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There may be a new government in Israel, but when it comes to illegal settlements in the West Bank we are seeing the same old policies that allow settlers to treat this occupied land as if it were the Wild West.
Instead of being in control, the Israeli authorities, by design or default, appear subservient to the settlers’ wishes — and to the most extreme versions of these.
The outpost of Evyatar, just south of Nablus, is a case in point, showing how Israeli governments, sometimes reluctantly and at other times with great enthusiasm, are maneuvered — or, more accurately, manipulated — by a relatively small group of zealots along a path that can lead only to further oppression of the Palestinians, and thus further confrontations with them and with the international community.
The story of Evyatar started with the tragic killing of Yehuda Guetta, a 19-year-old student, by Palestinian gunmen in May this year. In response, a group of settlers from the Nahala settlement movement took over a piece of land with no formal procedure. Within weeks they had built and occupied a few dozen structures on the site, with the intention of turning this temporary illegal settlement into a “legal” one.
We should remind ourselves that the debate over which settlements in the West Bank are legal, and which are not, is an internal Israeli one. The rest of the global community views all these settlements as having been built in flagrant contravention of international law, for a simple and obvious reason: They are built on occupied territory. Various segments and institutions within Israeli society differentiate between those settlements that have been authorized by the government, and those, such as Evyatar, that have not and hence are illegal. Yet, according to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, there are 140 of the latter and Israeli authorities are doing little to remove them.
It is the location of the outposts, together with the religious-fundamentalist ideology of the inhabitants, their belligerent and often violent disrespect for Palestinians, and their defiance of Israeli law and the authorities, that makes these settlements a mortal threat not only to the Palestinians but also to the authority of the Israeli government.
Considering the slim majority that the present administration enjoys in the Knesset, every such issue is becoming a test of the government’s direction, resolve and unity. What was agreed with Evyatar’s settlers over the fate of this outpost, with the inexplicable support of the more left-leaning elements in the ruling coalition, should worry everyone who sees the settlements in the West Bank as a major obstacle to peace, as well as a vehicle for deepening the occupation and the continuous abuse of Palestinians’ rights.
The agreement required this bunch of outlaws to evacuate the settlement, as they did; but the structures that they built illegally remain, and an army post has been established. This is no more than a ploy to enable the settlers to return at some date, and most probably sooner rather than later. Had the army been interested in this location for operational reasons, it would have established its presence there long ago, as it has done in many other parts of the West Bank. But the military on this occasion is being used as a pawn in relations between the government and the settlers, holding the place until, according to the agreement, the government decides whether there is Palestinian ownership of the land, or whether it can be defined as “state land” with the aim of settling there. It was also agreed that a Yeshiva, a rabbinical seminary, will be launched there. In light of such utter disregard for the law, or at least the bending of it to serve the interests of settlers, few would bet against this location being “legalized” as a settlement before long.
This investigation into the legal status of the land is almost impossible to take seriously. Since the early days of the settlement movement in the 1970s, its leadership has cunningly manipulated successive governments in order to satisfy its aspirations and allow outposts to be built on occupied land.
Will the new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, an uncompromising ally of the settlers, and a leader who has been accused of selling his soul to the left and the anti-Zionists by forming the current government, suddenly become a bulwark against the spread of more illegal outposts? I am afraid not. Legalizing the outposts is a chance for Bennett and his party to regain and appease some of his supporters. However, he should know as well as anyone who has ever had the pleasure of dealing with the settlement movement, and especially those from the outposts, that they have an unquenchable thirst for land and additional settlements. The apparent surrender over Evyatar will only increase their desire to “legalize” more outposts.
As it is, the network of settlements in the occupied West Bank has made a peace agreement based on a two-state solution a challenge of the highest order — if not impossible since an estimated 440,000 people already are scattered throughout the 132 “legal” settlements and outposts. This makes a future contiguous Palestinian state almost unfeasible. Allowing the outposts to become permanent will further isolate Palestinian towns and villages, and because of the nature of their inhabitants is bound to increase friction with the Palestinian population.
Since the early days of the settlement movement in the 1970s, its leadership has cunningly manipulated successive governments.
Yossi Mekelberg
These outposts attract ideologically extreme groups of religious-messianic settlers hell-bent on ensuring that a peace agreement based on recognizing the Palestinians’ right to self-determination will never materialize. They comprise a dominant minority that harasses Palestinians and uses violence against them daily. Their actions are enabled by Israeli security forces that either become actively involved or stand by passively in the face of reports from NGOs, such as the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, of settlers shooting, assaulting, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at cars and homes, vandalising property and crops, and torching structures and fields belonging to Palestinians.
As far as containing the ideological lawlessness of settlers in the West Bank is concerned, the agreement over Evyatar was not a good start for Israel’s new government. But perhaps the settlers have supporters within the government itself, aided by the tacit, cowardly acquiescence of others.
- Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg