Settlement Expansion


Although the presence of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories has long been recognized as the most significant barrier to peace, the Oslo accords conveniently postpone the issue of settlements to the final status talks. In the meantime, however, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin promised the U.S. administration that there would be no new settlements. Therefore, on the part of many Palestinians and among the international community, there was a hopeful expectation that there would indeed be a “good faith” freeze on settlement construction.

However, a freeze on new settlements did not preclude the expansion of existing settlements. In fact, the Labor government invested 1.4 billion shekels (about $46 million) on a settler population of about 144,000 in the Occupied Territories, much more than its Likud predecessor. This investment paid off: the number of settlers during the Rabin-Peres administrations increased by 48% in the West Bank alone.

Since his election on 29 May 1996, Prime Minister Netanyahu has displayed his commitment to settlement expansion as well. This was most clearly evidenced when he authorized construction of the 6,500-unit Jewish settlement of Har Homa, with a projected population of 25,000-30,000 in annexed East Jerusalem. The days of rioting and violence that ensued as a result of this decision, brought the “peace” process to a grinding halt. In addition, Netanyahu’s government has approved the building of another 3,000 units in various settlements throughout the West Bank.

Furthermore, earlier this summer, Netanyahu’s “secret” map was published, affirming his desire to skip over the Interim period of the Oslo process and any further military redeployment from the West Bank, and impose his “resolution” of final status issues. Netanyahu’s map “maintains fidelity to a number of long-standing Israeli geo-strategic principles,” such as the Allon Plan and the Sharon Plan. Under Netanyahu’s plan, nearly 60% of the West Bank would be annexed to Israel, including the great majority of the 150 settlements.

This public show of resolve to maintain control over the majority of land in the West Bank has coincided with recent reports of plans to “double the number of houses for Jews in the occupied West Bank.”70 Both government ministers and settlement spokespersons have hinted at a target settler population of 500,000 in the West Bank by the year 2000. Israeli government authorities have used a variety of pretexts throughout Israel’s history of land confiscation and settlement construction, including military necessity, public use and most popularly “State” land, or supposedly empty land. The “State” land claim in particular is baseless since Israel as a temporary occupying power could never assume “State” status. In most cases the “State” land confiscated by Israel was owned by individuals or the village. Settlements in the West Bank were built on sites chosen for strategic reasons. They are interspersed throughout the West Bank, and the majority of them (with the exception of the Jordan Valley settlements) are built on hill tops, overlooking and encroaching upon their neighboring Palestinian villages whose land they took over. Often, a settlement “was planned with the specific aim of breaking up a cluster of Palestinian communities—a demographic bloc—much the same tactic that has been used inside Israel in the Galilee and other regions with high Arab populations.”

This political decision to expand settlements and the bypass roads that link them comes at the direct expense of the neighboring villages. The natural growth of these village is stopped when it comes into contact with settlements, which it almost inevitably does. House demolition is a frequently used tool for limiting such growth. Not only do these settlements confiscate Palestinian land for use in their expansion, but houses that lie too close to such future expansion are targeted for demolition.

For example, while settlements near Jerusalem such as Givat Ze’ev, Pisgat Ze’ev, and Maale Adumim (among others) are being expanded, Palestinian families in Anata and Kattana are losing their homes. Scores of homes in villages in the Hebron and Bethlehem area have received demolition orders, while plans are being made to incorporate the settlements of the Etzion bloc (located to the south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron) into metropolitan greater Jerusalem. The expansion of existing settlements and the planning of new settlements, while Palestinians are squeezed onto what little land has been left to them, is contrary to the spirit of a just and lasting peace. The Israeli policy of demolishing Palestinian homes and forcing them off their lands to make way for settlement expansion—the removal of one people from a territory so that territory may be used exclusively for the benefit of a second people—constitutes a form of ethnic cleansing.

For more information on Israeli settlements please see the following LAW publication:


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