A Brief Guide for the Perplexed 17
Yes , the settlements have been a contentious issue .
No question , but , like just about everything else associated with the Arab-Israeli conflict , there ’ s more here than meets the eye .
After Israel ’ s victory in the 1967 war , and once it became clear the Arabs were not interested in negotiating peace , Israel , under a Labor-led coalition , began encouraging the construction of settlements , or new communities , in the captured lands . This practice was accelerated under Likud-led governments after 1977 .
Whatever one ’ s perspective on the settlements , it ’ s important to understand Israel ’ s motives in moving ahead on this front :
( a ) Israel contended that the land was disputed — both Arabs and Jews laid claim to it — and since there was no sovereign authority , Israel had as much right to settle there as the Palestinians ( who , it should be remembered , had never had a state of their own );
( b ) there had been Jewish communities in the West Bank long before 1948 , for example , in Hebron and Gush Etzion , both sites of 20th century massacres by Arabs in which large numbers of Jews were killed ;
( c ) the West Bank , according to the Hebrew Bible , represents the cradle of Jewish civilization , and some Jews , driven by faith and history , were eager to reassert that link ;
( d ) the Israeli government believed that certain settlements could serve a useful security purpose , given the importance of geography , and especially topography , in this rather confined area ;
( e ) a number of Israeli officials felt that building settlements , and thus creating facts on the ground , might hasten the day when the Palestinians , presumably realizing time was not necessarily on their side , would talk peace .
At the same time , polls have consistently found that a majority of Israelis agree that any peace agreement with the Palestinians will necessarily entail dismantling many , though not all , of the settlements , perhaps supplemented by land swaps . Those settlements which are today quite substantial cities , and which are