Settlements

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The Sleight of Hand in Dismissing Settler Violence by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, February 15, 2024

Settler violence is real, and a real problem. Pretending otherwise requires shallow and obvious misdirection and does Israel no favors.

Palestinians want to build Jewish settlements. Jewish settlers prefer a freeze. Everything you think you know is wrong. by Elder of Ziyon, January 28, 2024

The Problem of West Bank Settlements by Tomas Pueyo, Uncharted Territories, October 26, 2023

Decoupling Security and Settlements by Alex Lederman, Israel Policy Exchange, August 24, 2023

When a Farm Is Not Just a Farm by Michael J. Koplow, Koplow Column, Israel Policy Forum, August 10, 2023

Reporting about the clashes between Israeli shepherds and Palestinians, as well as Israeli farms and agricultural settlements, obscures what is actually taking place in the West Bank.

Israeli Settlements Are Not Illegal by Eugene Kontorovich, Tablet, August 29, 2023

An Unsettled Question: Recalibrating U.S. Policy on Israeli Settlements by Dan Rothem, Jess Manville, and Michael Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, July 2023

I Have a Right to Live in Judea and Samaria by Malkah Fleisher, Tablet, July 20, 2023

Israeli ‘settlers’ should not have to justify their existence.

Settlers are not an obstacle to peace by Aliza Pilichowski, The Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2023

The argument that Jews living, building, and developing towns in Judea and Samaria are the obstacle to peace is based on a misconception.

Blocs, Towns & Outposts: What Are the Settlements? by Chaim Lax, HonestReporting, June 29, 2023

Take a Deep Breath by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, June 22, 2023

Enjoy Your One-State Reality by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, June 15, 2023

The Netanyahu Government Proclaims Its Priorities by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, June 1, 2023

West Bank Settlements Explained, Israel Policy Forum, March 2023

Israel’s best response to Palestinian terror is more settlements by David M. Weinberg, The Jerusalem Post, February 16, 2023

Fight fire with fire. The terrorists want to chase Israel off this land; in response, Israel should lay stakes on more land each time they fire a shot.

Neve Yaakov’s American Roots by Dr. Rafael Medoff, Jewish Journal, February 2, 2023

Visitors to the area might be surprised to discover that Neve Yaakov actually is a major urban community, not at all resembling the stereotypical “settlement” of trailer homes on a windswept hilltop.

Is Israel a settler colonial state? by Alan Dowty, Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, University of Washington, November 10, 2022

An Israeli-Palestinian Issue Almost Everyone Can Agree On by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, July 7, 2022

Israel’s E1 Building Plan: The Most Strategic, Consensual – and Frozen – Project by Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 22, No. 14, June 13, 2022

The Barrier to a Real Security Barrier by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, April 11, 2022

The Consensus Coalition That Ranged Beyond The Consensus by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 27, 2021

What’s The Problem With Boycotting Settlements? by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, July 29, 2021

Settle-mint Chip Brain Freeze by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, July 22, 2021

“Over the honey, over the sting” by Daniel Gordis, Substack, July 13, 2021

How one song morphed from a “settler” song to an informal anthem, and what that tells us about Israel. (In honor of what would have been Naomi Shemer’s birthday)

Refuting the Palestinian Allegation to the ICC that Israeli Settlements Are a War Crime by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Briefs, Vol. 21 No. 2, April 29, 2021

West Bank facts on the ground cannot be ignored by Jonathan S. Tobin, Jewish News Syndicate, February 2, 2021

Despite renewed U.S. outreach to the Palestinians, the most viable peace deal is the one left behind by the Trump administration that was officially trashed.

Israel’s Eleventh Hour Mad Dash by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 15, 2020

The Cynical Obfuscation Around Settlements by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, September 10, 2020

Video: International Law and the Pompeo Doctrine: What it Tells Us about the Legal Status of the Communities in Judea and Samaria (1:44’03”), EMET Capitol Hill Seminar with Professor Eugene Kontorovich, Professor Avi Bell, Sarah Stern, and Doug Feith; January 23, 2020

US policy on the legal status of Israel’s West Bank settlements by Douglas J. Feith, Jewish News Syndicate, January 27, 2020

What the current administration did by its announcement reinforced two messages: that America is closely attached to Israel, and that the historical connection of Israel with the land is strong and significant.

A Selective Opponent of ‘Settlers’ by Eugene Kontorovich, The Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2020

Human Rights Watch’s Sara Leah Whitson has one standard for Israel, another for Armenia.

Not Illegal by Nevet Basker, The Times of Israel, December 2, 2019

Israeli Settlements Are a Political, Not a Legal Issue by Douglas J. Feith, National Review, November 22, 2019

U.S. Policy Change on Israeli Settlements: A Long Awaited Correction by Amb. Dore Gold, The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Israel Hayom, November 19, 2019

Video Series: “Settlements,” Unpacked, October-November 2019

Both The Left — And The Right — Are Wrong About The Settlements by Hen Mazzig, Medium, July 24, 2018

About Those State Department Maps by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, July 12, 2018

Why has settlement building dropped with President Trump in Office? by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, July 6, 2018

Settlement construction during most of Netanyahu’s last nine years in office was lower than under any of his predecessors, including leftists like Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert.

Jewish West Bank Communities: The Kernel of a Tolerant Palestinian State by Rafael Castro and Efraim Karsh, The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, BESA Center Perspectives Paper #881, July 3, 2018

There is no reason why a Palestinian Arab state should not host a sizable Jewish minority living in peace and security with the Arab majority.

Unsettled: A Global Study Of Settlements In Occupied Territories by Eugene Kontorovich, Journal of Legal Analysis, Volume 9, Issue 2, Winter 2017

Settlements and Solutions: Is It Too Late for Two States? by David Makovsky, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, November 2017

Explore the geography and demography of Israeli settlements in this first-of-its-kind interactive mapping tool.

The Fruits of a Failed Settlements Policy by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 11, 2017

Getting Settled by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, August 14, 2017 (review of City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement by Sara Yael Hirschhorn; see also Interview with Sara Hirschhorn by Calev Ben-Dor, Matzav Blog, September 20, 2017)

Israel’s New Settlement Policy: Evaluated and Explained by Malcolm Lowe, Gatestone Institute, June 21, 2017

The Trump Administration Settles In on Settlements by Elliott Abrams, Council on Foreign Relations, April 2, 2017

Trump’s Team Should Avoid the Settlements Vortex by Ilan Goldenberg, Israel Policy Forum, Matzav Blog, March 15, 2017

Video: Are Israeli Settlements Legal? (2’19”) with Prof. Eugene Kontorovich, Jerusalem U., March 9, 2017

Israel’s Settlement Movement Isn’t Growing the Way You Thought It Was by Shaul Arieli, Haaretz, March 5, 2017

Why Israel Should Keep Building the Settlements by Steve Postal, American Thinker, February 26, 2017

The Jews Are Indigenous to Judea and Samaria; The Settlements Don’t Prohibit a Peace Deal; Israeli Withdrawals Have Brought War, Not Peace; The Main Reason for the Lack of Peace is Arab Incitement and Violence; The Settlements are Not Illegal; Judea and Samaria is of the Utmost Importance Strategically

A Settler’s View of Israel’s Future by Yishai Fleisher, The New York Times, February 14, 2017

Trump’s Time Machine Settlements Policy by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Matzav Blog/Koplow Column, February 9, 2017

Israel Can’t Avoid the Settlement Talk Anymore by Daniel Gordis, Bloomberg View, February 3, 2017

How to Rebalance the Shifting Settlement Debate by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, February 2, 2017 (see also The tragedy of Amona by Donniel Hartman, The Times of Israel, February 1, 2017)

If Israel Has Not Been Building Settlements, Why Are the White House and Media Claiming It Is? by Bennett Ruda, Daled Amos, January 15, 2017

John Kerry is dead wrong about Israeli settlements by Gregg Roman, The Los Angeles Times, December 28, 2016

Build, Baby, Build by Evelyn Gordon, JewishPress.com, December 28, 2016

Let the Settlement Debate Begin by Donniel Hartman, The Times of Israel, December 26, 2016

The Legalization Bill Is Not Just About Settlements by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Matzav Blog, December 8, 2016

Wrong from the start: Why John Kerry failed to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace by David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, December 6, 2016

“The failure to draw a distinction between new housing in, say, Jerusalem’s Gilo and in an isolated settlement outpost deep inside the West Bank, has been a hallmark of the Obama administration. Every new planned home over the pre-1967 lines — whether in an area Israel would never contemplate relinquishing, or in an area Israel cannot anticipate retaining if it ever wishes to separate from the Palestinians — was routinely castigated by the administration as a crime of equal gravity, discrediting the criticism in the eyes of the Israeli mainstream, and by extension discrediting the administration too. The focus should always have been on the outlying settlements, on the building that entangles Israel self-defeatingly deeper among the Palestinians, on helping save the Jewish state from its short-sighted Greater Israel ideologues.”

How Obama Engendered Amona by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, December 5, 2016

The Real Illegal Settlements by Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute, December 5, 2016

While construction in Jewish settlements of the West Bank and neighborhoods of Jerusalem has long been carried out within the frame of the law and in accordance with proper licenses issued by the relevant authorities, the Palestinian construction is illegal in every respect.

President Trump and the Art of the ‘Ultimate’ Israel-Palestine Peace Deal by Elliott Abrams and Uri Sadot, Foreign Policy, December 4, 2016

The two-state solution is not lost for the incoming administration. But Trump will have to pick his battles on settlements wisely.

Video Series, Vox, September 2016: Part I: Israeli settlements, explained (8’05”), Part II: Why Israeli settlements don’t feel like a conflict zone (10’55”)

Your Guide To Settlements and Ethnic Cleansing by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, September 8, 2016

Opining on Outposts by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, September 8, 2016

Israeli Settlements, the Violet Line and the Cheshire Cat by Malcolm Lowe, The Gatestone Institute, September 7, 2016

Israel’s Rights in the Territories under International Law by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, September 7, 2016 (includes video, 5’53”)

Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territories by Eugene Kontorovich, Northwestern University Law School, Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 16-20, September 7, 2016

A comprehensive academic study of the application of Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention to international occupations of East Timor (by Indonesia), Western Sahara (Morocco), Northern Cyprus (Turkey), and other occupied territories.

Ten False Assumptions Regarding Israel by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief  Vol. 16, No. 13, August 16, 2016

The Curious State Department Announcement on Israeli Settlements by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, August 2, 2016

Settlement ‘expansion’ fails to even match natural growth by Ahron Shapiro, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, July 21, 2016

The Truth About Settlement Growth, by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, July 6, 2016

Settlements Equal Security by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, March 14, 2016

Blocs and Borders by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, March 14, 2016

The scuttlebutt on settlements by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, March 4, 2016

West Bank settlements are legal, Foreign Ministry asserts: Official document distributed to Israeli diplomats says Jewish communities beyond Green Line are ‘not colonization’, The Times of Israel, December 3, 2015 (see also: Israeli Settlements and International Law, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, November 30, 2015)

Solutionism on Settlements by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, November 24, 2015

Notable Israel boycott activist also leads pro-settler, pro-occupation group by Eugene Kontorovich, The Washington Post/The Volokh Conspiracy, October 13, 2015

Does Israel Spend More on Settlers Than Other Israelis? No! by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, June 20, 2015Like Dreamers / Yossi Klein Halevi

Settlements: Threat or menace? by Michael Berkowitz, The Times of Israel, June 12, 2015

Settlement Data Once Again Shows Bibi’s “Hardline” Image Doesn’t Match Reality by Evelyn C. Gordon, Commentary, March 11, 2015

Telling the Settler’s Side of the Story by Elie Pieprz, The Mike Report, February 1, 2015

Video: Are Israeli Settlements the Barrier to Peace? (4’32”), Alan Dershowitz, Prager University, January 12, 2015

It’s the settlements, stupid by David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, October 14, 2014

Op-ed: As the resounding British ‘Yes’ vote on Palestine underlined, empathy for Israel’s vital interests is being eroded by anger at the expansion of building over the Green Line

The facts about buying land in Jerusalem’s latest settlement by Akiva Eldar, Al-Monitor Israel Pulse, October 6, 2014

Despite condemnation from the United States and other countries, Israel is forging ahead with its plan to disrupt the Palestinian urban continuum in the Jerusalem area, while preventing the sale of real estate to non-Jews.

The Peace Camp’s Recycled Outrage by Eugene Kontorovich, Commentary, October 2, 2014

Everything You Know About Israeli Settlements Is Wrong by Elliott Abrams and Uri Sadot, Foreign Policy, September 5, 2014

Israel’s recent annexation of 1,000 acres of land in the West Bank doesn’t change anything on the ground, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has actually been remarkably constrained in settlement construction.

Israeli Settlements Are Not Illegal by Michael Curtis, American Thinker, July 9, 2014

What Made a Legally Established Settlement Illegal? by J.P. Golbert, American Thinker, June 29, 2014

How a single settlement apartment can be counted eight times by the media by Elder of Ziyon, May 20, 2014

Abu Mazen’s overlooked surprise concession on settlements by Geoffrey Aronson, Al-Monitor, May 11, 2014

Blame those damn settlements! by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, March 17, 2014

Israel gets no credit from Obama for a year of moderate settlement construction by Elliott Abrams and Uri Sadot, Washington Post, March 13, 2014

Netanyahu looks to Belgium-Holland border for settlement solution, Times of Israel, March 10, 2014 [more on Baarle-Nassau in the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in Belgium, which consists of 24 enclaves within the Netherlands,  See also: Belgium-Holland is the wrong model by Ohad Shpak, Times of Israel, March 16, 2014 [advocates instead for India-Bangladesh model]

PM said investigating world’s ‘most complicated’ enclave arrangements as possible precedent for keeping settlers in ‘Palestine’

Obama’s Settlement Construction Lie by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, March 4, 2014

Challenging the Long-Held Notion That Israeli Settlements Are ‘Illegal’ by Sharona Schwartz, The Blaze, February 24, 2014

Jews in Palestine? by Daniel Pipes, Israel Hayom, February 6, 2014

We should have chosen ‘settlement freeze’ by Yitzy Hammer, Times of Israel, December 30, 2013

It’s About the Settlements, Stupid by David P. Goldman, PJ Media, December 17, 2013

Video: Are Israeli settlements an Obstacle to Peace? (4’58”) Myths and Facts, Jewish Virtual Library, November 2013

Kerry’s Bullying of Israel by Mona Charen, National Review Online, November 10, 2013: An open letter from Amb. Alan Baker to Secretary Kerry

Meet the Settlers: A journey through the West Bank by Jake Wallis Simons, Telegraph, Fall 2013

How the EU directly funds settlements in occupied territory by Eugene Kontorovich, Jerusalem Post, September 28, 2013

The complex legality of settlements by Peter Wertheim, The Jerusalem Report, September 15, 2013

Mahmoud Abbas’ Minority Report by Emmanuel Navon, i24 News, August 6, 2013

The Legality of Israeli Settlements by Michael Curtis, American Thinker, May 24, 2013

Biased, Prejudiced, and Unprofessional: The UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission Report on Israeli Settlements by Amb. Alan Baker, Institute for Contemporary Affairs, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 13, No. 7, March 17, 2013

Jurisdiction over Israeli Settlement Activity in the International Criminal Court by Eugene Kontorovich, Northwestern Law & Econ Research Paper No. 13-10, March 9, 2013 [see also video, The Legal Case for Israel (45’57″), November 2012]

Israeli Settlements’ Legal Basis by Alan Baker, USA Today, January 23, 2013

We Need to Talk (Differently) about Settlements by Alan Johnson, World Affairs Journal, January 15, 2013

The Right Way to Play The Game: Keep Our True Goals In Mind by Donniel Hartman, Jerusalem Post, December 9, 2012

Reinvigorating the Discussion of Israel’s Rights in Judea & Samaria by Avi Bell, The Algemeiner, August 2, 2012

Understanding the SettlementsSettlements’ Legality Won’t Prevent Peace by Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, July 9, 2012

It’s Muktsa: Building a Fence Around a Fence Around the Settlements Issue by Donniel Hartman, June 6, 2012

Israeli Settlements, American Pressure, and Peace by Steven J. Rosen, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, JCPA Strategic Perspectives, June 14, 2012 [pdf]

Video: Lt. Col. (ret.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar (17’01”) at Netanya Academic College, May 2012

If Settlements Are Only 1.1 Percent of West Bank, How Are They an Obstacle to Peace? by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, November 17, 2011

Are Israeli Settlers Human? A family of five slaughtered in their beds. Some Palestinians call it ‘natural.’ by Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2011Steven J. Rosen, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: Israeli Settlements, American Pressure, and Peace

The U.N. Gangs Up on Israel—Again by Alan M. Dershowitz, Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2011

Do West Bank Realities Defy Perceptions?: New settler leader says coexistence is working, let the diplomats take a break by Gary Rosenblatt, Jewish Week (New York), January 25, 2011

The Settlements Issue: Distorting the Geneva Convention and the Oslo Accords by Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Briefs Vol. 10, No. 20, January 5, 2011

Settlement subtleties: Not all are the same by Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post, November 16, 2010

Why Israel Won’t Abandon the Settlers by Yossi Klein Halevi, Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2010

Could Settlements Spur Peace In the Middle East? by Mitchell Bard, Fox News, October 4, 2010

The Settlements Aren’t the Problem by Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2010

“The Palestinians’ beef with Israel isn’t territorial–it’s existential.”

Are the Settlements Illegal? by Nicolas Rostow, The American Interest, March-April 2010

Behind the Settlements by Daniel Kurtzer, The American Interest, March-April 2010

What to Do With the Settlements by Hillel Halkin, Wall Street Journal, Febuary 4, 2010

The ”Mandate for Palestine” is the Best Reply to ”Occupation” by Eli Hertz, Jewish Indy, December 23, 2009Settlements & Land Swaps

The Illegal-Settlements Myth by David M. Phillips, Commentary, December 2009

Trust the settlers to lose the West Bank by Bradley Burston, Haaretz, December 7, 2009

Preserving a Legal Inheritance: Jewish Settlement Rights in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” by Gerald Adler, The Journal Online (the Law Society of Scotland), September 14, 2009

Obama administration’s approach to Israel and its neighbors is ill-conceived , by Nevet Basker, Seattle Times, September 3, 2009

Jerusalem — one city, undivided by Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, July 22, 2009

Reassessing Israeli Settlements by Samara Greenberg, Pajamas Media, July 12, 2009

Settlements, Borders, and “Natural Growth” by Rick Richman, Commentary, June 19, 2009

U.S. Policy on Israeli Settlements by Dore Gold, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. 9, No. 2, June 9, 2009

The Settlements Myth by Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, June 5, 2009

Protecting the Contiguity of Israel: The E-1 Area and the Link Between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim by Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. 9, No.1, May 24, 2009

West Bank settlements are good for peace by Raphael Israeli, Haaretz, January 1, 2009

A Bitter Irony by Eugene Kontorovich, New York Sun, February 13, 2008

“[W]hatever one may think of the legal status of Jewish communities in the West Bank in general, the “unauthorized” settlements raise no issues under international law.”

The Debate About Settlements by Ricki Hollander, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, CAMERA Backgrounder, June 13, 2007

Letter from Dov Weissglas, Chief of the PM’s Bureau, to National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, April 18, 2004

International Law and the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Julius Stone, updated 2003 [pdf]

Diplomatic and Legal Aspects of the Settlement Issue by Jeffrey Helmreich, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 2, No.16, January 19, 2003

Why the Settlements Should Stay: Making the West Bank Judenrein is no way to bring peace by Hillel Halkin, Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2002

From “Occupied Territories” to “Disputed Territories” by Dore Gold, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, January 16, 2002

Israeli Settlements and International Law, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 2001

Historical Approach to the Issue of Legality of Jewish Settlement Activity by Eugene W. Rostow, The New Republic, April 23, 1990

The Jewish right of settlement in the West Bank is conferred by the same provisions of the Mandate under which Jews settled in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem before the State of Israel was created. [….] Many believe that the Palestine Mandate was somehow terminated in 1947, when the British government resigned as the mandatory power. This is incorrect. A trust never terminates when a trustee dies, resigns, embezzles the trust property, or is dismissed. [….] The controversy about Jewish settlements in the West Bank is not, therefore, about legal rights but about the political will to override legal rights.

What Weight to Conquest? by Stephen M. Schwebel (Excerpts from article first published in American Journal of International Law (1970), 64)