Israeli-Palestinian peace hampered by punitive West Bank settlements

This situation has become as predictable as it is counterproductive. Every time the Israeli government perceives an initiative from an international body that comes close to legitimizing and recognizing the attributes of a Palestinian state, it punishes the Palestinians.

The latest decisions, taken by the security cabinet late Thursday and released only by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, followed announcements by five countries last month that they were unilaterally recognizing Palestine as a state.

Israel’s response to Spain, Ireland, Norway, Armenia and Slovenia? Allow five outposts as official settlements – Evyatar, Givat Assaf, Sde Efraim, Heletz and Adorayim, one for each country that recognizes Palestine.

Additionally, the cabinet approved the cancellation of exit permits granted to Palestinian Authority officials to leave the country and strengthened crackdowns on illegal Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full control. Israeli. The cabinet rescinded authorization given to the Palestinian Authority nearly three decades ago for control of nature reserves in Area B of the West Bank, controlled jointly militarily by Israel and civilly by the Palestinian Authority.

“After weeks of discussions, the Israeli government has proposed an appropriate response to the anti-Israeli measures carried out by the Palestinian Authority,” Smotrich said in a statement, referring to the PA’s activity against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.

IDF soldiers stand guard as Palestinians and left-wing activists protest near the Jewish settlement of Elon Moreh, east of Nablus, in 2022 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)

Claiming that the PA had “joined Hamas to try to harm Israel in Israel and around the world, and that we will fight it,” Smotrich added: “For those who needed proof, we got it on October 7 . Israel is an existential danger; I will not allow such a disaster to befall the State of Israel. »

Israel Ganz, who heads both the Yesha Council and the Binyamin Regional Council, welcomed the move, saying: “Judea and Samaria are crucial to the security of central Israel, and strengthening them strengthens Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Modi’in and Jerusalem.”

“Especially in these difficult days, when we are at war for our homeland, strengthening communities in the land of our ancestors is the appropriate Zionist response to countries attempting to promote control over Israel by establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of the Palestine. earth above the heads of our children,” Ganz explained. Naturally, the EU condemned these measures “in the strongest possible terms”.

Regardless, and whether one supports the move or not, the question that arises following last week’s cabinet decision – and every time the government responds to pro-creation initiatives of a Palestinian state by announcing new settlements and more sanctions against the Palestinian Authority, as he has done in the past – it’s timing.

It is impossible to ignore the subtext here: Israel is responding to a deliberately harmful action committed against it by implementing its own intentionally harmful action – an example of tit-for-tat. You do something bad; we will do something worse. Using the threat of settlements as “punishment” directly feeds into the narrative that Israel’s presence in the West Bank is an obstacle to a peace agreement and is inherently counterproductive.

It’s time to establish a policy

Instead of using settlements as an “oh yeah?” weapon, Israel must finally reach a consensus and define a policy regarding the territories. Suppose the government has a policy that no part of Judea and Samaria will ever be abandoned to make way for a Palestinian state. In this case, there is no reason to make statements like last week. Israelis should be encouraged to settle in the settlements and there should be a massive construction campaign.

At the same time, if the policy, even after October 7, leaves room for a future agreement with the Palestinians that would cede areas in Judea and Samaria and consolidate some settlements, then there is no reason for the cabinet statement from last week, which would make this already improbable reality even more distant.

Sanctioning new settlements in response to regional events must be taken off the table. It should be policy, not knee-jerk reaction, that guides government decisions. It’s time to decide.