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March 7, 2014

Israeli settlements

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of settlements started in the Palestinian West Bank more than doubled last year.

On the face of it, the increase might signal anticipation of Secretary John Kerry's current initiative going the distance. Yet, despite the usual spike in settlement activity during past peace talks, Israel expanding its presence in the Palestinian territories has been policy since 1967.

With regard to settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, there are three general points of consideration worth bearing in mind while reading the news:

1. POLITICS: Increased construction helps allay rightwing concerns within Israel. When entering into talks, the prime minister's office seeks to ease the anxiety of ultranationalist groups, many of which view the West Bank biblically and reject any diplomacy with the Palestinians Approving and tendering settlement projects for contract bidding seems to work.

2. POLICY: Building in the West Bank helps predetermine negotiations. This is partly why Israel does so in the first place. After the establishment of "facts on the ground," Israeli negotiators can point to said realities, which then become a factor in how the West Bank is divided. If Israel had never built settlements in the territory and maintained strict observance of the international boundary called the Green Line, it is likely a Palestinian state would include 100 percent of the West Bank. Israel's goal since 1967 has been to whittle that percentage down.

3. PRODUCT: Much of where the current construction is occurring is likely to become Israel. Last August, Kerry casually remarked (NYT, Aug. 13) that Netanyahu "would be announcing some additional building that would take place in places that will not affect the peace map." (That said, expansion of "isolated" settlements continues throughout the West Bank as well; see points 1 and 2.) Israel is therefore continuing to move into the areas it claimed, developed, and turned into "facts." In effect, over the course of the last 47 years Israel has produced its desired version of the West Bank.

Israel is essentially carrying on as though there is no peace process, demonstrating how little Tel Aviv really has at stake. The negotiations revolve around Palestinian land—specifically, the eastern portion of the West Bank along the Jordan River—with the word "concessions" applying only to the Palestinians. The territories of the West Bank and Gaza comprise 22 percent of what was originally Palestine, and the central issue of the peace process is simply how much of the West Bank the Palestinians will be allowed to live on and call Palestine.

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