Annexation: Israel Already Controls More Than Half of the West Bank
June 19, 2019
Annexation would only formalize a situation in which almost two-thirds of
Palestinian territory is controlled by Israel and settlers live as Israeli
citizens, writes Jonathan Cook.
By JonathanCook
Jonathan-Cook.net
A state of de facto annexation already exists on the ground in most of the
occupied West Bank.
Almost two-thirds of the Palestinian territory, including most of its most
fertile and resource-rich land, is under full Israeli control. About 400,000
Jewish settlers living there enjoy the full rights and privileges of Israeli
citizens.
At least 60 pieces of legislation were drafted by right-wing members of the
Knesset during the last parliament to move Israel from a state of de facto
to de jure annexation, according to a database by Yesh Din, an Israeli human
rights group.
Yesh Din points out that the very fact that some of these bills have passed
as laws constitutes a form of annexation: "The Israel Knesset [now] regards
itself as the legislative authority in the West Bank and the sovereign
there."
A Jewish settlement in Ariel on Occupied West Bank, or what Israelis call
Samaria.
Paradoxically, many of those bills were opposed by Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, even though they were drafted from within his own ruling
coalition.
Netanyahu argued that it would be wrong to pre-empt U.S. President Donald
Trump's peace plan, implying that annexation is high on the agenda.
Leaked details suggest that Washington is now preparing to green-light the
formal annexation of at least some of that territory as part of its
deal-making, though Netanyahu's political difficulties and his decision to
call another election in September could mean putting details on ice once
again.
The Golan Precedent
Three recent developments have also brought the idea of Israel annexing
parts or all of the West Bank onto the agenda.
In March, Trump recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights,
seized from Syria during the 1967 war and annexed by Israel in 1981 in
violation of international law. The U.S. decision suggested a precedent
whereby it might similarly approve a move by Israel to annex the West Bank.
In April, in the run-up to Israel's general election, Netanyahu said he
would use the next parliament to "extend sovereignty" to all illegal Jewish
settlements in the West Bank, using a phrase preferred by Israeli
politicians to "annexation."
About 400,000 settlers live in the West Bank in 150 official settlements and
another 120 "unauthorized" outposts that have been covertly sponsored by the
Israeli state since the 1990s. These settlements have jurisdiction over 42
percent of West Bank territory.
In early June, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a stalwart
supporter of the settlements and one of the architects of Trump's supposed
"deal of the century," told the New York Times that he believed Israel was
"on the side of God" and said: "Under certain circumstances, I think Israel
has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank."
Support in Israel Growing
Support in Israel for annexation is growing, with 42 percent backing one of
several variants in a recent poll, as opposed to 34 percent who were behind
a two-state solution. Only 28 percent of Israelis explicitly rejected
annexation.
Behind the scenes, debates about formally annexing the Palestinian
territories have been rife in Israel since it occupied the West Bank, East
Jerusalem, and Gaza in 1967.
Successive Israeli governments, however, have demurred out of concern both
that there would be strong international objections (most UN member states
would be opposed to the annexation of territory recognized as illegally
occupied in international law) and that Israel would be under pressure to
give Palestinians in annexed areas citizenship, including the right to vote,
that would undermine its Jewish majority.
Senior government ministers such as Moshe Dayan and Yigal Allon were among
the early proponents of annexing parts of the West Bank. They drew up maps
for a permanent settlement program that would allow Israel to hold on to
swathes of the West Bank, especially the most fertile land and the aquifers.
Through the late 1970s and 1980s, a justice ministry official, Plia Albeck,
declared large areas of the West Bank "state land," allowing the government
to treat it as effectively part of Israel and build settlements.
Speeding Tickets and Police Stations
Israel has applied its laws to the settler population and dozens of Israeli
police stations located in the West Bank operate as if the territory has
been annexed, issuing speeding tickets and enforcing other infractions on
Palestinians. Palestinians' ultimate recourse to adjudication on legal
matters is Israel's Supreme Court.
Wall between Israel and Palestine, Anata, West Bank. (Dafna Kaplan via
Flickr)
In 2011, that court decided that Israel was allowed to exploit more than a
dozen quarries, one of the Palestinians' key resources, because the
occupation had become "prolonged" - a ruling that treated the West Bank as
if it had been de facto annexed.
Since the Olso accords, Israeli leaders have tended to pay lip service to
Palestinian statehood, at some distant future point. But in practice, they
have encouraged the rapid expansion of the settlements. This policy is
sometimes referred to as "creeping annexation."
A number of variants have been advanced by the Israeli right, ranging from
the annexation of all Palestinian territories, including Gaza, to annexation
limited to certain areas of the West Bank.
How Oslo Gave Israel Control
The main framework for the Israeli debate about annexation is the Oslo
process which temporarily carved up the occupied West Bank into Areas A, B
and C as a prelude, it was assumed, to eventually transferring sovereignty
to the Palestinian Authority.
Area C, 62 percent of the West Bank, is under full Israeli control and where
the settlements are located. It is also where most of the water,
agricultural and mineral resources are to be found.
Area B, 20 percent, is under Israeli security control and Palestinian civil
control. And Area A - mainly Palestinian built-up areas on 18 percent of the
West Bank - is nominally under full Palestinian control.
The option favored by most of Netanyahu's Likud party involves the
annexation of areas populated with settlers, or about 40 percent of the West
Bank mostly located in Area C.
This option would keep West Bank Palestinians outside the annexed areas and
make it easier to avoid conferring any residency or citizenship rights on
them. The Palestinian Authority would be given "limited autonomy" - a kind
of glorified municipal role - over the remaining fragments of the West Bank.
To the right of Likud, opinions range from annexing all of Area C to
annexing the entire West Bank and Gaza, and the creation of Palestinian
"Bantustans" modeled on South Africa's racist apartheid system. Some propose
a "salami" method, with Israel gradually slicing off more of the West Bank.
The Israeli center-left fears formal annexation not only violates
international law but will damage Israel's image abroad by encouraging
comparisons with apartheid-era South Africa. In the absence of a Palestinian
state, a minority of Jews might soon be ruling over a majority of
Palestinians.
2007 map showing Palestinian Authority in green. (Wikimedia Commons)
The center-left is also concerned about the costs of annexation. Commanders
for Israel's Security, a group of retired security officials, argue that
annexation will lead to the inevitable collapse of the Palestinian
Authority.
As a result, they believe Israel would incur annual costs of between $2.3
billion and $14.5 billion, depending on the extent of the West Bank area
annexed. There would also be a loss of $2.5bn in foreign investments.
Palestinian uprisings could cost Israel's economy as much as $21 billion.
Right-wing economists like Amatzia Samkai of the Caucus for Eretz Israel say
Israel will benefit economically. If Area C is annexed, only a small number
of Palestinians will be entitled to Israeli welfare payments, he says. Such
costs, he adds, can be more than offset by an expanded labor force and a
drop in real-estate prices after West Bank land is freed up for house
building by Israelis.
Knesset 'Sovereign' in West Bank
Of the 60 pieces of draft annexation legislation brought before the Knesset,
eight have passed into law.
The main laws that have been passed include:
.annulling a special council overseeing higher education in West Bank
settlements and transferring its powers to the main Israel Council for
Higher Education.
.approving retroactively the theft of private Palestinian land used to build
settlements. The previous official position was that settlements should be
built only on land Israel had declared state land because it was not owned
by Palestinians.
.extending benefits available in Israel - from tax exemptions and egg
production quotas to renewable energy investments - to West Bank
settlements.
.unifying the criminal register used by police in Israel and the West Bank.
.transferring powers to adjudicate matters involving the West Bank to lower
courts in Israel.
.prohibiting businesses from refusing to supply services to West Bank
settlements.
In addition, Yesh Din notes, Israel has recently shifted its diplomatic
position and legal arguments to the courts in relation to the West Bank.
It has rejected the West Bank's status as being under occupation, asserted
Israel's authority to operate there and eroded the obligation to protect the
rights and property of the Palestinian population.
Another significant piece of legislation Netanyahu is known to favor -
chiefly for personal reasons because it could be used to protect him from
corruption indictments - is an Override Law.
The measure is being aggressively promoted by settler groups because it
would strip Israel's Supreme Court of judicial review powers to block
legislation annexing the West Bank.
Palestinian Support?
On the Palestinian side, a tiny number, mostly business leaders, have backed
annexation of the West Bank
