Israeli settlements in the West Bank are legal both under international law and the agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. Claims to the contrary are mere attempts to distort the law for political purposes. Yet whatever the status of the settlements, their existence should never be used to justify terrorism.
The Palestinians often claim that settlement activity is illegal and call on Israel to dismantle every settlement. In effect, they are demanding that every Jew leave the West Bank, a form of ethnic cleansing. By contrast, within Israel, Arabs and Jews live side-by-side; indeed, Israeli Arabs, who account for approximately 20% of Israel's population, are citizens of Israel with equal rights.
Within Israel, Arabs and Jews live side-by-side; indeed, Israeli Arabs, who account for approximately 20% of Israel's population, are citizens of Israel with equal rights.
The Palestinian call to remove all Jewish presence from the disputed territories is not only discriminatory and morally reprehensible; it has no basis either in law or in the agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
The various agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinians since 1993 contain no prohibitions on the building or expansion of settlements. On the contrary, they specifically provide that the issue of settlements is reserved for permanent status negotiations, which are to take place in the concluding stage of the peace talks. The parties expressly agreed that the Palestinian Authority has no jurisdiction or control over settlements or Israelis, pending the conclusion of a permanent status agreement.
It has been charged that the provision contained in the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement prohibiting unilateral steps that alter the status of the West Bank implies a ban on settlement activity. This position is disingenuous. The prohibition on unilateral measures was designed to ensure that neither side take steps that would change the legal status of this territory (such as by annexation or a unilateral declaration of statehood), pending the outcome of permanent status talks. The building of homes has no effect on the final permanent status of the area as a whole. Were this prohibition to be applied to building, it would lead to the unreasonable interpretation that neither side is permitted to build houses to accommodate the needs of their respective communities.
As the Israeli claim to these territories is legally valid, it is just as legitimate for Israelis to build their communities as it is for the Palestinians to build theirs. Yet in the spirit of compromise, successive Israeli governments have indicated their willingness to negotiate the issue and have adopted a voluntary freeze on the building of new settlements as a confidence-building measure.
Furthermore, Israel had established its settlements in the West Bank in accordance with international law. Attempts have been made to claim that the settlements violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which forbids a state from deporting or transferring "parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." However, this allegation has no validity in law as Israeli citizens were neither deported nor transferred to the territories.
Although Israel has voluntarily taken upon itself the obligation to uphold the humanitarian provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel maintains that the Convention (which deals with occupied territories) was not applicable to the disputed territory. As there had been no internationally recognized legal sovereign in either the West Bank or Gaza prior to the 1967 Six Day War, they cannot be considered to have become "occupied territory" when control passed into the hands of Israel.
Yet even if the Fourth Geneva Convention were to apply to the territories, Article 49 would not be relevant to the issue of Jewish settlements. The Convention was drafted immediately following the Second World War, against the background of the massive forced population transfers that occurred during that period. As the International Red Cross' authoritative commentary to the Convention confirms, Article 49 (entitled "Deportations, Transfers, Evacuations") was intended to prevent the forcible transfer of civilians, thereby protecting the local population from displacement. Israel has not forcibly transferred its citizens to the territory and the Convention does not place any prohibition on individuals voluntarily choosing their place of residence. Moreover, the settlements are not intended to displace Arab inhabitants, nor do they do so in practice. According to independent surveys, the built-up areas of the settlements (not including roads or unpopulated adjacent tracts) take up about 3% of the total territory of the West Bank.
Israel's use of land for settlements conforms to all rules and norms of international law. Privately owned lands are not requisitioned for the establishment of settlements. In addition, all settlement activity comes under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Israel (sitting as the High Court of Justice) and every aggrieved inhabitant of the territories, including Palestinian residents, can appeal directly to this Court
Any political claim -- including the one regarding settlements -- should never be used to justify terrorist attacks on innocent civilians.
The Fourth Geneva Convention was certainly not intended to prevent individuals from living on their ancestral lands or on property that had been illegally taken from them. Many present-day Israeli settlements have been established on sites that were home to Jewish communities in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) in previous generations, in an expression of the Jewish people's deep historic and religious connection with the land. Many of the most ancient and holy Jewish sites, including the Cave of the Patriarchs (the burial site of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and Rachel's Tomb, are located in these areas. Jewish communities, such as in Hebron (where Jews lived until they were massacred in 1929), existed throughout the centuries. Other communities, such as the Gush Etzion bloc in Judea, were founded before 1948 under the internationally endorsed British Mandate.
The right of Jews to settle in all parts of the Land of Israel was first recognized by the international community in the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine. The purpose of the Mandate was to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish national home in the Jewish people's ancient homeland. Indeed, Article 6 of the Mandate provided for "close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands not required for public use."
For more than a thousand years, the only time that Jewish settlement was prohibited in the West Bank was under the Jordanian occupation (1948-1967) that resulted from an armed invasion. During this period of Jordanian rule, which was not internationally recognized, Jordan eliminated the Jewish presence in the West Bank (as Egypt did in the Gaza Strip) and declared that the sale of land to Jews was a capital offense. It is untenable that this outrage could invalidate the right of Jews to establish homes in these areas, and accordingly, the legal titles to land that had already been acquired remain valid to this day.
In conclusion, the oft-repeated claim regarding the illegality' of Israeli settlements has no legal or factual basis under either international law or the agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. Such charges can only be regarded as politically motivated. Most importantly, any political claim -- including the one regarding settlements -- should never be used to justify terrorist attacks on innocent civilians.
(31) Anonymous, January 9, 2015 5:16 AM
Amen. Thank you so much for posting this!
(30) Henry Shiner, August 12, 2014 1:31 PM
San Remo Resolution & Article 80 of The U.N. Charter
Article 80 of the UN Charter, once known unofficially as the Jewish People’s clause, preserves intact all the rights granted to Jews under the Mandate for Palestine (that was confirmed by the 52 states, all members of the League of Nations, in 1922 ) even after the Mandate’s expiry on May 14-15, 1948. Under this provision of international law (the U.N. Charter is an international treaty), Jewish rights to Palestine and the Land of Israel (i.e. this included Gaza & the "West Bank- Yehuda & Shomron) were not to be altered in any way unless there had been an intervening trusteeship agreement between the states or parties concerned, which would have converted the Mandate into a trusteeship or trust territory. The only period of time such an agreement could have been concluded under Chapter 12 of the UN Charter was during the three-year period from October 24, 1945, the date the Charter entered into force after appropriate ratifications, until May 14-15, 1948, the date the Mandate expired and the State of Israel was proclaimed. Since no agreement of this type was made during this relevant three-year period, in which Jewish rights to all of Palestine may conceivably have been altered had Palestine been converted into a trust territory, those Jewish rights that had existed under the Mandate remained in full force and effect, to which the UN is still committed by Article 80 to uphold,or is prohibited from altering to this day .
Source : Howard Grief : The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel Israel's Rights under International LawLaw : A Treatise on Jewish Sovereignty over The Land of Israel ( available on Amazon.com)
(29) draiman, September 19, 2011 3:16 PM
Palestinian people do not exist
Palestinian people do not exist A provocative headline? It’s more than that. It’s the truth. Truth does not change. Truth is truth. If something was true 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, it is still true today. And the truth is that only 30 years ago, there was very little confusion on this issue of Palestine. You might remember the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir making the bold political statement: ”There is no such thing as a Palestinian people.” The statement has been a source of ridicule and derision by Arab propagandists ever since. They love to talk about Golda Meir’s ”racism.” They love to suggest she was in historical denial. They love to say her statement is patently false – an intentional lie, a strategic deception. What they don’t like to talk about, however, are the very similar statements made by Yasser Arafat and his inner circle of political leadership years after Meir had told the truth – that there is no distinct Palestinian cultural or national identity. So, despite the fact that conventional wisdom has now proclaimed that there is such a thing as the Palestinian people, I’m going to raise those uncomfortable quotations made by Arafat and his henchmen when their public-relations guard was down. Way back on March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview with Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here’s what he said: The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ”Palestinian people” to oppose Zionism.
(28) JLW, January 22, 2008 8:10 AM
Well I'll be - this actually comes from the Israel MFA site...
Which only proves that the current "Israeli government" is nothing but a foreign entity which must be done away with as soon as possible and replaced with a bona fide Jewish rule which will actually carry out the policies that the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs preaches to the world...
(27) Robert Sturm, January 21, 2008 11:59 AM
launching missiles
Imagine our planet as a train speeding through the heavens. To much of the world Jews are excess baggage
ready to be tossed off at the first opportunity. The only place where they can land with some safety is the
land of Israel. However, as long as one Jew breathes air and walks in the land of Israel that will be one
Jew too many for most Arabs.
Having said that the Palestinians have a right to a homeland even if their goal is the elimination of Israel. For every missile launched into Israel 5 missiles should be sent randomly back into Gaza, So.
Lebanon, etc. On those missiles should be the phrase
"Brought to you by Hamas or Hezbollah".
(26) Joshua Grady-Share, January 21, 2008 11:46 AM
empty lies
Are you guys the mouthpiece of the Israeli government? Yes, it's incredible to finally hear such lucid and unequivocal fact from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, but this article is merely empty lies being spread to make us (Anglo Jews) feel better that the government has halted all building in Yehuda and Shomrin and is secretly chopping up Jerusalem as well, something that most Jews in the diaspora are unaware of.
(25) Anonymous, January 20, 2008 7:47 AM
ILLEGAL HOUSES SMASHED BY JEWISH GOVT in Amona please explain
Amona was an incident which continues to disturb me. 9 "ILLEGAL"? houses, smashed down in blood and violence Jewish courts, judges and policemen, and horses, were all instrumental in this TERRORible incident. I don't really know how to express or ask for an explanation, but it is extremely disheartening to no end, as it seems to raise contradictions in everything a Jew would say re: terrorism, antisemitism, ethnic cleansing, etc.
(24) RONNIE YORK, January 17, 2008 11:49 PM
stand up to u.s.
If israeli does not stand up to america and tell it where to get off,things are only going to get worse.I hate to say it but i believe the bush administration has already sold israel out.I pray to god this is not true,for i am an american that stands by israel and hope you do what is right for your country.I dont believe the people of the u.s. will let any president sell you out if we are told what is going on.Iwish you very good luck.
(23) Joseph . E - Givatayim-Israel, January 17, 2008 9:19 PM
Focus on Arabs War Crimes and Violation of the 4th Geneva Convention Art.49
between 1948-67 and up rather than Arabs fabricated propaganda wich is proven as false and anyway is false and politically motivated in order to weaken and undermine the State of Israel and Israel as a Jewish State ,
The Israeli-Arab conflict and the Israeli-pals conflict is NOT the Mideast core issue but rather the Iran with Arab-muslim-World extremism , and inter arabs conflict is the Mideast core issue that destabilise the Mideast .
One defend itself not only with a good defense but also with a good offensive-defense .
Above all "do unto them as they would have done unto you" for if not then it leads to cruelty to the public and the enemy within your land will vex , harrass and humiliate you .
(22) Anonymous, January 17, 2008 9:02 AM
It is our Israel
If anyone reads the Bible, will come to know the different miracles taking place from time to time. For example,
few of them being Noha's Ark, ten plagues and deviding of the sea and allowing only Jews to cross the sea.
Even today these miracles are taking place, like tsunami, etc., but people do not realise this. Whatever is written the Bible is coming true, so where is the question of handing over
any portion of our land to anyone?
Even if we give any land to them they will never be satisfied and will continue to attach us.
(21) Anonymous, January 17, 2008 4:01 AM
Publicize!
Excellent -- need to publicize
(20) Claire Norman Warton, January 16, 2008 11:44 AM
I am Judaic
Judea, predating Israel, is home to the Judaic people. Palestinians are a collection of rejected Arabs whom their own Arab community will not support thanks to avarice on the part of the much wealthier landed sovereign Arab States, Russia, and the United States.I do not believe one needs to rely on anything more than common humanity to breach this gap. The desire to root out Jews from their homeland began thousands of years before the now-called Palestinian presence. We live as feeling beings who think, and cannot change anything but scurrilous acts, not feelings that have hurt Jews in a historically disproportionate way. No, it is not avaricious to claim our home.
(19) MESA, January 16, 2008 11:13 AM
It's our's, period
All these legal arguments are fine, but the rest of the world does not want to hear it. And we don't need it. Eretz Yisrael is our land, promised to us by G-d as an inheritance, and we need to keep it and protect it. Period.
(18) Thomas Beasley, January 15, 2008 11:31 AM
Settlements before 1948
There were a number of settlements built before 1948, conquered by the Jordanian Army and reconquered in the fight against the Jordanians in 1967. What is this not a "legal" part of Israel. Did the Palestinians even exist as a movement back then or even before Arafat? What claim do they have for the Gush Etzion and other blocks?
(17) anon, January 15, 2008 4:21 AM
what about the Gaza "withdrawl"?
This is well written and accurate. So why did the Gov. see fit to FORCIBLY evict all the Jewish residence from the Gaza area?
Doesn't that validate the Arab's claims?
(16) SONia, January 14, 2008 10:40 PM
??equal
it is my understanding that no Palestinian can be part of the the Israeli Army. Given that it is mandatory to be part of the Israeli Army if you are an Israeli citizen...that would seem contradictory. If there is to be true trust and respect i think to be a full citizen one has to be able to be part of this very intregal aspect of the Israeli nation. In order to live into peace as a reality i think this is important.
(15) pat, January 14, 2008 3:03 PM
Who are Palestinians? Where did they come from? How do they even know if they really are "Palestinian"? I think most Americans would like some answers. All we hear is whats on the news.Where can we get some information on this so called people? It's disgusting.
Isreal has a heritage that dates back thoudands of years. I am astounded at what is taking place. But we must all put our faith in HaShems hands.
Pat
(14) RICHARD EVANS, January 14, 2008 2:41 PM
IF THE WORLD WANTS REAL PEACE, ALL IT HAS TO DO IS MAKE THE PALESTINIANS HAVE THIER COUNTRY WHERE MOST OF THE RFUGEES ARE KEPT. I E WEST JORDON. THEY THEN HAVE ACCESS TO JERUSALEM BUT NOT THIER CAPITAL. GIVE GAZA BACK TO ISRAEL AND THE WEST BANK. BITS OF LAND DOES NOT WORK IE GAZA/ WEST BANK WITH ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE.WE WILL HAVE PROBLEMS WITH HAMAS OWNING GAZA AND ABBAS HAVING WEST BANK. LETS ALL THINK PRACTICAL FOR ONCE. SHALOM
(13) Beverly Kurtin, January 13, 2008 8:34 PM
Then the president said...
I've written to my local newspaper about the idiotic statements that the current president of the United States made concerning the "occupied territories." He does not understand that the "settlements" are legal and that there IS no occupation.
He fails to understand that when the Arabs say, "Leave the occupied land," they refer to every square centimeter of Israel!
The fact that is that he has messed up his administration's place in history, and now he is so foolish as to think he can get Israel to leave the entire State so that Arabs will stop bombing a state that no longer exists. That is not exactly what he thinks, but that is what he is, in effect, saying: Jews leave Israel.
The fact that various areas of Israel are being slammed by Qassam rockets on a daily basis seem to have been bypassed by the prez.
When a country is attacked by another country or countries and wins the war that was forced on them, it is my understanding that any territory they win is theirs.
Forty-one years ago that is what happened, that is why we have access to the Kotel and other places of Jewish worship today.
(12) Barry, January 13, 2008 7:51 PM
Tell it to Olmert
I find it interesting that the Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel understands these truths, as stated.
How about educating your boss before more Jews are Ch'v abandoned or killed due to hiss foolishness.
(11) Roddy Frankel, January 13, 2008 7:30 PM
It's about time!
Why has Tzipi Livni waited until now to state what I have argued for the past 5 years? Why is this article not published in the New York Times? Did they reject it? Did Livni even submit it?
(10) Leslie-Ann, January 13, 2008 7:18 PM
Would someone please send this to President Bush & Prime Minister Olmert
I think it would be quite informative for them.
(9) AaronM, January 13, 2008 3:39 PM
Very informative
I never that. I alwsys assumed the setlements were illegal. This message needs to reach a broader audiance.
(8) Meredith, January 13, 2008 2:58 PM
Why the term 'settlements'?
Why then is the term 'settlements' used? why not use a term like subdivision or neighborhood?
(7) Char, January 13, 2008 2:53 PM
The answer to Legality of settlement is YES
Eretz Israel belongs to the Jewish people. Empires come and go, but the Jews have always remained on the land, though sometimes few in number. The Romans sought to wipe Israel off the map by renaming it "Palestine".
There is no debate as HaShem made that decree, not a mortal.
One day, ALL the Jews will be returned to their homeland, even the dead will be revived and returned! The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) is glorious, Blessed be He -- He is a Promisekeeper!
(6) Mosheh Wolfish, January 13, 2008 2:17 PM
This is Balderdash!!!
The Israeli Government cannot expel Jews from their homes, destroy Jewish communities, schools and cemeteries, destroy "ILLEGAL" outposts, and restrict Jewish construction all for various political reasons and negotiating stances, and then expect the international community to take seriously a position paper from the Foreign Ministry saying that Jews can live wherever they want within the Palestinian Mandate. If there was a truly legal right, then the individual's right and the community's right would be protected under Israeli (civilian and military) Law, which it clearly is not, based upon the whimsical behavior and attitudes Israeli Governments have had. The international community correctly sees and concludes that if you pressure the "Jewish" State to eliminate the "right" of Jewish settlement, the Jewish State will fold and the right disappears. So why should anyone take the Foreign Ministry seriously?! As usual, we (the Israeli Government) are our worst enemy! In the Middle East (or any court of law), you cannot expect to unilaterally undermine your position and then insist that your opponent thank you for it, when they claim that you never rightfully had that position to begin with. Go study the 3rd chapter of Bava Basra - Chezkas Habatim!
(5) Dvirah, January 13, 2008 1:39 PM
3 Points
1. A distinction must be made between allowed expansions and building without a permit - a civil offence in any country;
2. If there is in truth a "prohibition on unilateral measures", then the recent "disengagement" from Gaza (which, by the way, involved not recent "settlements" but established comunities) is equally illegal, as it falls into the same catagory of "measure" - unilateral.
3. The "massive forced population transfers" mentioned were in the main the transfering of Jews to the Death Camps - a point to remember.
(4) Linda Rivera, January 13, 2008 1:33 PM
Jew-HATERS' WICKED LIE of Occupation. Return JEWISH LAND STOLEN in the 1948 Islamic Invasion!
Why were 10,000 Jews viciously ethnically cleansed from Gaza? Rendered jobless and homeless for the sole reason they are Jews. The Jew-hating world celebrated. In rabid hate for Israel's G-D, Muslim mobs desecrated and destroyed sacred Gaza synagogues.
Why will Israel surrender to global jihadist terrorists - ancestral Jewish land of Judea and Samaria, even Holy Jerusalem? Enabling, G-D forbid, a Second Holocaust of Jews. Please, Hashem, protect Jews!
The inalienable rights of Jews to the Biblical heartland must not be violated! No one is demanding Muslims surrender THEIR top religious areas of Mecca and Medina!
In 1948, Egypt invaded Gaza, ethnically cleansing all Jews and in 1948, Jordan invaded Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem, ethnically cleansing all Jews. In violent opposition to G-D, Muslim Jordan destroyed 58 synagogues in Jerusalem.
When Israel won the Arab war of aggression in 1967, Jews returned to the areas of their ancestral homeland they had been ethnically cleansed from for 19 years. Anti-Israel propaganda DECEITFULLY calls Jews' legitimate return "occupation".
Jewish ownership of the land, homes and buildings stolen from the Jews in the 1948 Islamic invasion must be restored!
Jews have had a continuous presence in physical and spiritual homeland Israel for 4000 years.
(3) chava, January 13, 2008 10:59 AM
If this was truly written by the Israeli Foreign Ministry (ie they're aware of these facts) WHY DON'T THEY EVER SAY ANY OF THIS IN PUBLIC OR TO THE MEDIA !!!
(2) Yaacov Rubin, January 13, 2008 10:49 AM
Great Legal Validation
Well done analysis showing that the Jewish people's right to build settlements is not only documented by Torah law but national and international law whose historic roots come from guess where?
(1) Charles Allen, January 13, 2008 8:36 AM
Thanks for the Info. I wasn't aware of this.
This info should be more widely publicized. I believe it would greatly strengthen your cause to so many who are "sitting on the fence".