Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

A Bimonthly Publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace Volume 16 Number 1 January-February 2006 SHARON’S SUCCESSOR MUST CONFRONT HIS LEGACY

Israel has been searching for a sus- outstanding issues, and cemented a new firmer leadership in this new, uncertain tainable framework for managing per- rationale for consolidating Israel’s still era. The Road Map has remained an manent occupation since Menachem considerable appetite for territory in the excuse for inaction, relevant only to the Begin’s 1978 embrace of Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem. extent that its ritual invocation assured “autonomy.” Sharon believed the “facts” that he that no plan of consequence challenged Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s was creating would establish a twenty- Sharon’s vision. All major Israeli parties removal of all Israeli troops and settle- first century foundation for Israel’s agree, if not for the same reasons, that ments from the Gaza Strip in Septem- claim to contested territory: “hard” bor- the diplomatic framework championed ber 2005 signaled the emergence of a ders governing passage between Israel by the Bush administration is passé. new Israeli consensus. Sharon, like and Palestine along the separation barri- Sharon intended that Palestinians Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben er; settlement “blocs” claiming space and remain, as they were during Israel’s Gurion, was determined to shape the sovereignty over lands Palestinians con- retreat from Gaza, objects of his inten- permanent borders of the state. sider an inseparable part of their patri- tions, not partners in its conception and “Not everything will remain in our mony, with contiguity via bridges and execution. With his departure, they now hands,” noted a speech harking back tunnels as a substitute for the territorial have increased ability to influence the to Israel’s first leader that Sharon was coherence lost by Palestine to Israeli set- program that his undoubtedly less pow- to give in September 2005. “We have a tlements; and “security zones” in places erful and effective successor will unfold rightful and just dream, but there is a like the Jordan Valley. Sharon champi- in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. reality, and it is tough and demanding. oned a new paradigm that features While the principles Sharon wanted It’s impossible to hold a Jewish, Israel’s imposition of an ersatz sover- to implement are clear, the borders of democratic state and also rule all of eignty in the West Bank (as he already the map that he wanted to create were Palestine.” did in Gaza) upon unwilling Palestin- not. No one knows exactly how much of Before he was incapacitated by a ians in those territories Israel desires the territory conquered in June 1967 stroke, Sharon had begun to implement neither for security or settlement. Israel will claim for itself in the coming a “long-term interim agreement” that There are doubts that whoever succeeds months and years. A range of possibili- rejected negotiations with the PLO, Sharon in national elections in March ties exists, downward from 60 percent of opposed a final status resolution of all 2006 will have the desire or power to the West Bank—Oslo’s Area C—to the realize this outcome. Sharon’s successors 9.4 percent west of the separation barri- Please visit our website to see its may not champion it with his vigor or er. Areas of “United Jerusalem” have new look and improved navigation. effectiveness, but they will find his pro- already been placed on the Israeli side of Sign up to receive the Report by gram difficult to replace with an alter- the separation barrier. Additional parts e-mail, to be notified of events in native of their own. of the city could well follow. But if Washington, DC, and more. Visit Palestinians and the international com- us at www.fmep.org. The Bulldozer’s Agenda munity are to successfully demand a maximal Israeli retreat, including areas Also in this issue: Israelis will not be alone in seeking west of the separation barrier whose to chart a course without Sharon. An annexation is ostensibly supported by an Short Takes 3 international community that has Israeli consensus, they will have to Settlement Time Line 4–5 deferred to “the Bulldozer’s” diplomatic demonstrate greater capacity for diplo- It’s the Occupation Stupid! 6–7 agenda may be compelled to provide matic innovation and leadership. ◆ TO OUR READERS FOUNDATION FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE Ariel Sharon’s historic legacy will not be unilateral actions by insisting, unrealistical- defined by the exaggerated praise he ly, that the Palestinians must dismantle ter- Merle Thorpe, Jr. receives today as a hero transformed from rorist groups before talks could resume. In Founder brutal warrior to “man of peace.” It will be the meantime, he strengthened Israeli con- (1917–1994) determined by whether Israel, the Palestin- trol in the West Bank through settlement ians, and the United States can now create growth and a separation barrier that frac- Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. a vision of peace that builds upon Sharon’s tures Palestinian lands and cuts off East President successes and repairs his errors. Jerusalem in ways that would foreclose a Geoffrey Aronson Sharon deserves credit for recognizing viable Palestinian state. ( Jeff Aronson Director, Research and that Israel’s territorial ambitions have lim- describes the fundamental anomalies of Publications, Editor, Report on its. His unprecedented withdrawal from Sharon’s plan on page 6.) Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories Gaza shattered the myth that settlements Sharon’s agenda was aided by grisly are irreversible. And he proved that the Palestinian suicide bombings, Arafat’s inep- Nitzan Goldberger much feared settler lobby lacks popular titude, lackluster leadership by Mahmoud Editorial Assistant support and is no match for a determined Abbas, Palestinian infighting, and a com- Maher Bitar Israeli government. pliant Washington. Now, elections and the Intern But Sharon leaves much damage to emergence of the radical Hamas raise new repair. He reinforced the misconception questions. But the formidable Ariel Sharon TRUSTEES that the conflict is solely about Palestinian is no longer in charge, and there is an terrorism and rejection, not also a harsh opportunity and a responsibility for Israelis, Lucius D. Battle occupation that defeats Palestinian hopes Palestinians, and the United States to chart Landrum R. Bolling for a sovereign state and provokes violent a new course. Calvin H. Cobb, Jr. rebellion. He avoided negotiations with the James J. Cromwell self-serving notion that Israel had no “part- Peter Gubser ner” for peace. And he bought time for Stephen Hartwell Richard S.T. Marsh —————— ◆ —————— Richard W. Murphy Jean C. Newsom Gail Pressberg William B. Quandt Nicholas A. Veliotes

The Foundation, a non- profit I.R.C. 501(c)(3) organization, supports peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians through mutual recognition and a negotiated division of historic Pales- tine. It publishes the bimonthly Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories. Copyright © 2006

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz approves the construction of hundreds of housing units in key West Bank settlements, days before leaving the Likud party to join Sharon’s Kadima party.

Yediot Aharonot, December 15, 2005

2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2006 SHORT TAKES

Life Under Siege in a Divided City not been a priority for the Palestinian Authority. Furthermore, the farmers have not received any attention, In recent years, more than half of the 2,500 Palestinians with many of them moving to the north to avoid harassment who lived in Hebron’s Old City have been driven out. . . . by Israel, which has been appropriating their land for years. Palestinians are now barred from the main commercial road, The Israeli plan of taking over this important part of Shuhada Street, where shops are boarded up. Elsewhere they Palestine is taking place in a speedy manner and in a way sim- are permitted only to walk and not drive. The UN has count- ilar to what is happening in Jerusalem. Will the Palestinian ed 101 military roadblocks and checkpoints controlling the leadership wake up to the disastrous fate awaiting the Jordan movement of Palestinians in central Hebron. Valley before it becomes too late? The army says the measures are the result of a “complex Abdel-Naser-En-Najjar, Al-Ayyam, November 19, 2005 reality” created by the Palestinian intifada and more than 30 suicide bombers from Hebron, and a climate of anger fueled ————————————— by killings such as a Palestinian sniper shooting a Jewish baby Ma’ale Adumim Wants to Expand and a mob of settlers murdering a 14-year-old Arab girl. The settlers call the Palestinian exodus “a gift from heav- The mayor of Ma’ale Adumim, Benny Kasriel, has intensi- en.” But last year Jan Kristensen, who headed the European fied his efforts in recent weeks to annex the East Jerusalem monitoring team [TIPH] in Hebron, said it had more to do area of Kikar Sefra into the Ma’ale Adumim bloc in an effort with a strategy by the army and settlers to drive Palestinians to create a contiguous settlement area. out of the Old City. More than a hundred Likud officials signed a petition sub- “More and more people are leaving the area and it is effec- mitted to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon supporting Kasriel’s tively being emptied. The settlers’ activities, which are aimed efforts. In the letter, the signatories demand that Sharon at causing the Palestinians to leave, and the army’s activities, expedite the building of the neighborhood. “We imagine that which impose severe restrictions, create an irreversible reality,” now, after the completion of the withdrawal from Gaza Strip, he told Ha’aretz. “The settlers go out almost every night and which was a traumatic experience that horrified the Likud attack those who live near them. They break windows, cause movement, the time has come to advance the political inter- damage and effectively force the Palestinians to leave the area. ests of the State of Israel.” In a sense, cleansing is being carried out.” Kasriel: “The Palestinians are interested in forming a con- Chris McGreal, Guardian, December 9, 2005 tiguous Palestinian area from Ramallah to Bethlehem. If they ————————————— succeed in carrying out their plan, they are likely to cut off the city’s northern [East Jerusalem settlement] neighborhoods. Divine Justice Those neighborhoods are in grave danger.” These very days, there are those who continue to make Kol Ha’Ir, November 11, 2005 additional plans of uprooting and destruction, and these must ————————————— be countered in various ways. ...Several decades from now, people will not believe that after 50 years of existence of the A Canton is Created state, a government in Israel uprooted dozens of communities, In recent months the IDF has been constructing a large threw Jews out of their homes, and gave the enemy land on barrier in the Tapuah junction south of Nablus that will allow which to base itself so that it could attack us. ...Everyone it to cut off the northern West Bank from its center. Accord- who took part in the crime of the expulsion must know that ing to sources inside the Israeli army, the construction of the he will be remembered in infamy....We are certain of the barrier was approved approximately nine months ago and it Master of the Universe that we will go from these troubles to will start operating in two month’s time. There will be ten times of blessing, when all of the Land of Israel will be only lanes, eight of which will face south. Of those lanes, one lane ours, just as G-d has promised us. will be designated for humanitarian vehicles, and another will Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, member of the YESHA be used for vehicles with Israeli license plates and will not be Rabbis Council, Arutz 7, November 10, 2005 subject to security inspections. The remaining two lanes will ————————————— be used for north-bound traffic. . . . The Final Days of the Jordan Valley The Israeli army claims that the decision to construct this barrier is part of the plan to restructure the transportation How many times has the Palestinian government visited regime in the West Bank. The authorities believe that the the villages of the Jordan Valley? What budget has the gov- barrier will be combined into a system of manned barriers and ernment allocated for this area and what has it offered the closures that will complete the IDF’s plan to disconnect people in terms of developmental projects? Nablus and Jenin from the rest of the West Bank. Reality shows that the Valley’s destroyed infrastructure has Ha’aretz, October 30, 2005

January-February 2006 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 3 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

September 22 Israel’s disengagement plan tender for 21 plots of land for the “Build gious organization, the Jewish Voice, to lead is completed with the dismantling of the Your Own Home” project in the Golan settlers with the intention of replacing the Dotan military post south of Jenin, 39 days Heights settlement of Katzrin. (Yediot YESHA Council. The organization will after withdrawals began. (Ha’aretz) Aharonot) encourage settlers to separate from Israel and refuse enlistment in the army. September 24 The Israeli Defense Forces Vandals destroy 210 fruit trees belonging to (IDF) announce the indefinite closure of all Palestinian farmers from the town of Khallet October 11 Ha’aretz reports that a half- external crossing points from the Gaza Strip. Zakariya, an area bordering the Alon Shvut kilometer radius around an illegal outpost The Rafah crossing point has been closed settlement. (OCHA) has become a closed military zone because of since September 7. (OCHA) an increase in settler attacks against Palestin- October 3 Arutz 7 reports that according ian olive orchards. Palestinian farmers will September 25 The IDF begins leveling to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli thus be forced to coordinate with the IDF to Palestinian agricultural land in the town of home purchases in the West Bank increased enter their groves, which cover thousands of Tarqumiyya, an area abutting the Adora set- by 38% from January to June 2005, account- dunams of land. tlement, to create a buffer zone around the ing for 5.3% of all new Israeli home pur- settlement. (OCHA) chases. October 14 Ha’aretz reports some U.S. Protestant churches rescinding an earlier September 26 The body of an Israeli man decision to stop investing in companies from East Jerusalem’s Pizgat Ze’ev settle- The chopping down of olive benefiting from Israel’s occupation of ment is found near Ramallah. He had been trees by state representatives, Palestinian land. kidnapped and killed by Palestinians. just like the appropriation of (OCHA) October 16 Three Israeli youths are killed private agricultural land and the by Palestinian gunmen at the Etzion bloc Karen Abu-Zayd, director of the United exploitation of every inch of hitchhiking station in the West Bank. Nations Relief and Works Agency Palestinians also wound a 14-year-old Israeli (UNRWA), reports that 30,000 Palestinians non-private ground for the pur- boy near the West Bank settlement of Eli. lost their homes in the al-Aqsa intifada. The pose of expanding the settle- (Ha’aretz) United Nations plans to build new housing, ments, is a routine matter in the some in the areas of the recent Israeli with- territories. The difference be- Soldiers visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs drawal. (Yediot Aharonot) in Hebron are attacked by settlers for the tween the injustice caused by IDF’s role in the disengagement plan. September 28 Israel denies the requests of Settlers also assault Col. Menashe Goldblatt 406 Palestinian olive grove farmers for per- the state authorities and the on a visit to see his brother in the Neveh mission to enter their agricultural land west damage done independently by Tzuf settlement and OC Central Command of the separation barrier. (OCHA) groups of settlers lies in the fact Maj. Gen Yair Naveh at the Gush Etzion The Palestinian Human Rights Montioring that the latter is an indication of junction. (Peace Now) Group reports that 3,508 Palestinians were the depth of anarchy and aban- October 17 IDF troops block access roads killed in the five years of the al-Aqsa intifa- donment that characterizes the to Palestinian traffic between Palestinian da. Among those, 35 were killed by Israeli communities and Highway 60 connecting settlers. It calculated the number of suicide way of life of the settlers in the Jerusalem to Hebron. (Ha’aretz) attacks at 165: 3 in 2000; 44 in 2001; 73 in territories. 2002; 25 in 2003; 16 in 2004; and 4 in 2005. Editorial, Ha’aretz, October 19 Ha’aretz reports a decision by the IDF’s Central Command to cancel mili- September 29 Ma’ariv reports that tens of January 12, 2006 tary escorts for Palestinian children to Arab families have chosen to reside in new schools south of Hebron originally instituted Israeli settlements such as Pizgat Ze’ev and Israel permits 20 food trucks to enter Gaza to protect against settler harassment. The French Hill being built north of Jerusalem. through the Sufa crossing after a month of cancellation followed the murder of three September 30 Yerushalaim reports that the almost complete closures. (Ha’aretz) settlers on October 16. New Home in Jerusalem company will pay October 10 According to a study conduct- Peace Now calls for the dismantlement of $13.2 million for land intended for the con- ed by the Jerusalem Institute for Israeli 26 settlements in the West Bank followed by struction of 114 housing units in the East Studies on the effects of the separation bar- a withdrawal from an additional 17. Jerusalem settlement of Ramot. rier in Jerusalem, 52% of East Jerusalemites (Ha’aretz) October 2 Yediot Aharonot reports that the interviewed were unable to reach their work, Israeli Housing Ministry is investigating the 33% had difficulties reaching their schools, October 20 Yediot Aharonot reports settlers disappearance of 400 mobile homes in the 39% had their health affected by lack of destroying hundreds of olive trees in the West Bank. The disappearances were first access to hospitals and clinics, and 37% said Palestinian village of Salem. made public in the Sasson Report released their social and family ties were affected by October 23 During the Sukkot holiday, earlier this year. the barrier. (Ha’aretz) the Temple Mount is opened for Jewish visi- The Israeli Housing Ministry publishes a Ma’ariv reports the founding of a new reli- tors from 7:30 to 9:00a.m. (Arutz 7)

4 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2006 SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

October 27 The IDF evacuates five illegal November 9 Ron Shechner, Defense Ma’ale Adumim. settlements set up the previous day near Minister Mofaz’s adviser on settlements, November 23 Ha’aretz reports that the Efrat, Elon Moreh, Kedumim, and Wor- resigns after coming under scrutiny for Israeli Justice Ministry and security officials shippers’ Way in Hebron. Settler youths near assisting in the construction of illegal settle- have rejected four of eight recommendations Elon Moreh vandalize and physically assault ments. of the Sasson Report on preventing illegal Israeli troops, and settlers clash with police November 10 Yediot Aharonot reports that outposts. The remaining four recommenda- in Hebron and throw stones on Palestinian chief of staff Dan Halutz has requested the tions have yet to be implemented. homes. Settlers return to two of the five dissolution of the Elon Moreh Yeshiva locations. (Ha’aretz) November 24 Ma’ariv reports that in pre- Council, led by Elyakim Levanon, on the ceding weeks the YESHA Council has fired Four settler youth are charged with attacking grounds that Levanon ordered his students approximately 20 of its employees and tens a 13-year-old Palestinian boy selling fruit at serving in the army to refuse orders during of youths serving as field workers, leaving an intersection near the Kedumim settle- disengagement operations. only six employees on its payroll. This ment. (Ha’aretz) November 15 Ha’aretz reports that the downsizing of staff resulted from the high October 28 Ha’aretz reports that Israeli Israeli Housing Ministry intends to transfer cost of the Orange Campaign, estimated at defense minister Shaul Mofaz has instructed to the Ministry of the Interior the responsi- $9 million. security forces to evict 15 families from bility of $9 million in funding security for Hebron’s wholesale market, where they have the 56 Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. November 28 Peace Now reports the pub- been squatting for years in old buildings. lication of tenders for 350 housing units in Ma’ale Adumim, bringing the total tenders Arutz 7 reports that Mofaz has also ordered At present, Palestinians are for the settlement bloc in 2005 to 665 units. the demolition of nine houses built by set- not adequately protected by tlers on privately owned Palestinian land in Israel Radio News reports on Talia Sasson’s the West Bank outpost of Amonah. There criminal, civil or administrative dissatisfaction with the Sharon government’s are 53 caravans and 25 families in the settle- law, said Talia Sasson, author of inaction in fulfilling the promises it made to dismantle illegal settlement outposts follow- ment, whose construction was supported by a recent government report on allocations from the Housing and ing her report. “It is particularly regrettable Construction Ministry. (Ha’aretz) settlement outposts. Their pro- to learn that the authorities apparently do tections are very weak. . . . not intend to dismantle Amona”, she October 30 Arutz 7 reports that 13 fami- declares. lies evacuated from the Morag settlement in There is an entire system set up Gush Katif, Gaza, have moved into houses to prevent illegal construction, Arutz 7 reports that 19 families from the in the West Bank settlement of Tene. but if it is not enforced, it is just former Katif bloc settlement of Shirat HaYam are waiting for approval to establish November 2 Peace Now opposes a plan by paper. a new settlement in Maskiyot in the Jordan the Israeli government to change the status Editorial, Ha’aretz, Valley. Prime Minister Sharon has reportedly of the West Bank settlement Modi’in Illit January 12, 2006 given his consent. from a local council to an independent municipality. November 29 Ma’ariv reports that the number of Arab students studying at Ariel November 3 Ha’aretz reports the submis- November 17 The Israel Land Authority College in the West Bank has doubled in sion of a request to build six eight-story publishes a tender for the sale of 13 plots in 2005. There are 300 Arab students from buildings containing 90 apartments, a syna- existing neighborhoods in the Ma’ale Israel and East Jerusalem out of 8,500 stu- gogue, and a kindergarten within the Sheikh Adumim settlement. (Ha’aretz) dents at the college. Jarrah area of East Jerusalem. The planned November 20 Ha’aretz reports a survey settlement is being orchestrated by Irwin conducted by TNS Teleseker as revealing November 30 Settlers cut down some 200 Moskowitz, who claims ownership of the that 25% of West Bank settlers are willing to olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers site of the Shepherd’s Hotel. relocate in exchange for compensation to from the village of Salem. The trees had November 8 Yediot Aharonot reports the purchase a home within the Green Line. been planted the previous day by kibbutz arrest of a 19-year-old settler from Elon The study also notes that 64% of settlers and movement volunteers after settlers from Moreh for destroying hundreds of olive trees 70% of the Israeli public expect future settle- Elon Moreh destroyed the farmers’ trees a belonging to Palestinian farmers from the ment withdrawals. In addition, 74% of month prior. (Ha’aretz) Israelis support the passage of laws granting village of Salem. Ma’ariv reports the issuance of three con- compensation for relocation. Settlers from the West Bank settlement of struction orders for the separation barrier, Beit Arye display their displeasure to Prime November 22 Ha’aretz reports that totaling 71 kilometers. The construction will Minister Sharon about not being included Housing Minister Yitzhak Herzog negotiat- take place around Ma’ale Adumim, east of west of the separation barrier. Some settlers ed with Labor Party leader Amir Peretz the Jerusalem; Beit Arye, east of the Ben Gurion express an interest in relocating to Israel in approval of tenders for the construction of airport; and Mezadot Yehuda, in the south- exchange for compensation. (Yediot Aharonot) 310 housing units in the settlement bloc of ern West Bank.

January-February 2006 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 5 IT’S THE OCCUPATION STUPID!

By Geoffrey Aronson Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intended to solidify the physical separation of Palestinians from settler communities within Israel’s reoccupation of the entire West Bank in Spring the West Bank and also between the Palestinian areas of the 2002 (Operation Defensive Shield) ended many of the limited West Bank and Israel in security, territorial, and economic powers exercised by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestin- dimensions. The creation of the physical infrastructure to sup- ian institutions created during the Oslo years have long ceased port this policy is well advanced. Should he chose, Sharon’s to exercise significant security functions anywhere. Effective successor will not easily be able to reverse it. Palestinian administrative and civil control has, in the West The physical separation of settlers from their Palestinian Bank at least, been circumscribed and limited, at best, to a few environment relies on the creation of territorially contiguous cities. International assistance has stepped into the breach cre- settlement blocs linked territorially to Israel. The settlers’ ter- ated by the Palestinian Authority’s collapse, transforming key ritorial continuity is contrasted by a patchwork of Palestinian institutions of Palestinian self-rule into wards of the interna- areas whose territorial and administrative coherence has been tional community. sacrificed to Israeli settlement requirements, and whose link- Subsequent measures by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ages to other Palestinian areas, when available, are often limit- to construct a physical infrastructure are meant to control and ed to narrow corridors of “transportation contiguity.” Palestin- separate Palestinians from each other, from settlers, and from ian access from the West Bank to Israel is soon to be subject contact with Israel proper. This draconian system, known as to strict, “hard” border-like controls on the Gaza Strip’s Erez “closure”, undermined the administrative control and territori- model at a limited number of crossing points, some of which al coherence extant in the Palestinian areas on the eve of the are located within the West Bank itself. Access from the Gaza second intifada. Subsequent Israeli practices have deconstruct- Strip to Israel, for labor and goods, will continue to decline, ed nominally Palestinian territories into an ever-more com- and the creation of a regular and efficient transit route plex, almost indecipherable maze of administrative, territorial, between Gaza and the West Bank, despite Israeli promises to legal, and security spaces lacking territorial coherence and the contrary, will not be realized. administrative transparency. The points at which these spaces The physical divisions throughout the West Bank are meet—checkpoints, crossing points, and the separation barrier caused by settlements, their infrastructure, and transportation winding its way through the West Bank and East Jerusalem— links. Palestinians and the international community have not highlight the conflicts, inefficiencies, and suffering produced effectively challenged Israeli demands to assure the security of by Israeli policy. These hardships are not the unintended by- settlements and their inhabitants, expansively defined by product of policies carelessly planned or implemented. Rather, Israel, even though these demands make the effective exercise they are the inevitable consequence of an arbitrary and lawless and expansion of Palestinian authority all but impossible. regime of occupation. “Win-Win” solutions of the kind promoted by the interna- Even under optimal conditions, the cardinal feature of tional community have been all but impossible to implement. Israeli rule—the maintenance and expansion of civilian Israeli No one today is claiming, as Israel did in the early decades of settlements and associated infrastructure—could not but fatal- occupation, that the system Israel is now imposing will revi- ly undermine Palestinian efforts to establish and run national talize the Palestinian economy, enhance the quality of security and administrative institutions. Settlements aim to Palestinian life, or enable Israelis and Palestinians “to live “claim space” in a zero-sum contest with Palestinians over together forever” under benevolent Israeli rule. Israel long ago political and territorial control of the West Bank. Since the abandoned its claim that settlers and settlements do not harm mid-1970s, settlements and the lands they control have been their Palestinian “neighbors.” Indeed well-intentioned efforts established for all practical intents and purposes as extra-terri- are being made by Palestinians, Israelis, and the international torial extensions of the State of Israel and thus placed beyond community to reduce the catastrophic economic and social the administrative and practical reach of Palestinians. These dislocations that the system is producing in a quixotic effort areas now comprise roughly 60 percent of the West Bank to approximate the re-creation of a benign economic and ter- (Area C) and represent a fundamental obstacle to the effec- ritorial space comprising Israel and the West Bank and Gaza tive, efficient, and sovereign management of Palestinian affairs Strip, divided into separate and territorially coherent Israeli over territories they claim as their own. This rump of isolated, and Palestinian political entities. No Palestinian administra- disjointed Palestinian territories is principally designed to pre- tion could administer the evolving scheme effectively and serve Israel’s settlement infrastructure and the transportation transparently in a way that enhances its capability to operate network constructed to support it. This setup poses a much in a sovereign manner and that assures administrative coher- more severe administrative and security challenge to both ence, economic well-being, and effective security. Israelis and Palestinians than did the Oslo division of the area Internationally led efforts to encourage a regime of law— into Areas A, B, and C—and it represents a radical change from the open system that prevailed in the 1967–1987 period. OCCUPATION, continued on page 7

6 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement January-February 2006 OCCUPATION, continued from page 6 For years, the state has allowed Jewish thugs to are a misconceived and ultimately unrealizable substitute for a mistreat their Palestinian neighbors undisturbed, principled demand to dismantle settlements and to end occupation. The conceptual framework adopted by the interna- while investing much effort in undermining and tional community—whether in its policy towards settlements, preventing Palestinian attacks on Jews. In most security, or border management—reflects the misplaced instances in which a settler is caught vandalizing notion that a hostile occupation dedicated to the large-scale Palestinian property or physically harming a theft of land for civilian settlement and thus lawless by nature, Palestinian, he is released from custody almost can be run according to standards that are above all fair. For immediately, his personal weapon is returned to example, a recent World Bank report, “The Palestinian Economy and the Prospects for its Recovery,” is guardedly him, and he goes back to being a threat to his hopeful that the November 15, 2005 agreement on the opera- neighbors and proof that filing a police complaint tion of crossing points from Gaza “has the potential to trans- does not pay. And it is not just a matter of the form border management—from a unilateral, security-based chopping down of trees, but also the vandalizing model to one which is cooperatively managed and seeks a sus- of property, disturbing farmers who are trying to tainable balance between security and economics.” Such a sys- work their land, and setting fire to agricultural tem, if it could be created, would not be an occupation of the kind that Israel operates in the occupied territories. But occu- plots, as well as physical attacks. pation—brutal, arbitrary, and opaque—with settlement at its Settlers have chopped down thousands of olive heart, continues to define relations between Israel and trees—more than 2,000 according to the defense Palestinians today. minister’s count —since April, and all the Yesha Contrary to the claims of Israeli officials, completion of Council had to say about it was that it could be the separation barrier later this year will not materially affect provocation. A response such as this from an the draconian closure regime that now defines life for Palestinians in the West Bank, as long as the requirement to institutionalized settler body is an indication that protect settlers and the maintenance of their “normal lives” these are not the actions of a group of renegades remains paramount, and as long as Palestinians resist this state or loose cannons, but ideological vandalism of affairs. As the World Bank report gingerly acknowledges, backed by the settlers and the authorities. “as the separation barrier is completed, it can be assumed that The government next week is supposed to threats to Israel will no longer constitute the core rationale for order the evacuation of the illegal outpost Amona, internal closure (any more than it does in fenced-off Gaza), leaving the protection of Israeli movement in the West Bank as well as the Jewish settlement in the heart of [i.e., the protection of settlers] as the key factor. Given this, Hebron’s wholesale market, in keeping with a and the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank, High Court of Justice directive. Once again, the an early return to the September 28, 2000 status quo in the state has been dragged into an evacuation opera- West Bank would seem unlikely.” tion that could have been avoided had law The international community hopes that the efficient, enforcement authorities prevented the invasion transparent operation of crossing points will take the harsh edge off continuing occupation. But settlements, as the World from the outset. When it comes to both the tree- Bank report notes, are at the core of the closure regime and choppers and evacuation, the transition govern- the associated restrictions on Palestinian movement that have ment must flex its muscles so that the message of impoverished the country. “Current GOI [Government of determination reaches its destination. Israel] policy,” the report notes, “protects settlements and set- Ha’aretz, January 12, 2006 tler access by restricting Palestinian traffic on key highways, and this conflicts with the need to restore movement between towns, villages and the borders. . . . The system of closures detailed in the Bank’s December 2004 report is still largely in ments.” That indeed is Israel’s objective, to compel Palestin- place, and remains the key risk to rapid, sustained Palestinian ians and the international community to recognize the legiti- economic recovery.” macy of its settlement enterprise. ◆ The World Bank report also acknowledges that the Palestinian Authority is justifiably concerned that to the extent that international efforts are aimed at tinkering with this system, “a dialogue of this kind between donors and GOI could be construed as acceptance of the legality of settle-

January-February 2006 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 7 Sources of Population Growth in West Bank and Gaza Strip Settlements, 1993 to 2004

Sources of Population Growth Population There has been a fundamental shift in New Natural (beginning (end the source of the increase in the settler Year Israelis immigrants increase of year) of year) Increase/% population since 1993. From that time, the growth due to “natural increase,” i.e., 1993 7,000 1,000 3,300 105,400 116,300 10,900 / 10.4 births, has climbed from 29 percent to 64 1994 7,000 1,000 3,700 116,300 127,800 11,400 / 9.8 percent, while the share due to new Israeli 1995 6,100 1,000 4,000 127,800 138,600 10,800 / 8.5 settlers has declined from 62 percent to 29 1996 6,600 1,000 4,400 138,600 150,200 11,600 / 8.4 percent. Note particularly the decrease 1997 7,400 1,100 5,100 146,900 160,200 13,300 / 9.0 between 2000 and 2001, the first year of 1998 5,500 1,400 5,500 160,200 172,200 12,000 / 7.5 the intifada. 1999 4,700 1,600 5,700 172,200 183,900 11,700 / 6.8 2000 7,100 1,300 6,300 183,900 198,300 14,400 / 7.9 Note: figures exclude East Jerusalem. 2001 2,600 1,000 6,600 198,300 208,300 10,000 / 5.0 Sources: “Sources of Population Growth, by 2002 4,000 1,100 7,100 208,300 220,200 11,900 / 5.7 District, Area and Population Group,” 2003 3,400 900 7,700 220,200 231,800 11,600 / 5.3 Statistical Abstract of Israel, Central Bureau of 2004 3,600 900 8,000 231,800 243,900 12,100 / 5.2 Statistics, 1994 to 2005.

The bang of the uprooting fundamentally changed Israel’s conceptual and political map—its identity, if you will—and not just its geography.The State of Israel that uproots Jews from their land—with the Israel Defense Forces as the executor—is no longer the Jewish state in the Land of Israel of which the early Zionists dreamed, and for which those who fought for its existence sacrificed themselves. The big bang is, therefore, the major change—the revolutionary one—in the nature of the state and its identity.The rebels did not expel Sharon from the Likud, as the indefati- gable opportunist Tzachi Hanegbi lamented; Sharon’s defection, in the wake of the rift that he ini- tiated, was unavoidable. . . . The settlers are having a hard time, even more than Likud members, recovering from the blow they sustained from Sharon. And because they understand what will happen if Sharon returns to power when he is not restricted by the Likud, they say, “If there is a right wing, it should stand up and be counted.” And to them one must say: Patience. The recovery from such a big bang is a matter of years, not months. And these are likely to be very tough years. But one must hope that the settler camp can, along with the Likud, once again lead the nation, returning to the best days of the Likud and the settlement movement. — Israel Harel, Ha’aretz, December 8, 2005

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