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A.Jlua:J Uo.Lle:Jjunluluo:J Pue E/Paw Luajesn.Jar ------A'l.L Soviet Jewish Immigration and Israeli Settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

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A.Jlua:J Uo.Lle:Jjunluluo:J Pue E/Paw Luajesn.Jar ------A'l.L Soviet Jewish Immigration and Israeli Settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip a.Jlua:J uo.lle:JjUnLULUO:J pue e/paw LUajeSn.Jar --------- a'l.L Soviet Jewish Immigration and Israeli Settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Copyright December 1990 JMCC "Had the Middle East been enjoying peace, and had the Palestinian people been practicing the right to self-determination, the issue of Soviet Jewish immigration to Israel wouldn't have been of much significance. But since the situation is far from so, such immigration is rightfully considered one of the most serious developments in the political situation here since Israel's occupation of Arab land started ... The human rights of nations are a whole and complement each other, or rather should do so. Therefore, one community's rights to migrate should not jeopardize another's right to exist •••" 2. Background . • • • . • . • • . • . • • . • . • . • • . • . .. 2 2.1 Changes in Soviet Jewish Emigration Patterns. • . • • . .. 2 2.2 Israel's Settlement Policy Since 1967 . • • . • • • . • . • . .. 5 2.2.1 Settlement of the Occupied Territories ..•..•......•.... 6 2.2.2 Annexation of East Jerusalem ••••.•••.....••••...••• 12 3. Mass Soviet Jewish Emigration 1990: Israel's Response • • . • • • • • . • • . .• 15 3.1 Channeling Emigrants to Israel • • • • • • • • . • • • • • . • • . • • • • • . .. 15 3.2 Encouraging Settlement in the Occupied Territories . • • . • • . • • . •. 18 3.3 The Question of East Jerusalem ••••...•.••••.••••.••••..•• 26 3.4 Censorship ..•.•...••......••.•...•.......•...•..... 27 3.5 In Comparison: Family Reunification for Palestinians .. • • . .• 28 4. International Aspects .•....•••••.••••••....••.•....•••••..•.• 32 4.1 The Arab World • • . • . • • • . • • . • . • • • • . .• 32 4.2 The USSR • . • . • . • • . • . • • . .. 35 4.3 The USA • . • . • • . • . • • • • • . • . • • . • • • . • . •• 37 APPENDIX 1 Israeli Settlement Plans •..••.•••.••.•••..•.•••..••....•••..••.. 47 APPENDIX 2 Israeli Investment in Settlements in the OccuPied Territories ••.•.••••••.••. 50 APPENDIX 3 Israeli Government and Non-Governmental Bodies Involved in the Settlement Programme ..................••.....••......•....•••...••.. 51 APPENDIX 4 New Israeli Settlements During the Likud-Ied caretaker Government (March - June 1990) •.....•................•.....•••.....••.......••.•.. 54 APPENDIX 5 Examples of Settlement Expansion July 1990 •••••..••••••••••••••••.•. 56 The information contained in the following report has been gathered from a number of sources including: Benvenisti, Meron, The West Bank Handbook, The West Bank Data Base Project, Jerusalem, 1986. Benvenisti, Meron, & Shlomo Khayat, The West Bank and Gaza Atlas, The West Bank Data Base Project, Jerusalem, 1988. Bishara, Azmi, Soviet Iewish Immigration to Israel In the Age of Perestroika, (Arabic), The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA), East Jerusalem, 1990. Roy, Sara, The Gaza Strip Survey, The West Bank Data Project, Jerusalem, 1986. Shehadeh, Raja, Occupier's Law: Israel and the West Bank, Revised Edition, Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington D.C., 1988. Selected references from the Israeli press and the East Jerusalem-based Arabic Press have also been used, together with excerpts from international magazines and periodicals on the Middle East. new immigrants in the occupied territories, Prime Minister Shamir and other government During 1990 the issue of the emigration of members immediately distanced themselves Soviet Jews to Israel made international from this pledge, thus widening the rift headlines. The mass influx of Soviet Jewish between Israel and the US. immigrants to Israel was made possible by the relaxation of emigration restrictions in the The aim of this paper is to examine the issue Soviet Union and the introduction of of Soviet Jewish immigration to Israel in the immigration quotas in the USA, the country context of Israel's occupation of the West Bank where most Soviet Jews permitted to emigrate and Gaza Strip. It is not the large-scale during the 1980s had preferred to settle. immigration per se which has given rise to the current controversy; rather, the mass influx of The Palestinians and the Arab world as a whole immigrants to Israel has exacerbated a expressed their concern that the large-scale situation that has been controversial ever since immigration to Israel, facilitated by the Israel embarked on the policy of settling its superpowers, would reduce the prospects for a citizens in the occupied territories. negotiated peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states. In particular, According to the 1949 Fourth Geneva attention was focused on the resettlement of Convention, an occupying power is not allowed Soviet Jews in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to settle its own civilian population in the territories occupied by Israel during the 1967 territory it occupies.' Israel, however, in order Israeli-Arab war. to further its settlement of the occupied territories, has chosen to misread this At the time of writing (October 1990)the issue stipulation as applying only to the "forcible" remains controversial, and a matter of discord transfer of civilians. Ever since the housing of especially between the governments of Israel Soviet Jewish immigrants in Israel settlements ~nd the United States respectively. With the in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has again wave of immigration precipitating a housing focussed international awareness on the crisis in Israel, the Israeli government illegality of these settlements, Israel has requested additional US aid to help in consistently tried to divert attention from this resettling the new immigrants. The US central issue and instead advanced the Soviet administration pressed for assurances that the Jews' right to live where they want. new immigrants would be settled only within the pre-1967 borders of Israel and not in the Chapter II of this paper will provide occupied territories. US officials, moreover, background information to the current called for a freeze to Israel's settlement policy controversy over immigration to Israel and in general. settlement of the occupied territories. A brief historical overview (2.2) will focus on official At the beginning of October 1990, the US government policy in support of Israeli finally approved the housing loan after having settlement of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. received the required assurances from Israeli Israeli rule over Arab East Jerusalem will be Foreign Minister David Levy. The furor over treated separately (2.2.2) since the case of Levy's letter to US Secretary of State James East Jerusalem is a striking illustration of how Baker however, has highlighted the extent to Israel implements demographic policy at the which the US administration and the Israeli expense of the Palestinian population. government disagree on the settlement of the Soviet Jewish immigrants. While in his letter Chapter III will discuss the settlement of the Levy pledged that Israel would not settle the Soviet Jewish immigrants in the occupied territories, with particular emphasis on the War, the US had repeatedly criticised the way the Israeli government minimises its own Soviet Union's human rights record, referring role in this settlement process. A separate in particular to the restrictions on emigration. section on Palestinian family reunification In the early 1970s, the US Congress passed a (3.5) serves in this context to highlight the number of bills linking US trade with human double standards the Israeli authorities apply rights in communist countries, especially in to Jewish immigrants and the indigenous the Soviet Union. The 1974 Jackson-Vanik Palestinian population respectively. On behalf Amendment, which conditioned receipt of Most of Soviet Jews, Israel usually quotes Art 13.2 Favoured Nation trading tariff status on of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of emigration,3 was viewed as being according to which "everyone has the right to specifically aimed at pressuring the Soviet leave any country, including his own, and to Union to open its borders for Soviet Jews to return to his country." While Israel advocates leave.4 the Soviet Jews' right to emigrate, it is the right to return to their country which, since In the US, Soviet Jewish emigrants enjoyed 1967, Israel has been denying to tens of the prerogative of being conferred automatic thousands of Palestinians from the occupied refugee status; no other group, including non- territories. The international response to the Jewish Soviet emigrants, was eligible for settlement of Soviet Jewish immigrants in the automatic asylum and the financial aid for West Bank and Gaza Strip will be the subject resettlement that the receipt of refugee status of chapter IV. entailed.5 With the Soviet Union facilitating emigration of its Jewish citizens, the US for its part cancelled this policy, citing the cost as a reason: transport and settling each Soviet Jew cost the US government about $5,000.6 2.1 Changes in Soviet Jewish Emigration Patterns Experience had shown that, when given a choice, the preferred destination of most In the course of the dramatic changes in the Soviet Jews was the United States or other Soviet Union under President Gorbachev and Western nations rather than Israel. During the the resultant unfreezing of the Cold War, the 1980s the proportion of Soviet Jews who chose USSR radically altered its policy on emigration destinations other than Israel, mainly the US, of Soviet citizens. At the end of the 1980s, the climbed as high as 90%.7 Moreover, according tight restrictions,
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