How many Israeli settlements are there in the West Bank?
As of 2022, there are 140 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including 12 in East Jerusalem. [16] In addition, there are over 100 Israeli illegal outposts in the West Bank. In total, over 450,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem, with an additional 220,000 Jewish settlers residing in East Jerusalem.
Where are the Jewish settlements in Israel?
Israeli settlement, any of the communities of Israeli Jews built after 1967 in the disputed territories captured by Israel in the Six-Day War —the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. Most, but not all, were authorized and supported by the Israeli government. Gilo: Jewish settlement near Bethlehem
Why does Israel spend so much money on the settlements?
Government spending per citizen in the settlements is double that spent per Israeli citizen in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while government spending for settlers in isolated Israeli settlements is three times the Israeli national average. Most of the spending goes to the security of the Israeli citizens living there. [46]
Does Israel give Jewish settlers a different system of Justice?
Israel gives Jewish settlers a different system of justice – even though they are living illegally in the very same occupied Palestinian territories." ^ Jonathan Lis (13 May 2012). "In about-face, Israeli ministers block bill to annex West Bank settlements". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 June 2012. ^ Ben-Naftali, Sfard & Viterbo 2018, p. 52.
Why is Israel allowed to have settlements?
Israel has justified its civilian settlements by stating that a temporary use of land and buildings for various purposes appears permissible under a plea of military necessity and that the settlements fulfilled security needs.
How many Israeli settlements are there?
Today they total around 400,000 and live in about 130 separate settlements (this doesn't include East Jerusalem, which we'll address in a moment). They have grown under every Israeli government over the past half-century despite consistent international opposition.
Where are the majority of the Israeli settlements?
Most, but not all, were authorized and supported by the Israeli government. Since 2005 these communities have existed almost exclusively in the West Bank, with a handful located in the Golan Heights.
How many Palestinians work in Israeli settlements?
He stated that 35,000 Palestinian workers are employed within Israel and in the settlements which provide the local economy with 2 billion dollars budget every year.
Is Israel occupying Palestine land?
BACKGROUND: Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967.
Who owned Israel before 1948?
In 1517, the Ottoman Empire conquered the region, ruling it until the British conquered it in 1917. The region was ruled under the British Mandate for Palestine until 1948, when the Jewish State of Israel was proclaimed in part of the ancient land of Israel.
How much land has Palestine lost to Israel?
During and immediately following the state's creation in 1948, Israel expropriated approximately 4,244,776 acres of Palestinian land. In the process, more than 400 Palestinian cities and towns were systematically destroyed by Israeli forces or repopulated with Jews.
What is the largest Israeli settlement?
The four largest settlements, Modi'in Illit, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Ariel, have achieved city status. Ariel has 18,000 residents, while the rest have around 37,000 to 55,500 each.
Is it ethical to move to Israel?
Despite this polarity, travel to Israel can be ethical, but it is important to be fully aware of the situation there, to balance your trip with a visit to the Palestinian territories, and to ensure that your visit doesn't support the Israeli state but rather local communities and small businesses.
How many Palestinians work in Israel every day?
About 200,000 Palestinians cross each day into Israel or Jewish settlements for work, earning on average more than twice as much as those employed by Palestinian state bodies and businesses.
Does Israel have a right to the West Bank?
Israel claims historical and religious rights to the West Bank as the ancestral land of the Jewish people. It also says its presence there - especially in the Jordan Valley - is strategically vital for its self-defence.
Who Owns the West Bank?
Presently, most of the West Bank is administered by Israel though 42% of it is under varying degrees of autonomous rule by the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. The Gaza Strip is currently under the control of Hamas.
Are there Israeli settlements in Gaza?
According to the report of the Security Council Commission established under resolution 446 (1979): "Between 1967 and May 1979, Israel has established altogether 133 settlements in the occupied territories, consisting of 79 in the West Bank, 29 in the Golan Heights, 7 in the Gaza Strip and 18 in the Sinai.
Who were the first settlers in Israel?
3,000 to 2,500 B.C. — The city on the hills separating the fertile Mediterranean coastline of present-day Israel from the arid deserts of Arabia was first settled by pagan tribes in what was later known as the land of Canaan. The Bible says the last Canaanites to rule the city were the Jebusites.
How many settlements are there in Israel in 2021?
The estimate for the Jewish population in 128 West Bank settlements at the beginning of 2021 was 475,481, roughly 5 percent of Israel’s total population.
How many Jews will live in Israel in 2020?
In 2004, for example, Arnon Soffer, Israel’s most prominent demographer, forecast that in 2020 approximately 6,300,000 Jews would live in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza combined while the Palestinian population would be 8,740,000 leaving the Jews as the minority (42% – down from the current 74%) in their own country.
What did Israel do to Gaza?
Israel gave up all the territory it held in Gaza and evacuated some West Bank settlements without any agreement from the Palestinians , who now have complete authority over their population within Gaza. This offered the Palestinians an opportunity to prove that if Israel made territorial concessions, they would be prepared to coexist with their neighbor and to build a state of their own. Instead of trading land for peace, however, Israel exchanged territory for terror. Hamas came to power in the Palestinian Authority and instead of using the opportunity to build the infrastructure for statehood, the Gaza Strip became a scene of chaos as rival Palestinian factions vied for power. Terrorism from Gaza also continued unabated and Israeli towns have been repeatedly hit by rockets fired from the area Israel evacuated.
What percentage of the West Bank was annexed by Israel?
Instead of calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state in more than 90% of the West Bank, the plan envisioned a state in 70% and, rather than expecting Israel to dismantle and evacuate a majority of settlements, it approved of Israel’s annexation of all the settlements.
How much of the West Bank is built up?
The overall area in dispute is very small. According to one organization critical of settlements, the built-up areas constitute only 1.7% of the West Bank. That is less than 40 square miles. Even if you add the unbuilt areas falling within the municipal boundaries of the settlements, the total area is only 152 square miles.
What political parties supported Israel during the Six Day War?
Following Israel’s resounding victory over the Arab armies in the Six-Day War, strategic concerns led both of Israel’s major political parties - the Labor and Likud - to support and establish settlements at various times. The first settlements were built by Labor governments from 1968 to 1977, with the explicit objective to secure a Jewish majority in key strategic regions of the West Bank - such as the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem corridor - that were the scene of heavy fighting in several of the Arab-Israeli wars. In 1968, only five sparsely populated settlements existed beyond the Green Line.
Why did Jews move to the West Bank?
A third group of Jews who are today considered “settlers,” moved to the West Bank primarily for economic reasons ; that is, the government provided financial incentives to live there, and the towns were close to their jobs.
Where are the Israeli settlements?
Israeli settlements currently exist in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights. East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights have been annexed by Israel, so residents are treated equivalently to the rest of Israel under Israeli law.
What are the settlements in East Jerusalem?
East Jerusalem settlements (2006) Golan Heights settlements (1992) Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish ethnicity, built in violation of international law on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli settlements currently exist in ...
How many settlements were there in the Gaza Strip?
Before Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in which the Israeli settlements were evacuated, there were 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip under the administration of the Hof Aza Regional Council. The land was allocated in such a way that each Israeli settler disposed of 400 times the land available to the Palestinian refugees, and 20 times the volume of water allowed to the peasant farmers of the Strip.
How was Kiryat Arba established?
According to a secret document dating to 1970, obtained by Haaretz, the settlement of Kiryat Arba was established by confiscating land by military order and falsely representing the project as being strictly for military use while in reality, Kiryat Arba was planned for settler use.
What territories did Israel control?
It took over the remainder of the Palestinian Mandate territories of the West Bank including East Jerusalem, from Jordan which had controlled the territories since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, which had held Gaza under occupation since 1949. From Egypt it also captured the Sinai Peninsula and from Syria it captured most of the Golan Heights, which since 1981 has been administered under the Golan Heights Law .
How does settlement affect the economy?
Settlement has an economic dimension, much of it driven by the significantly lower costs of housing for Israeli citizens living in Israeli settlements compared to the cost of housing and living in Israel proper. Government spending per citizen in the settlements is double that spent per Israeli citizen in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while government spending for settlers in isolated Israeli settlements is three times the Israeli national average. Most of the spending goes to the security of the Israeli citizens living there.
When did the settlement division move to the PMO?
In 2009, the Netanyahu Government decided to subject all settlement activities to additional approval of the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister. In 2011, Netanyahu sought to move the Settlement Division again under the direct control of (his own) PMO, and to curtail Defense Minister Ehud Barak's authority.
What is an Israeli settlement?
Israeli settlement. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Israeli settlement, any of the communities of Israeli Jews built after 1967 in the disputed territories captured by Israel in ...
How many people lived in settlements in 1993?
Settlements continued to expand in the decades that followed, and by 1993 there were more than 280,000 people living in settlements (130,000 if East Jerusalem is excluded).
What was the purpose of the settlements in the Jordan Valley?
Israel’s political and defense establishments, meanwhile—inspired in part by the peace plan of Yigal Allon, the deputy prime minister (1967–77)—spurred the development of settlements in strategic locations such as the Jordan Valley that would bolster Israel’s security and strengthen its hand in negotiations .
When were the settlements in the Sinai Peninsula evacuated?
Settlements in the Sinai Peninsula were either dismantled or evacuated in 1982, and settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled in 2005. It is disputed, moreover, whether communities in the formally annexed territories of East Jerusalem (part of the West Bank territory under Jordanian rule from 1949 to 1967) and the Golan Heights constitute ...
How many settlers were there in 2019?
Despite the agreement, settlement building proliferated, especially in the West Bank, and in 2019 the number of settlers reached nearly 630,000 (413,000 if East Jerusalem is excluded). Most of these newer settlers were motivated less by reasons of ideology or recovering lost property, however, than by cheaper housing and financial incentives ...
Where is Israel located?
Israel, country in the Middle East, located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, to the northeast by Syria, to the east and southeast by Jordan, to the southwest by Egypt,…
How many Israeli settlements are there in the West Bank?
There are 126 Israeli settlements in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem), according to the September 2016 report from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. Geographically, these settlements are all across the West Bank. The West Bank is broken down into Areas A, B, and C, according to the Oslo Accords, ...
Why do ultra-orthodox people live in settlements?
3. Economic Settlers: It’s not only the Ultra-Orthodox who live in the settlements for economic reasons. Some secular settlers, among others, live in settlements near the Green Line and in the blocs because of more affordable housing or quality of life considerations. For example, the settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank has a mostly secular population that has easy access to nearby highways leading into Israel’s economic heartland.
What are settlements?
Settlements are Israeli cities, towns and villages in the West Bank and the Golan Heights. (We will deal with East Jerusalem a bit later.) They tend to be gated communities with armed guards at the entrances. Why are they settlements and not simply Israeli residential areas? Because Israel is widely considered to be an occupying force in the territories. It is land that Palestinians, along with the international community, view as territory for a future Palestinian state.
Why are the West Bank and East Jerusalem considered occupied territory?
Israel began its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Seeing a military buildup in the surrounding Arab countries, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Egypt, after which Jordan, in turn, attacked Israel. Israel annexed East Jerusalem shortly thereafter, unifying the city under Israel’s authority. But Israel has never annexed the West Bank, part of which remains under military law.
Who are the settlers?
This is a very broad question, and requires a fair amount of generalization.
Why are the settlements controversial?
The settlements are built on land the Palestinians and the international community, along with some in the Israeli community, see as a future Palestinian state. Some of the settlements – especially the blocs – may be a part of Israel in a two-state solution through land swaps between Israelis and Palestinians. One concern, expressed by the European Union, and in the past by the US State Department, is that settlement expansion may make a contiguous, whole Palestinian state in the West Bank impossible.
What is the legal status of settlements?
The settlements are illegal under international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which concerns civilian populations during a time of war, states in Article 49 that, “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
Where are the Israeli settlements?
This is a list of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Israel had previously established settlements in both the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, however the Gaza settlements were dismantled in the Israeli disengagement ...
When did Israel start building settlements in the Golan Heights?
Golan Heights. Construction of Israeli settlements began in the portion of the Golan Heights held by Israel in 1967, which was under military administration until Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory in 1981.
What happened to East Jerusalem?
Following the capture and occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem in 1967, the Israeli government effectively annexed the formerly Jordanian occupied territory and extended the Jerusalem municipality borders by adding 70,500 dunams of land with the aim of establishing Jewish settlements and cementing the status of a united city under Israeli control. The Jerusalem Master Plan 1968 called for increasing the Israeli population of Arab East Jerusalem, encircling the city with Israeli settlements and excluding large Palestinian neighborhoods from the expanded municipality. Jerusalem was effectively annexed by Israel in 1980, an act that was internationally condemned and ruled "null and void" by the United Nations Security Council in United Nations Security Council Resolution 478. The international community continues to regard East Jerusalem as occupied territory and Israel's settlements there illegal under international law.
What resolution did the UN adopt in 2008?
In 2008, a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly voted by 161–1 in favour of a motion on the "occupied Syrian Golan" that reaffirmed support for UN Resolution 497. ( General Assembly adopts broad range of texts, 26 in all, on recommendation of its fourth Committee, including on decolonization, information, Palestine refugees, United Nations, 5 December 2008.)
Is the Israeli settlement illegal?
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention 's prohibition on the transfer of a civilian population to or from occupied territory, though Israel disputes this.
Did Israel have settlements in the Sinai Peninsula?
Israel had previously established settlements in both the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, however the Gaza settlements were dismantled in the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005 and the Sinai settlements were evacuated with the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty and the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. This list does not include West Bank ...
Does Israel have a right to the Golan?
Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan, citing the text of UN Resolution 242, which calls for "safe and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force". However, the international community rejects Israeli claims to title to the territory and regards it as sovereign Syrian territory.
How many settlement outposts were there in the West Bank?
In addition, there were approximately 110 “settlement outposts” located throughout the West Bank. The outposts do not have official government recognition, although many of them were established with governmental assistance. Outposts are generally smaller than recognized settlements.
How many settlers are there in the West Bank?
There are an estimated 622,670 settlers in the West Bank.
How much did the settlement population increase in 2017?
According to the CBS, the annual growth rate of the settler population (excluding East Jerusalem) in 2017 was 1.75 times greater than that of the population in Israel: an annual increase of 3.5% in the settlements versus 2% in Israel.
What are outposts in Israel?
Outposts are generally smaller than recognized settlements. Eleven large Israeli neighborhoods were built in areas that Israel annexed to the Jerusalem Municipality after 1967. These neighborhoods are also considered settlements under international law.
What are some examples of settlements in Israel?
But in practice, settlements look and operate much like any other small town in Israel — down to identical street signs and public transit. For example, Ariel in the northern West Bank is connected to Tel Aviv by a major highway and boasts Ariel University.
How many settlements are there in the West Bank?
There are approximately 130 West Bank settlements, ranging from small villages of 100 people near Arab towns, to the college town of Ariel with a population of 19,000, to the haredi Orthodox enclave of Modiin Illit, located just across the boundary from Israel proper, which has 70,000 inhabitants.
Why do Palestinians want to expand their settlements?
Palestinians, in addition to viewing the settlements as a violation of international law , see them as both physical and ideological obstacles to peace. Besides taking up the territory of a would-be Palestinian state, Palestinians see settlement expansion as a signal that Israelis are not sincere about withdrawing from the territory. Palestinians have also protested violence on the part of settlers.
How many people are in Tekoa?
Everything you need to know about Israeli settlements and the Trump administration’s announcement. Tekoa, an Israeli settlement of nearly 4,000 people in the West Bank's Gush Etzion bloc, is shown in 2019. (Laura Ben-David) ( JTA) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this week that the United States will no longer consider Israeli Jewish ...
What is the violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention?
Israeli settlements are also widely considered to be a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupier from “transfer [ring] parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”. Both Israel and the United States ratified this convention.
What countries did Israel capture in 1967?
In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured large swaths of territory from neighboring countries. Israel took the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
Which country was the first to recognize sovereignty over the Golan?
In March, President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, the first country to officially do so. Israelis had also previously settled in the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, but settlements there were evacuated when Israel withdrew from those territories.
What percentage of Orthodox Jews believe God gave them the land?
The vast majority of Orthodox Jews (87%) say they believe God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people, compared with 46% of Conservative Jews, about a quarter of Reform Jews and about one-in-five of those who don’t affiliate with any branch of American Judaism. Party affiliation is another clear dividing line in Jewish Americans’ ...
How good is Netanyahu's leadership?
At that time, eight-in-ten Republican U.S. Jews rated Netanyahu’s leadership as excellent (42%) or good (40%), compared with just a quarter of Jewish Democrats. A solid majority of Jewish Democrats gave Netanyahu “only fair” (32%) or poor (38%) marks. Similarly, Jewish Republicans were roughly four times as likely as Jewish Democrats ...
Do Orthodox Jews feel attached to Israel?
While Orthodox Jews tend to be relatively young and feel a strong attachment to Israel, younger Jews – as a whole – are less attached to Israel than their older counterparts. Two-thirds of Jews ages 65 and older say that they are very or somewhat emotionally attached to Israel, compared with 48% of those ages 18 to 29.
Is Israel a Jewish country?
Israel, the world’s only Jewish-majority country, is a subject of special concern to many Jews in the United States. Caring about Israel is “essential” to what being Jewish means to 45% of U.S. Jewish adults, and an additional 37% say it is “important, but not essential,” according to a new Pew Research Center survey that was fielded from Nov.
History of The Settlement Movement
Outposts
- Outposts are settlements typically constructed by a handful of people without government authorization. In 2003, President George W. Bush asked Israel to remove illegal outposts as part of the road map for peace. Israel subsequently removed some outposts; however, in February 2017, the Knessetpassed the Regularization Law, which legalized outposts, including those built …
Legalities
- Another charge is that settlements are “illegal.” On November 18, 2019, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo expressed the Trump administration’s position that “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bankis not per se inconsistent with international law.” The idea that settlements are illegal derives primarily from UN resolutions and the International Court of Justi…
Obstacles?
- Since 1967, Israelis have been divided over two competing ideas of what to do with the territories captured in the war. The Land for Peace advocates argue that Israel should evacuate most of the area in exchange for a peace agreement that provides Israelis with peace and security. By contrast, the proponents of Greater Israel insist that the land is part of the biblical homeland of t…
Rights Versus Wisdom
- The implication of many settlement critics is that it would be better for peace if the West Bank were Judenrein. It would certainly be called racist if Jews were barred from living in New York, Paris or London; barring them from living in the West Bank, the cradle of Jewish civilization, would be no less objectionable. On the other hand, though Jews may have the right to live in the territor…
Overview
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Israeli settlements currently exist in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), …
Impact on peace process
The settlements have been a source of tension between Israel and the U.S. Jimmy Carter regarded the settlements as illegal and tactically unwise. Ronald Reagan stated that they were legal but an obstacle to negotiations. In 1991, the U.S. delayed a subsidized loan to pressure Israel on the subject of settlement-building in the Jerusalem-Bethlehem corridor. In 2005, U.S. declared support f…
Housing costs and state subventions
Settlement has an economic dimension, much of it driven by the significantly lower costs of housing for Israeli citizens living in Israeli settlements compared to the cost of housing and living in Israel proper. Government spending per citizen in the settlements is double that spent per Israeli citizen in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while government spending for settlers in isolated Israeli settlements is three times the Israeli national average. Most of the spending goes to the securit…
Number of settlements and inhabitants
As of 2022, there are 140 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including 12 in East Jerusalem. In addition, there are over 100 Israeli illegal outposts in the West Bank. In total, over 450,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem, with an additional 220,000 Jewish settlers residing in East Jerusalem.
Additionally, over 20,000 Israeli citizens live in settlements in the Golan Heights.
Character: rural and urban
Settlements range in character from farming communities and frontier villages to urban suburbs and neighborhoods. The four largest settlements, Modi'in Illit, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Ariel, have achieved city status. Ariel has 18,000 residents, while the rest have around 37,000 to 55,500 each.
History
Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied a number of territories. It took over the remainder of the Palestinian Mandate territories of the West Bank including East Jerusalem, from Jordan which had controlled the territories since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, which had held Gaza under occupation since 1949. From Egypt, it also captured the Sinai Peninsula a…
Geography and municipal status
Some settlements are self-contained cities with a stable population in the tens of thousands, infrastructure, and all other features of permanence. Examples are Beitar Illit (a city of close to 45,000 residents), Ma'ale Adumim, Modi'in Illit, and Ariel (almost 20,000 residents). Some are towns with a local council status with populations of 2,000–20,0000, such as Alfei Menashe, Eli, Elkana, Efrat and Kirya…
Types of settlement
• Cities/towns: Ariel, Betar Illit, Modi'in Illit and Ma'ale Adumim.
• Urban suburbs, such as Har Gilo.
• Block settlements, such as Gush Etzion and settlements in the Nablus area.
• Frontier villages, such as those along the Jordan River.
What Are Settlements?
Why Are The West Bank and East Jerusalem Considered Occupied Territory?
- Israel began its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Seeing a military buildup in the surrounding Arab countries, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Egypt, after which Jordan, in turn, attacked Israel. Israel annexed East Jerusalem shortly thereafter, unifying the city under Israel’s authority. But Israel has never annexed the West Bank, …
Where Are The Settlements?
- There are 126 Israeli settlements in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem), according to the September 2016 report from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. Geographically, these settlements are all across the West Bank. The West Bank is broken down into Areas A, B, and C, according to the Oslo Accords, a series of peace agreements made in ...
Who Are The Settlers?
- This is a very broad question, and requires a fair amount of generalization. According to the YESHA Council, which is the organization that represents West Bank settlements, there are approximately 420,000 settlers in the West Bank. Each of these people has their own reasons for choosing to live in the West Bank, but we can break them down into four broad categories: 1. Rel…
What’s The Difference Between Settlements and Outposts?
- Settlements are authorized by the Israeli government. Some were retroactively authorized, meaning they were initially built illegally but later recognized by the Israeli military. By contrast, outposts are illegally built Israeli villages which have not been recognized or authorized by the Israeli government. In the past, Israel’s High Court has ordered some outposts evacuated and ra…
Why Are The Settlements Controversial?
- The settlements are built on land the Palestinians and the international community, along with some in the Israeli community, see as a future Palestinian state. Some of the settlements – especially the blocs – may be a part of Israel in a two-state solution through land swaps between Israelis and Palestinians. One concern, expressed by the European Union, and in the past by the …
What Does President Donald Trump Think of The Settlements?
- President Trump’s administration warned on February 2 that new Israeli settlement activity could potentially hamper the peace process, a new stance for a White House that has remained adamant in its support for Netanyahu. Despite the shift in language, the White House said it hadn’t taken an official position on Israeli settlements, saying it would wait until Trump meets with Net…
What Is The Legal Status of Settlements?
- The settlements are illegal under international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which concerns civilian populations during a time of war, states in Article 49 that, “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” United Nations Security Council resolution 2334, which the United States did not veto, and was passed i…
What About East Jerusalem? and What Is East Jerusalem Anyway?
- From 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was divided by the Green Line, which is the cease-fire line of 1948 between Israel and Jordan. Although the city is now under Israeli governance, the distinction remains. Under international law, settlements in East Jerusalem are no different than settlements in the West Bank. So why consider them separately? Because Jerusalem has always held a spec…
What About The Golan Heights?
- The Golan Heights is also considered occupied territory, taken from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967 as well. But the West Bank has become the focal point of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Golan has, to a large extent, fallen off the agenda. Unlike the West Bank, Israel has applied Israeli law to the Golan, effectively annexing it. The international community does not recognize this annexati…