settlements

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Israel's Religious Right and the Question of Settlements ISRAEL’S RELIGIOUS RIGHT AND THE QUESTION OF SETTLEMENTS Middle East Report N°89 – 20 July 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... i I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. NATIONAL-RELIGIOUS FRAGMENTATION AND RADICALISATION............ 3 III. THE TIME OF THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX............................................................... 12 IV. JEWISH ACTIVIST TOOLS ........................................................................................ 17 A. RHETORIC OR REALITY? ............................................................................................................17 B. INSTITUTIONAL LEVERAGE ........................................................................................................17 1. Political representation...............................................................................................................17 2. The military................................................................................................................................20 3. Education ...................................................................................................................................24 C. A PARALLEL SYSTEM ................................................................................................................25 V. FROM CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE TO VIOLENCE ..................................................... 27 VI. THE STATE’S RESPONSE........................................................................................... 32 VII.CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 37 APPENDICES A. MAP OF ISRAEL AND WEST BANK/GAZA ...........................................................................................39 B. MAP OF ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN SECURITY CONTROL...................................................................40 C. MAP OF RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION OF SETTLEMENTS .........................................................................41 D. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP ......................................................................................42 E. CRISIS GROUP REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA SINCE 2006 .....43 F. CRISIS GROUP BOARD OF TRUSTEES..................................................................................................45 Middle East Report N°89 20 July 2009 ISRAEL’S RELIGIOUS RIGHT AND THE QUESTION OF SETTLEMENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Benjamin Netanyahu is in a bind. Israel is facing argua- the rightness of their cause. Treating every confronta- bly unprecedented pressure to halt all settlement activ- tion – however insignificant the apparent stake – as a ity, led by a new and surprisingly determined U.S. test of wills, religious militants have responded to the administration. But the prime minister also heads a dis- demolition of plyboard huts with revenge strikes on tinctly right-wing coalition and faces intense domestic Palestinians, stoning their cars, burning their crops, cut- pressure from settlers and their allies. However impor- ting their trees and occasionally opening fire. Main- tant, what will emerge from current discussions between stream religious leaders for the most part appear pow- Washington and Jerusalem will only be step one in a erless to condemn, let alone tamp down the violence. long process designed to achieve a settlement freeze, settlement evacuation and a genuine peace agreement In the run-up to the 2005 Gaza withdrawal, some ana- with the Palestinians. Understanding how Israel might lysts and even a few decision-makers predicted violent deal with these challenges requires understanding a clashes and hard fought evacuations. They were mis- key yet often ignored constituency – its growing and taken. Disengagement proceeded remarkably peacefully increasingly powerful religious right. and smoothly. But it would be wrong to veer to the other extreme and assume that what happened in Gaza The effort to settle in the occupied territories once was will be replicated in the West Bank. There are differ- led by secular Zionists. No more. Today, the settlement ences in numbers, background and militancy of the issue is being quickly transformed by the shifting respective settler populations. Plus, Gaza taught les- dynamics of the religious right. Tens of thousands of sons to all sides, the government but also the mili- national-religious Jews populate the settlements; they tants. Since then, the latter have been preparing for the enjoy political, logistical and other forms of support next round. They are banking on their support within from hundreds of thousands inside Israel proper. In ad- state institutions to discourage the government from dition, an equal if not larger number of ultra-orthodox taking action and on their own rank and file to ensure who initially shared little of the national-religious out- that every attempt to evict an outpost or destroy a struc- look, gradually have been gravitating toward their view; ture comes at a heavy price. For that reason, some secu- many among them are now settlers. Together, the rity officials worry that unrest could spread, with vio- national-religious and ultra-orthodox carry weight far lence not only between Israeli Jews and Palestinians in excess of their numbers. They occupy key positions but also among Jews; they also fear discord in military in the military, the government and the education and ranks that could complicate action. legal sectors, as well as various layers of the bureauc- racy. They help shape decision-making and provide a Some steps are long overdue. Having long given suc- support base for religious militants, thereby strength- cour to the settlement enterprise, the state needs to rein ening the struggle against future territorial withdraw- it in; while it at times has acted against the excesses of als from both within and without state institutions. individual religious militants, it too often has shown excessive lenience toward anti-Palestinian violence or The religious right believes it has time on its side. Its hateful incitement, especially with a religious content. two principal camps – the national-religious and ultra- Rabbis who call on soldiers to defy army orders to orthodox – boast the country’s highest birth rates. They remove settlements or who justify violence in many have doubled their population in West Bank settlements cases continue to receive state salaries; religious colleges in a decade. They are rising up military ranks. Their with a record of militancy continue to operate without political parties traditionally play important roles within oversight or regulation; inflammatory material finds ruling government coalitions. Many – in the leadership its way on to army bases. All this should stop. Judicial and among the grassroots – are preparing the ground and law enforcement agencies need to investigate and for the next battle over settlements and territorial prosecute cases of anti-Palestinian violence and hate withdrawal, animated by a deeply rooted conviction in crimes. The army should show the same determination Israel’s Religious Right and the Question of Settlements Crisis Group Middle East Report N°89, 20 July 2009 Page ii in protecting non-Jewish as it does Jewish civilians in Israel’s religious parties should be made to feel part the West Bank. of the diplomatic process, rather than as its mere spectators or even its targets; in this spirit, third But Israel’s religious right has deep roots, and even its parties such as the U.S. should be reaching out to most militant expression cannot be dealt with exclusively them. through confrontation, however effective U.S. pressure might be. Along with necessary firmness, there are The current mix of neither strict law enforcement nor other ways to defuse the problem: effective outreach is a recipe for greater difficulties ahead. To ignore the reality and weight of Israel’s reli- The government could help pass an early evacua- gious right would hamper an already uncertain path to tion compensation law, providing for advantageous an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and, should an agree- financial terms to those settlers who agree to move, ment be reached, toward a lasting and sustainable peace. thereby isolating their more hardline members. Jerusalem/Brussels, 20 July 2009 Unlike what happened with the Gaza disengage- ment, the government could start early planning for settler relocation by building alternative homes in- side Israel proper. While some settlers will be determined no matter what to remain on what they consider their Biblical land, here, too, ideas are worth exploring. In nego- tiations with Palestinians, Israel could examine whether and how settlers choosing to remain might live under Palestinian rule. Middle East Report N°89 20 July 2009 ISRAEL’S RELIGIOUS RIGHT AND THE QUESTION OF SETTLEMENTS I. INTRODUCTION national-religious father of six and grandfather of 34. “They are a dying breed. The future of Israel is reli- gious”.6 Ultra-orthodox Jews comprise 10 per cent of Spearheading today’s settlement enterprise are two of Israel’s population, but over 20 per cent of all first- Israel’s most dynamic and fastest growing forces: rel- graders.7 In the 1990s, mass immigration, particularly igious Zionists1 (who view possession of Biblical land of secular
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