The United States government announced in the last few days a clarification in its views towards the Israeli settlements in the West Bank region. These settlements are not necessarily illegal or legal.
That may not seem like much, but it is a major development. The area in question was assigned to the Arabs under the 1947 UN resolution that split the Palestine Mandate area between the Jewish state of Israel and an Arab state. When the British withdrew their forces in 1948 and Israel declared itself an independent nation, the armies of five Arab countries that surrounded Israel all invaded. That fighting ended in 1949 with an armistice. Nearly all the Arab lands, however, were not made part of a Palestinian state but rather were taken over by Jordan and ruled as part of that country for the next 18 years. In 1967, the Jordanians attacked Israel during the Six Day War. The Israelis not only stopped the Jordanian attack but drove the Jordanians out of the entire West Bank region. Israel has controlled this region ever since then.
While there were attempts after the Six Day War and subsequent wars to trade land for peace, the Palestinians refused every offer. As Abba Eban famously said, "the Palestinians never miss and opportunity to miss an opportunity."
Israeli started moving into the land that Jordan had ruled. For the most part, this movement was into the eastern half of the Jerusalem metro area. All Israelis who moved into this region were said to have created "settlements". For a long time, these "settlements" were labelled illegal although this label was more propaganda than actual legal analysis. Even so, the number of Israelis living in the so called settlements continued to grow. Today, there are close to a million Israelis living in these areas (although again the vast majority is just in Jerusalem.)
During the Obama years, the USA made the settlements into a key part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace. Obama wanted all of the so called settlements closed down. In essence, Obama wanted to rid the West Bank of all Jewish residents. There was discussion of the legality of the settlements, but no conclusion.
Now that has changed. No longer will settlements just be assumed to be illegal. That happens to be in accord with international law, but not with the views of the bureaucrats in the State Department who are invested in their long term failed strategies. Trump has moved towards having a realistic view of the situation regarding Israel. Just as Trump put the US law into effect and moved the embassy to Jerusalem over the objections of the State Department bureaucrats, he is now having the actual legal standard apply to settlements rather than the bogus and baseless view that they are all illegal.
For what it is worth, land taken by a country that is attacked (like Israel in 1967) can be retained by that country. There are no limits on building towns in that region. Hence, the settlements are basically legal. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel gave the Palestinian Authority the right to rule all or part of certain regions in the West Bank, and in those areas, there could be some limits on construction of new towns. Such areas/towns contain less than 5% of the settlers and some are clearly temporary.
By announcing that the real world and the real law would be applied to settlements rather than the fiction that all settlements are "illegal", the USA is providing the basis on which the Palestinians and Israelis could actually negotiate a final peace agreement. As of now, the Palestinians are not interested in such an agreement and actively fight against it. Still this latest move is clearly one in the right direction towards peace.
That may not seem like much, but it is a major development. The area in question was assigned to the Arabs under the 1947 UN resolution that split the Palestine Mandate area between the Jewish state of Israel and an Arab state. When the British withdrew their forces in 1948 and Israel declared itself an independent nation, the armies of five Arab countries that surrounded Israel all invaded. That fighting ended in 1949 with an armistice. Nearly all the Arab lands, however, were not made part of a Palestinian state but rather were taken over by Jordan and ruled as part of that country for the next 18 years. In 1967, the Jordanians attacked Israel during the Six Day War. The Israelis not only stopped the Jordanian attack but drove the Jordanians out of the entire West Bank region. Israel has controlled this region ever since then.
While there were attempts after the Six Day War and subsequent wars to trade land for peace, the Palestinians refused every offer. As Abba Eban famously said, "the Palestinians never miss and opportunity to miss an opportunity."
Israeli started moving into the land that Jordan had ruled. For the most part, this movement was into the eastern half of the Jerusalem metro area. All Israelis who moved into this region were said to have created "settlements". For a long time, these "settlements" were labelled illegal although this label was more propaganda than actual legal analysis. Even so, the number of Israelis living in the so called settlements continued to grow. Today, there are close to a million Israelis living in these areas (although again the vast majority is just in Jerusalem.)
During the Obama years, the USA made the settlements into a key part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace. Obama wanted all of the so called settlements closed down. In essence, Obama wanted to rid the West Bank of all Jewish residents. There was discussion of the legality of the settlements, but no conclusion.
Now that has changed. No longer will settlements just be assumed to be illegal. That happens to be in accord with international law, but not with the views of the bureaucrats in the State Department who are invested in their long term failed strategies. Trump has moved towards having a realistic view of the situation regarding Israel. Just as Trump put the US law into effect and moved the embassy to Jerusalem over the objections of the State Department bureaucrats, he is now having the actual legal standard apply to settlements rather than the bogus and baseless view that they are all illegal.
For what it is worth, land taken by a country that is attacked (like Israel in 1967) can be retained by that country. There are no limits on building towns in that region. Hence, the settlements are basically legal. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel gave the Palestinian Authority the right to rule all or part of certain regions in the West Bank, and in those areas, there could be some limits on construction of new towns. Such areas/towns contain less than 5% of the settlers and some are clearly temporary.
By announcing that the real world and the real law would be applied to settlements rather than the fiction that all settlements are "illegal", the USA is providing the basis on which the Palestinians and Israelis could actually negotiate a final peace agreement. As of now, the Palestinians are not interested in such an agreement and actively fight against it. Still this latest move is clearly one in the right direction towards peace.
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