The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is a network of anti-Zionist Jews pledged to "Oppose Zionism and the State of Israel ".
139-562: Sara Kershnar and others founded the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network in 2008. The IJAN views Zionism as a racist movement, and Israel as an apartheid state . The charter of the organization states "[w]e are an international network of Jews who are uncompromisingly committed to struggles for human emancipation, of which the liberation of the Palestinian people and land is an indispensable part. Our commitment
278-575: A "flagrant violation" of international law and has "no legal validity". It demands that Israel stop such activity and fulfill its obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention . In 2004, an advisory opinion by the primary judicial organ of the UN, the International Court of Justice , also found the settlements to be illegal under international law. The court's finding
417-572: A book chapter about the "apartheid Israel" accusation, the British philosopher Bernard Harrison wrote: "No doubt much more needs to be done. But we are discussing, remember, the question of whether Israel is, or is not, an 'apartheid state'. It is not merely hard, but impossible, to imagine the South African Supreme Court, under the premiership of Hendrik Verwoerd, say, delivering an analogous decision, because to have done so would have struck at
556-559: A government act but a voluntary movement by Israeli Jewish people, not acting under compulsion, a position contested by Yoram Dinstein . The international community has rejected Israel's unwillingness to accept the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the territories it occupies. There are two disputes regarding the Fourth Geneva Convention: whether the convention applies to the territories in question and whether
695-548: A joint statement that "all settlement activity is illegal under international law." After the meeting, ambassadors from the 10 non-permanent council members who serve two-year terms made a joint statement: Israeli settlement activities are illegal, erode the viability of the two-state solution and undermine the prospect for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. as affirmed by the 2016 council resolution. The statement also called on Israel to end all settlement activity and expressed concern at calls for possible annexation of areas in
834-612: A large scale. So do the Israeli security forces. There were many political prisoners on Robben Island but there are more Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails." The World Bank found in 2009 that Israeli settlements in the West Bank (which amount to 15% of its population) are given access to over 80% of its freshwater resources, despite the fact that the Oslo accords call for "joint" management of such resources. This has created, according to
973-508: A latent form of apartheid. The concept emerged with some frequency in both academic and activist writings in the 1980s–90s, when Uri Davis , Meron Benvenisti , Richard Locke, and Anthony Stewart used the term apartheid to describe Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. In the 1990s, the term "Israeli apartheid" gained prominence after Israel, as a result of the Oslo Accords , granted
1112-605: A message that settlements must stop privately and publicly for nearly five decades." This position was United States policy and had been stated by Secretary of State John Kerry and by the Johnson , Nixon , Ford , Carter , and Obama administrations. In November 2019, the Trump administration expressly repudiated the Hansell opinion and stated that the United States considered the status of
1251-465: A military necessity; the original owner retained title to the land and must be paid rental fees for its use. Public lands' possession cannot be alienated, nor its basic character transformed. All areas in question were captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War . Prior to 1967, no Israeli government claimed ownership over the West Bank, not even East Jerusalem (Israel did however demanded control over Jewish cemeteries of East Jerusalem). While most of
1390-685: A name." Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip , areas occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and deemed to be occupied territory under international law , are under the civil control of the Palestinian Authority and are not Israeli citizens. In some areas of the West Bank, they are under Israeli security control. In 2007, in advance of a report from the United Nations Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur John Dugard said that "Israel's laws and practices in
1529-551: A pariah state. On 29 December 2009, Israel's High Court of Justice accepted the Association for Civil Rights in Israel 's petition against an IDF order barring Palestinians from driving on Highway 443 . The ruling was to come into effect five months after being issued, allowing Palestinians to use the road. According to plans the IDF laid out to implement the court's ruling, Palestinian use of
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#17328760562751668-521: A peace deal, he nevertheless asked Israel to freeze construction calling the settlements an "obstacle to peace". The permissive attitude taken by America accelerated the pace of Israel's settlement programme. Reagan's view on the settlements legality was not held by the State Department. The George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations did not publicly comment on the legality of Israeli settlements, but spoke publicly against them. Since
1807-716: A viable Jewish community in Ottoman Palestine, purchased land, including arid desert and swamps, that could be reclaimed, leased to and farmed by Jews, thus encouraging Jewish immigration. After the establishment of the state of Israel, the Israel Lands Authority oversaw the administration of these properties. On 8 March 2000, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israeli Arabs had an equal right to purchase long-term leases of such land, even inside previously solely Jewish communities and villages. The court ruled that
1946-426: A word that is an accurate description of what has been going on in the West Bank, and it's based on the desire or avarice of a minority of Israelis for Palestinian land. It's not based on racism...This is a word that's a very accurate description of the forced separation within the West Bank of Israelis from Palestinians and the total domination and oppression of Palestinians by the dominant Israeli military." By 2013,
2085-620: Is a system of institutionalized segregation and discrimination in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and to a lesser extent in Israel proper. This system is characterized by near-total physical separation between the Palestinian and the Israeli settler population of the West Bank , as well as the judicial separation that governs both communities, which discriminates against
2224-454: Is a consensus among publicists that the prohibition of racial discrimination, irrespective of territories, is an imperative norm of international law. It has been observed that a double standard appears to apply with regard to Israel's violations of UN resolutions and comparable violations by some other countries. Whereas the UNSC resolutions 660 and 687 regarding Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait and
2363-571: Is free and compulsory for all citizens, from elementary school to the end of high school, and university access is based on uniform tuition for all citizens. Legality of Israeli settlements Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip , as well as in the Syrian Golan Heights , are illegal under international law . These settlements are in violation of Article 49 of
2502-463: Is going nowhere and the Israeli government is undermining a two-state solution, Roth has concluded Israel's policies in the West Bank have "all the elements of the oppressive discrimination that constitute apartheid". Former Foreign Policy editor David Rothkopf has called Israel an apartheid state. Leila Farsakh , associate professor of political science at University of Massachusetts Boston , has said that after 1977, "the military government in
2641-490: Is no intent to maintain 'an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group'. This is a critical distinction, even if Israel acts oppressively toward Palestinians there." Goldstone also wrote, "the charge that Israel is an apartheid state is a false and malicious one that precludes, rather than promotes, peace and harmony." Amnesty International condemned an Israeli court decision to forcibly evict 500 Palestinian Bedouins from Ras Jrabah in
2780-704: Is no legally recognized claim to who has sovereignty over the West Bank. The argument is one made by Meir Shamgar much earlier. Moreover, since the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, with the intent to form a Jewish state between the sea and the Jordan river, included the area now known as the West Bank, Israel has at least as legitimate claim to the territory as any other state or group. The Israeli notary Howard Grief argued that, according to Article 6 of The Anglo-American Treaty of 1924, Jewish Settlements are not illegal. The United States, he maintains, had accepted Palestine as
2919-538: Is not a party), and is currently under investigation as part of the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine . Shortly after independence, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental principles of international law, accepted as binding by all civilized nations, were to be incorporated in the domestic legal system of Israel. In the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War , Israel occupied
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#17328760562753058-472: Is preposterous and has no basis in international law. Israel also argues that some of the settlements are built in areas where Jewish settlements existed before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and violence prior, when many West Bank settlements were destroyed and the residents massacred or expelled, such as Hartuv , Kfar Etzion , Hebron , and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem , and therefore the application of
3197-505: Is to the dismantling of Israeli apartheid, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the ending of the Israeli colonization of historic Palestine." It calls for the unconditional freeing of all Palestinian prisoners in Israel . The group also opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , capitalism , and Islamophobia . Prominent members of IJAN include feminist activist Selma James and the late Holocaust survivor Hajo Meyer . It comprises groups in
3336-686: The European Union reiterated its view that the settlements are illegal. In November 2019, in a statement made after the change in the United States four-decade-old position, the European Union said that it continued to believe that Israeli settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory was illegal under international law and eroded prospects for lasting peace. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said "The EU calls on Israel to end all settlement activity, in line with its obligations as an occupying power". An opinion in 1978 by Legal Adviser of
3475-501: The Fourth Geneva Convention , and in breach of international declarations. In a 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the Palestinian territories, the court reaffirmed the illegality of the settlements and called on Israel to end its occupation, cease its settlement activity, and evacuate all its settlers. The United Nations Security Council , the United Nations General Assembly ,
3614-848: The International Committee of the Red Cross , the International Court of Justice and the High Contracting Parties to the Convention have all affirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Israeli-occupied territories. Numerous UN resolutions and prevailing international opinion hold that Israeli settlements are a violation of international law, including UN Security Council resolutions 446 in 1979, 478 in 1980, and 2334 in 2016. 126 Representatives at
3753-519: The Israel Defense Forces stopped Palestinians from driving on Highway 60 as part of a plan for a separate road network for Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank. The road had been sealed after the fatal shooting of three settlers near Bethlehem. As of 2005, no private Palestinian cars were permitted on the road although public transport was still allowed. In 2011, Major General Nitzan Alon abolished separate public transportation systems on
3892-620: The Negev , saying the judgment showed the "deep discrimination that Palestinian citizens of Israel face under apartheid". There has been a steady extension of Israeli Arab rights to lease or purchase land formerly restricted to Jewish applicants, such as that owned by the Jewish National Fund or the Jewish Agency. These groups, established by Jews during the Ottoman period to aid in building up
4031-568: The Sinai Peninsula to Egyptian sovereignty), and Jordan (returning small sections to Jordanian sovereignty); there are currently no peace treaties governing Israel's borders related to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. Defining The International Criminal Court 's Rome Statute provisions about transfer of civilians was complicated by Israel's position, since Israel felt it
4170-692: The Sinai Peninsula , the Gaza Strip , West Bank , East Jerusalem and Golan Heights . Theodor Meron , at the time the Israeli government's authority on the topic of international law and legal counsel to the Israeli Foreign Ministry , was asked to provide a memorandum regarding the status in international law of proposed settlement of the territories, which he subsequently addressed to the Foreign Minister Abba Eban on 14 September 1967. He concluded that short-term military settlements would be permissible, but that "civilian settlement in
4309-533: The Supreme Court of Israel upheld the law by a six to five vote. Chief Justice Aharon Barak sided with the minority, declaring: "This violation of rights is directed against Arab citizens of Israel. As a result, therefore, the law is a violation of the right of Arab citizens in Israel to equality." Zehava Gal-On, one of the founders of B'Tselem and a Knesset member with the Meretz-Yachad party, said that with
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4448-559: The UN Security Council (resolutions 478 and 497 respectively), and are not recognized by the international community. The United States abstained from the vote on Resolution 478 and the U.S. Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act , altering key passages to avoid a presidential veto, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The provisions of the law to implement a move of the embassy can be deferred or blocked by
4587-569: The UNSC 1441 before the Gulf War demanded Iraq's immediate withdrawal from land it occupied belligerently, and regarded as a casus belli its putative recourse to a programme for building weapons of mass destruction , Israel, though occupying a foreign territory and reputedly having an atomic arsenal , was treated differently. The difference lies in the fact that UN Security Council resolutions against Israel are widely thought to be passed under Chapter VI of
4726-401: The administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention," adding that the prohibition on any such population transfer was categorical, and that "civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention ." It follows from the presence on files of these notes, Gershom Gorenberg argues, that
4865-507: The 2003 Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law , the 2018 Nation-State Law , and many laws regarding security, freedom of movement , land and planning, citizenship , political representation in the Knesset (legislature), education , and culture . Israel says its policies are driven by security considerations, and that the accusation of apartheid is factually and morally inaccurate and intended to delegitimize Israel. It also often calls
5004-577: The Arabs lived there for a thousand years. In that, I agree with them. Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state." His successor John Vorster held the same view. Since then, a number of sources have used the apartheid analogy. In the early 1970s, Arabic language magazines of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) compared
5143-582: The Bank, "real water shortages" for the Palestinians. In January 2012, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French parliament published a report calling Israel's water policies in the West Bank "a weapon serving the new apartheid". The report noted that the 450,000 Israeli settlers used more water than the 2.3 million Palestinians, "in contravention of international law", that Palestinians are not allowed to use
5282-538: The Clinton administration, the U.S. has continued to object to the settlements, calling them "obstacles to peace" and prejudicial to the outcome of final status talks. Although President Barack Obama and diplomatic officials in his administration have stated, "the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," in February 2011 the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have declared
5421-460: The Department of State Herbert J. Hansell concluded that the settlements are "inconsistent with international law", and against Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Hansell Memorandum found that "[w]hile Israel may undertake, in the occupied territories, actions necessary to meet its military needs and to provide for orderly government during the occupation, for the reasons indicated above
5560-609: The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied territories (the Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip) and that Israeli settlements are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In 2009, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called Israeli settlements "illegal". In December 2012, William Hague , the British foreign secretary stated that all Israeli settlements were "illegal under international law". In 2003, The Non-Aligned Movement declared Israeli settlements as illegal, stating, "the main danger to
5699-523: The Fourth Geneva Convention does not de jure apply. However, all of Israel's arguments have been refuted by the ICJ's 2024 ruling. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Israel has repeatedly ruled that Israel's presence in the West Bank is in violation of international law. The establishment of settlements has been described by some legal experts as a war crime according to the Rome Statute (to which Israel
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5838-602: The Galilee were accused of barring Arab applicants from moving in. In 2010, the Knesset passed legislation that allowed admissions committees to function in smaller communities in the Galilee and the Negev, while explicitly forbidding committees to bar applicants on the basis of race, religion, sex, ethnicity, disability, personal status, age, parenthood, sexual orientation, country of origin, political views, or political affiliation. Critics say
5977-548: The Geneva Convention is an entirely different issue. Some argue that according to international law Israel is the custodian of absentee property in the West Bank and may not give it to settlers. In 1997 the Civil Administration's legal adviser gave his opinion: The Custodian of Absentee Property in the West Bank is nothing but a trustee looking after the property so it is not harmed while the owners are absent from
6116-455: The Geneva Conventions as part of customary international law, implying all states are duty bound to observe them. Israel alone challenges this premise, arguing that the West Bank and Gaza are "disputed territories", and that the Conventions do not apply because these lands did not form part of another state's sovereign territory, and that the transfer of Jews into areas like the West Bank is not
6255-595: The Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions.... The following are Israel's primary issues of concern [ie with the rules of the ICC]: – The inclusion of settlement activity as a "war crime" is a cynical attempt to abuse the Court for political ends. The implication that the transfer of civilian population to occupied territories can be classified as a crime equal in gravity to attacks on civilian population centres or mass murder
6394-448: The Israeli and Palestinian populations, a policy called Hafrada . While the Jewish settlers are subject to Israeli civil law, the Palestinian population is subject to military law. Settlers also have access to separate roads and exploit the region's natural resources at its Palestinian inhabitants' expense. Comparisons between Israel–Palestine and South African apartheid were prevalent in
6533-425: The Israeli government. Israel has created roads and checkpoints in the West Bank with the stated purpose of preventing the uninhibited movement of suicide bombers and militants in the region. The human rights NGO B'Tselem has indicated that such policies have isolated some Palestinian communities and that Israel's road regime "based on the principle of separation through discrimination, bears striking similarities to
6672-555: The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem concluded: "Israel has created in the Occupied Territories a regime of separation based on discrimination, applying two separate systems of law in the same area and basing the rights of individuals on their nationality. This regime is the only one of its kind in the world, and is reminiscent of distasteful regimes from the past, such as the apartheid regime in South Africa. In 2007,
6811-470: The Israeli population. The term refers to the general policy of separation the Israeli government has adopted and implemented over the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . Scholars and commentators have compared the word to apartheid , with some claiming the two words are equivalent. The Israeli West Bank barrier ( Hebrew : גדר ההפרדה Geder Ha'hafrada , "separation fence"),
6950-502: The Israeli proposals for Palestinian autonomy to the Bantustan strategy of South Africa. In 1970, an anti-apartheid activist in the UK's Liberal Party , Louis Eaks, referred to the situation in Israel as "apartheid" and was threatened with expulsion as a result. In 1979, the Palestinian sociologist Elia Zureik said that while not de jure an apartheid state, Israeli society was characterized by
7089-552: The Israeli régime violates the basic human rights of the Palestinians by impeding the liberty of movement of the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (with the exception of Israeli citizens) and their exercise of the right to work, to health, to education and to an adequate standard of living. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) holds that the establishment of Israeli settlements violate Fourth Geneva Convention. The ICRC also holds that
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#17328760562757228-533: The Israeli settlements and related activities a violation of international law. According to records of the 1998 meeting of Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination , Theo van Boven said The status of the settlements was clearly inconsistent with Article 3 of the Convention, which, as noted in the Committee's General Recommendation XIX, prohibited all forms of racial segregation in all countries. There
7367-757: The Jerusalem Post "compares Israel's relations with the Palestinians to the Nazis' treatment of Jews during the Holocaust". In November 2012, members of the IJAN participated in a protest against a meeting of the Jewish National Fund in Toronto . Irish academic David Landy describes IJAN as one of the few Jewish organizations not to "sideline" anti-Zionism, "believing Zionism to be the underlying problem that must be tackled in order to achieve Palestinian liberation and incidentally reclaim
7506-444: The Jewish commitment to liberation". The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has said that although the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network does not organise "a significant number of events", it has an important role "in creating policy and setting anti-Israel agendas". In 2010, the Jerusalem Post correspondent Jonny Paul characterised IJAN as a "small radical fringe group". Israel and apartheid Israeli apartheid
7645-425: The Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel it is going to be either non-Jewish, or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state." In November 2014, former Attorney General of Israel Michael Ben-Yair urged the European Economic Union to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, arguing that Israel had imposed an apartheid regime on
7784-401: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled that the policy was discriminatory. It has been ruled that the JNF must sell land to non-Jews, and will be compensated with other land for any such land to ensure that the overall amount of Jewish-owned land in Israel remains unchanged. In the early 2000s, several community settlements in the Negev and
7923-434: The Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory it states, at paragraph 120, that Article 49(6) "prohibits not only deportations or forced transfers of population…but also any measures taken by an occupying Power in order to organize or encourage transfers of parts of its own population into the occupied territory." All 13 judges were unanimous on the point. The Court also concluded that
8062-618: The Middle East' to the only apartheid regime in the Western world". He argues that denying Palestinians both self-determination and Israeli citizenship amounts to a "double disenfranchisement", which when based on ethnicity amounts to racism, and that reserving democracy for privileged citizens and keeping others "behind checkpoints and barbed wire fences" is the opposite of democracy. John Dugard has compared Israel's confiscation of Palestinian farms and land, and destruction of Palestinian homes, to similar policies of Apartheid-era South Africa. A major 2002 study of Israeli settlement practices by
8201-434: The Network to a conference in Dublin about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. IJAN member and Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer, author of The End of Judaism: An Ethical Tradition Betrayed , was a key speaker in IJAN's 2010–11 "Never Again – For Anyone" tour, with talks in the UK and Ireland. In 2011, IJAN was one of a number of organizations that organized a 13-city speaking tour of the United States, which according to
8340-400: The OPT [occupied Palestinian territories] certainly resemble aspects of apartheid." Dugard asked: "Can it seriously be denied that the purpose [...] is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group (Jews) over another racial group (Palestinians) and systematically oppressing them?" In October 2010, Richard A. Falk reported to the General Assembly Third Committee that "the nature of
8479-453: The Palestinian Authority ineligible for the automatic granting of Israeli citizenship and residency permits that is usually available through marriage to an Israeli citizen. This applies equally to a spouse of any Israeli citizen, whether Arab or Jewish, but in practice the law mostly affects Palestinian Israelis living in the towns bordering the West Bank. The law was intended to be temporary but has since been extended annually. In May 2006,
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#17328760562758618-400: The Palestinian territories constitutes systemic discrimination and is in breach of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination , which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. The ruling did not specify whether it was referring to racial segregation , apartheid , or both. Elements of Israeli apartheid include the Law of Return ,
8757-418: The Palestinians in a wide range of ways. Israel also discriminates against Palestinian refugees in the diaspora and against its own Palestinian citizens . Since the 1948 Palestine war , Israel has been denying Palestinian refugees who were expelled or fled from what became its territory the right of return and right to their lost properties . And since the 1967 Six Day War , Israel has been occupying
8896-460: The Palestinians limited self-government in the form of the Palestinian Authority and established a system of permits and checkpoints in the Palestinian Territories . The apartheid analogy gained additional traction after Israel constructed the West Bank Barrier . In 2001, an NGO Forum ran separately from the World Conference against Racism in the nearby Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, from 28 August to 1 September. It consisted of 3,000 NGOs and
9035-429: The Palestinians or Jordan. They added that the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were recognised as legitimate by the Mandate for Palestine adopted by the League of Nations , and that the only administration that completely prohibited Jewish settlement was that of Jordan from 1948 to 1967. Regarding the Geneva Convention, they maintained that the Israeli government was not forcibly transferring its population into
9174-451: The Prime Minister at the time, Levi Eshkol , knew that Israeli settlements in the territories Israel had just occupied would violate international laws and that by that time Eshkol had been actively engaged in exploring the possibility of settling the newly conquered region. Meron's unequivocal legal opinion was marked top secret and not made public. Fifty years later, Meron reiterated his view. The Israeli government proceeded to authorise
9313-852: The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reported that Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the occupied territories are subject to different criminal laws, leading to longer detention and harsher punishments for Palestinians than Israelis for the same offenses. Amnesty International has reported that in the West Bank, Israeli settlers and soldiers who engage in abuses against Palestinians, including unlawful killings, enjoy "impunity" from punishment and are rarely prosecuted, but Palestinians detained by Israeli security forces may be imprisoned for prolonged periods of time, and reports of their torture and other ill-treatment are not credibly investigated. Dugard has compared Israeli imprisonment of Palestinians to policies of apartheid-era South Africa, saying, "Apartheid's security police practiced torture on
9452-406: The United Nations Charter and are non-binding, being concerned with disputes that are to be resolved peacefully, whereas in the case of Iraq, the resolutions were passed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter , which are legally binding. Resolution 242 however, while often thought to have been introduced within the framework of Chapter 6, was considered by both the Arab States and Russia at
9591-473: The United Nations responded: A change in the policy position of one state does not modify existing international law nor its interpretation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Security Council, At the monthly meeting of the United Nations Security Council, just two days after the U.S. announcement, the 14 other Council members strongly opposed the U.S. position and before the meeting began, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Poland reiterated in
9730-404: The United States, Canada, India, Argentina, and several European countries. During the Gaza War (2008–2009) six members chained themselves to the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles, California , while around 40 others protested in front, shutting it down for two hours. Members of IJAN participated in a protest in London at the same time. In 2010, Ireland's national trade-union federation invited
9869-695: The WBGS would be cut into eight main areas, outside which Palestinians could not live without a permit." John Dugard has said these laws "resemble, but in severity go far beyond, apartheid's pass system". Jamal Zahalka , an Israeli-Arab member of the Knesset , has also said that this permit system is a feature of apartheid. Azmi Bishara , a former Knesset member, argued that the Palestinian situation had been caused by "colonialist apartheid". B'Tselem wrote in 2004, "Palestinians are barred from or have restricted access to 450 miles [720 km] of West Bank roads", and has said this system has "clear similarities" to South Africa's apartheid regime. In October 2005,
10008-504: The West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) expropriated and enclosed Palestinian land and allowed the transfer of Israeli settlers to the occupied territories." She notes that settlers continued to be governed by Israeli laws, and that a different system of military law was enacted "to regulate the civilian, economic and legal affairs of Palestinian inhabitants". She says, "[m]any view these Israeli policies of territorial integration and societal separation as apartheid, even if they were never given such
10147-466: The West Bank and the Gaza Strip , which is now the longest military occupation in modern history, and in contravention of international law has been constructing large settlements there that separate Palestinian communities from one another and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state . The settlements are mostly encircled by the Israeli West Bank barrier , which intentionally separates
10286-433: The West Bank" to Jordan. Egypt and Jordan demanded simultaneous negotiations and withdrawal, with Jordan's King Hussein suggesting that if negotiations did not achieve peace within six months or a year, the withdrawn Israel troops could reoccupy the West Bank and make a separate peace treaty with the Palestinians. Levi Eshkol informed Washington it would return Syrian and Egyptian territory in exchange for peace, but there
10425-471: The West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights after the 1967 war," and "In fact, the 2020 Human Rights Report does use the term "occupation" in the context of the current status of the West Bank. This has been the longstanding position of previous administrations of both parties over the course of many decades." In response to the United States announcement on 18 November 2019 that it no longer considers Israeli settlements to be inconsistent with international law,
10564-588: The West Bank, permitting Palestinians to ride alongside Israelis. Settlers have protested the measure. The IDF order was reportedly overturned by Moshe Ya'alon who, responding to pressure from settler groups, issued a directive that would deny Palestinians passage on buses running from Israel to the West Bank. In 2014, the decision was said to be made on security grounds, though according to Haaretz , military officials say that Palestinian use of such transport poses no security threat. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni asked Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to examine
10703-500: The West Bank. The Israeli government's essential position is that rather than being "occupied territory," the West Bank is "disputed territory." Given that the Arab states prevented the formation of the sovereignty proposed by the 1947 partition resolution, Jordan's subsequent unrecognized annexation of the West Bank in 1950, as well as the fact that there has never been a Palestinian sovereignty in that territory, it has been posited that there
10842-547: The West Bank. In 2015, Meir Dagan , a former head of the Mossad , argued that continuing Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies would result in an Israel that is either a binational state or an apartheid state. In 2003, a year after Operation Defensive Shield , the Israeli government announced a project of "fences and other physical obstacles" to keep Palestinians from crossing into Israel. Several figures, including Mohammad Sarwar , John Pilger , and Mustafa Barghouti , have called
10981-497: The analogy between the West Bank and Bantustans of apartheid-era South Africa was widely drawn in international circles. In the US, where the notion had previously been taboo, Israel's rule over the occupied territories was increasingly compared to apartheid. Hafrada ( Hebrew : הפרדה literally 'separation') is the Israeli government's official term for the policy of separating the Palestinian population in Palestinian territories from
11120-419: The area ... the custodian may not make any transaction regarding the asset that conflicts with the obligation to safeguard the asset as stated, especially his obligation to return the asset to the owner upon his return to the region. Israel contends that the Geneva Convention only applies in the absence of an operative peace agreement and between two powers accepting the Convention. Since the Oslo Accords leave
11259-589: The associated controls on Palestinians' movements posed by West Bank Closures , and Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza have been cited as examples of hafrada . Aaron Klieman has distinguished between partition plans based on hafrada , which he translates as "detachment", and hipardut , translated as "disengagement". Since its first public introductions, the concept-turned-policy or paradigm of hafrada has dominated Israeli political and cultural discourse. In 2009, Israeli historian Benny Morris said those who equate Israeli efforts to separate
11398-453: The ban's legality and Weinstein immediately demanded that Ya'alon provide an explanation for his decision. Israeli security sources were quoted saying the decision had nothing to do with public buses and that the goal was to supervise entrance into and exit out of Israeli territory, thereby decreasing the chance of terrorist attacks inside Israel. Critics on the left called the policy tantamount to apartheid, and something that would render Israel
11537-546: The ceasefire lines and in the Jordan Valley. The fact that they had been established to initiate profitable agriculture was of no legal concern. William M. Brinton , an American publisher with a background in international law, held that Israel was "at least quasi-sovereign with respect to both areas [the West Bank and Gaza Strip] under principles of customary international law", and deemed the settlements legal. Almost all international lawyers and every state but Israel regard
11676-513: The charge antisemitic, which critics have called weaponization of antisemitism . In 1961, the South African prime minister and architect of South Africa's apartheid policies, Hendrik Verwoerd , dismissed an Israeli vote against South African apartheid at the United Nations, saying, "Israel is not consistent in its new anti-apartheid attitude ... they took Israel away from the Arabs after
11815-531: The construction of military settlements for security purposes. They were built on the fringes of the territories, along the Jordanian and Syrian frontiers and along the edges of the Sinai Peninsula. Israel announced that it accepted Security Council Resolution 242 and was ready to negotiate with each Arab state on each element in that resolution. Abba Eban told George Ball Israel was willing to return "most of
11954-466: The displacement of Palestinians that may occur due to the settlements also violates Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In June 1980, the (then nine-member) European Economic Community declared in the Venice Declaration that "settlements, as well as modifications in population and property in the occupied Arab territories, are illegal under international law." In 2002 and again in 2012,
12093-400: The establishment of civilian settlements by military commanders was legal on the basis that they formed part of the territorial defense network and were considered temporary measures needed for military and security purposes. After Likud came to power in 1977, using land on the basis of the 1907 Hague Regulations, which implied a temporary nature of Israeli presence, was not employed anymore as
12232-473: The establishment of the civilian settlements in those territories is inconsistent with international law." Notwithstanding the Hansell opinion, the official US position had been that the settlements are "an obstacle to peace". In February 1981, Ronald Reagan announced that he didn't believe that Israeli settlements in the West Bank were illegal. He added that "the UN resolution leaves the West Bank open to all people, Arab and Israeli alike". Hoping to achieve
12371-452: The exercise of an Executive waiver . The U.S. views that parts of Jerusalem are not in Israel and the official U.S. position is that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved in negotiations. The EU views that Jerusalem is a corpus separatum , and the United Nations considers Israel's proclamation of Jerusalem as its capital to be "null and void". Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt (removing all Israeli settlements and returning
12510-602: The fence was completed, "along a route that will include all settlement blocs (in keeping with Binyamin Netanyahu ' s demand), underscores the continuity of the bantustan concept. The fence creates three bantustans on the West Bank: Jenin-Nablus, Bethlehem-Hebron, and Ramallah. He called this "the real link between the Gaza and West Bank plans". In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled in an advisory opinion that
12649-457: The government may not allocate land based on religion or ethnicity or prevent Arab citizens from living wherever they choose: "The principle of equality prohibits the state from distinguishing between its citizens on the basis of religion or nationality", Chief Justice Aharon Barak wrote. "The principle also applies to the allocation of state land.... The Jewish character of the state does not permit Israel to discriminate between its citizens." In
12788-428: The intent not as malign. The Israeli Pupils' Rights Law of 2000 prohibits educators from establishing different rights, obligations and disciplinary standards for students of different religions. Educational institutions may not discriminate against religious minorities in admissions or expulsion decisions or when developing curricula or assigning students to classes. Unlike in apartheid South Africa, in Israel, education
12927-459: The international community regard the West Bank as occupied, Israel calls them "disputed". The argument that Israel had a claim to the territories was first articulated after 1967 by Yehuda Zvi Blum and then adopted by Israel’s Attorney General Meir Shamgar . Israel has treated them in three different ways: The Jerusalem Law and the Golan Heights Law have both been deemed illegal by
13066-483: The international will, constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and relevant conventions, agreements and international legitimacy resolutions, and represents a manifest aggression on the rights of the Palestinian people to their land". The human rights groups Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem have reiterated their view that Israeli settlements as violations of international law. The Anti-Defamation League disagrees, asserting that
13205-430: The issue of settlements to be negotiated later, proponents of this view argue that the Palestinians accepted the temporary presence of Israeli settlements pending further negotiation, and that there is no basis for declaring them illegal. Israel has justified its civilian settlements by claiming that a temporary use of land and buildings for various purposes appears permissible under a plea of military necessity and that
13344-653: The law gives the privately run admissions committees wide latitude over public lands, and believe it will worsen discrimination against the Arab minority. The Knesset passed the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law in 2003 as an emergency measure after Israel had suffered its worst ever spate of suicide bombings and after several Palestinians who had been granted permanent residency on the grounds of family reunification took part in terrorist attacks in Israel. The law makes inhabitants of Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and areas governed by
13483-519: The mid-1990s and early 2000s. Since the definition of apartheid as a crime in the 2002 Rome Statute , attention has shifted to the question of international law . In December 2019, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination announced it was reviewing the Palestinian complaint that Israel's policies in the West Bank amount to apartheid. Since then, several Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organizations have characterized
13622-420: The minorities as intrinsically suspect, and legally prohibits their access to land or allocates civil service positions or per capita expenditure on education differentially between dominant and minority citizens." In June 2008, after the law was extended for another year, Amos Schocken , the publisher of the Israeli daily Haaretz , wrote in an opinion article that the law severely discriminates when comparing
13761-554: The national home of the Jewish people, and not as the homeland of "a fictitious, non-existent entity, the Palestinian people ." The Anglo-American Treaty of 1924 still has the force of law pursuant to Article 80 of the UN Charter by virtue of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Laws of Treaties . Israel considers its settlement policy to be consistent with international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, while recognizing that some of
13900-659: The new government declared land in the West Bank "state land". In 1978 and 1979 the Israeli Supreme court, prompted by the new government policies, ruled on two important cases that set out the requirements for Israeli settlement legality under international law. In Ayauub et al . vs. Minister of Defence (the Beit-El Toubas case), the Court determined that the Hague Conventions but not the Geneva Conventions could be applied by Israeli courts on land and settlement issues in
14039-433: The occupation as of 2010 substantiates earlier allegations of colonialism and apartheid in evidence and law to a greater extent than was the case even three years ago." Falk called it a "cumulative process" and said "the longer it continues...the more serious is the abridgment of fundamental Palestinian rights." Israeli Defense Minister and former prime minister Ehud Barak said in 2010: "As long as in this territory west of
14178-454: The occupation of the West Bank in 1967, numerous United Nations resolutions , including 446 , 452 , 465 , 471 and 476 affirm unambiguously that Israel's occupation is illegal, and, since Resolution 446 adopted on 22 March 1979, have confirmed that its settlements there have no legal validity and pose a serious obstacle to peace. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 of 2016 states that Israel's settlement activity constitutes
14317-554: The occupied territories. The following year the Court ruled on Dwikat et al . vs. the Government of Israel (the Elon Moreh case), outlining the Hague Conventions' limitations on Israeli land acquisition and settlements. Settlements, whether on private or public land, could not be considered permanent, nor could the land be permanently confiscated, only temporarily requisitioned. Settlements on private land were legal only if determined to be
14456-495: The principle of equality and in many ways reminiscent of the Apartheid regime in South Africa". The group reversed its previous reluctance to make a comparison to South Africa because "things are getting worse rather than better", according to spokeswoman Melanie Takefman. Palestinians living in non- annexed portions of the West Bank do not have Israeli citizenship or voting rights in Israel but are subject to movement restrictions by
14595-567: The racist apartheid regime that existed in South Africa until 1994". The International Court of Justice stated that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees the fundamental rights of the Palestinian population of the occupied territories, and that Israel cannot deny them on the grounds of security. Marwan Bishara , a teacher of international relations at the American University of Paris , has said that
14734-498: The realization of the national rights of the Palestinian people and the achievement of a peaceful solution is the settler colonialism that has been carried out in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, through land confiscation, settlement building and the transfer of Israeli nationals to the Occupied Territory." The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation views settlements as "a blatant defiance of
14873-515: The reconvened Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions in 2014 declared the settlements illegal as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross . Israel disputes the illegality of its settlements, claiming that Israeli citizens were neither deported nor transferred to the territories, that the territory is not occupied since there had been no internationally recognized legal sovereign prior, and that
15012-588: The restrictions on the movement of goods between Israel and the West Bank are "a de facto apartheid system". Michael Oren argues that none of this even remotely resembles apartheid, since "the vast majority of settlers and Palestinians choose to live apart because of cultural and historical differences, not segregation, though thousands of them do work side by side. The separate roads were created in response to terrorist attacks—not to segregate Palestinians but to save Jewish lives. And Israeli roads are used by Israeli Jews and Arabs alike." A permit and closure system
15151-536: The result of numerous UN resolutions that cite Article 49 of the Geneva Convention, the consensus view of the international community is that Israeli settlements are illegal and constitute a violation of international law. According to Tim Franks from the BBC , as of 2008 every government in the world, except Israel, considered the settlements to be illegal. In November 2019, the United States said that it no longer views them as inconsistent with international law. Since
15290-492: The resultant West Bank barrier an "apartheid wall". Supporters of the barrier consider it largely responsible for reducing incidents of terrorism by 90% from 2002 to 2005. Some Israelis have compared the separation plan to the South African apartheid regime. Political scientist Meron Benvenisti wrote that Israel's disengagement from Gaza created a bantustan model for Gaza. According to Benvenisti, Ariel Sharon 's intention to disengage from Gaza only after construction of
15429-494: The rights of young Israeli Jewish citizens and young Israeli Arab citizens who marry, and that its existence in the law books turns Israel into an apartheid state. Separate and unequal education systems were a central part of apartheid in South Africa, as part of a deliberate strategy designed to limit black children to a life of manual labor. Some disparities between Jews and Arabs in Israel's education system exist, although according to The Guardian they are not as significant and
15568-495: The road was to remain limited. In March 2013, the Israeli Afikim bus company announced that, as of 4 March 2013, it would operate separate bus lines for Jews and Arabs in the occupied territories. Heribert Adam and Kogila Moodley wrote in 2006 that Israeli Palestinians are "restricted to second-class citizen status when another ethnic group monopolizes state power" because of legal prohibitions on access to land, as well as
15707-413: The root of the entire system of apartheid, which was nothing if not a system for separating the races by separating the areas they were permitted to occupy." In 2006, Chris McGreal of The Guardian said that as a result of the government's control over most of the land in Israel, the vast majority of land in Israel is not available to non-Jews. In 2007, in response to a 2004 petition filed by Adalah,
15846-475: The route is based on security considerations. Henry Siegman , a former national director of the American Jewish Congress , has said that the network of settlements in the West Bank has created an "irreversible colonial project" aimed to foreclose the possibility of a viable Palestinian state . According to Siegman, in accomplishing this Israel has "crossed the threshold from 'the only democracy in
15985-610: The ruling "The Supreme Court could have taken a braver decision and not relegated us to the level of an apartheid state." The law was also criticized by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch . In 2007, the restriction was expanded to citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Adam and Moodley cite the marriage law as an example of how Arab Israelis "resemble in many ways 'Colored' and Indian South Africans". They write: "Both Israeli Palestinians and Colored and Indian South Africans are restricted to second-class citizen status when another ethnic group monopolizes state power, treats
16124-450: The settlements are legal under international law, on a number of different grounds, among them that "settlements are the voluntary return of individuals in towns and villages from which they or their ancestors have been ousted.. Israel has valid claims to title in the territory based..on historic and religious connection to the land". Stone held that it was legal for Israel to establish Nahal settlements , necessary for military purposes along
16263-576: The settlements as being "not inconsistent with" international law. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said: "The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace." However, Pompeo added that "the United States Government is expressing no view on the legal status of any individual settlement." The United States has never voted in favor of any UN Resolution calling
16402-552: The settlements fulfilled security needs. Yehuda Blum further argued in 1971 that United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 calls for "secure and recognized boundaries", and that neither the 1949 armistice demarcation lines, nor the 1967 cease-fire lines have proved themselves secure. In 2002, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the settlements were being developed consistently with international law and that they did not violate any agreements with either
16541-600: The settlements illegal except for Resolution 465 in 1980. In that case the Carter administration subsequently announced that the vote had been cast in error due to miscommunication and would have abstained as it had for Resolution 446 and Resolution 452 . Three US Ambassadors to the UN have stated that Israeli settlements are illegal: George H. W. Bush (later US president) on 25 September 1971, William Scranton on 25 May 1976, and Samantha Power on 23 December 2016. Secretaries of State Cyrus Vance and John Kerry also said
16680-492: The settlements illegal. In December 2016, the U.S. abstained on a Security Council Resolution that declared that Israeli settlements are illegal and deemed their continuing construction a "flagrant violation" of international law. In abstaining, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power stated, "Today the Security Council reaffirmed its established consensus that the settlements have no legal validity. The United States has been sending
16819-488: The settlements were illegal. The United States had consistently described the settlements as an obstruction to peace, and sometimes as illegal. In November 2019, US President Donald Trump expressed the position that the settlements were not illegal and rejected the position that the West Bank is occupied territory. However, on 31 March 2021, the US Department of State clarified "It is a historical fact that Israel occupied
16958-484: The situation as apartheid, including Yesh Din , B'Tselem , Human Rights Watch , and Amnesty International . This view has been supported by United Nations investigators, the African National Congress (ANC), several human rights groups, and many prominent Israeli political and cultural figures. The International Court of Justice in its 2024 advisory opinion found that Israel's occupation of
17097-491: The smaller settlements have been constructed "illegally" in the sense of being in violation of Israeli law. In 1998 the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs produced The International Criminal Court Background Paper . It affirms in conclusion that International law has long recognised that there are crimes of such severity they should be considered "international crimes". Such crimes have been established in treaties such as
17236-541: The statement that "settlements are a violation of international law" is inaccurate, and providing activists with a list of responses for maintaining that they do not violate those laws. In 2024, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide stated, "Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights". Morris B. Abram , an American lawyer who
17375-447: The term "apartheid" was calibrated to avoid specific accusations of racism against the government of Israel, and carefully limited to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. In a letter to the Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix, Carter made clear that he was not discussing the circumstances within Israel but exclusively within Gaza and the West Bank. In a 2007 interview, he said: "Apartheid is
17514-560: The territories. Neither had the land that was being settled been under the legitimate sovereignty of any state beforehand. It further highlighted that no clauses in the Convention could be used to prohibit the voluntary return of individuals to towns and villages from which they or their ancestors had been previously ejected by forcible means. It claimed the settlements had only been established after exhaustive investigations making sure none were built on private land. Canada , agreeing with UN Security Council Resolutions 446 and 465, argues that
17653-515: The time to be binding. In 2004, an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice concluded that Israel had breached its obligations under international law by establishing settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and that Israel cannot rely on a right of self-defence or on a state of necessity in order to preclude the wrongfulness of imposing a régime, which is contrary to international law. In its 2004 advisory opinion on
17792-405: The two populations with apartheid are effectively trying to undermine the legitimacy of any peace agreement based on a two-state solution . In 2023, former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth said his organization had long refrained from interpreting the reality on the ground in terms of apartheid as long as there was a chance the peace process would succeed. Since, in his view, the process
17931-411: The underground aquifers, and that Israel was deliberately destroying wells, reservoirs and water purification plants. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the report was "loaded with the language of vicious propaganda, far removed from any professional criticism with which one could argue intelligently". A Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies report concludes that Israel has fulfilled
18070-536: The unequal allocation of civil service positions and per capita expenditure on educations between "dominant and minority citizens". In 2008, 53 Stanford University faculty members signed a letter saying that "the State of Israel has nothing in common with apartheid" within its national territory. They argued that Israel is a liberal democracy in which Arab citizens enjoy civil, religious, social, and political equality. They said that likening Israel to apartheid South Africa
18209-401: The wall is illegal where it extends beyond the 1967 Green Line into the West Bank . Israel disagreed with the ruling, but its supreme court subsequently ordered the barrier to be moved in sections where its route was seen to cause more hardship to Palestinians than security concerns could justify. The Israeli Court ruled that the barrier is defensive and accepted the government's position that
18348-517: The water agreements it has made with the Palestinians, and the author said the situation is "just the opposite of apartheid" as Israel has provided water infrastructure to more than 700 Palestinian villages. In 2008, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel concluded that a segregated road network in the West Bank, expansion of Jewish settlements, restriction of the growth of Palestinian towns, and discriminatory granting of services, budgets, and access to natural resources are "a blatant violation of
18487-555: Was a "smear" and part of a campaign of "malicious propaganda". South African Judge Richard Goldstone , writing in The New York Times in October 2011, said that while there exists a degree of separation between Israeli Jews and Arabs, "in Israel, there is no apartheid. Nothing there comes close to the definition of apartheid under the 1998 Rome Statute". He wrote that the situation in the West Bank "is more complex. But here too there
18626-505: Was attended by 8,000 representatives. The declaration the NGO Forum adopted was not an official document of the conference. The final NGO document called "for the reinstitution of the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism " and "the complete and total isolation of Israel as an apartheid state". Former US President Jimmy Carter wrote the 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid . His use of
18765-536: Was based on the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Security Council resolutions that condemned the establishment of settlements and attempts by Israel to alter the demographics of the territories under its control. The United Nations General Assembly , which regards itself as having a chief role in the process of the codification of international law, has passed several resolutions with an overwhelming majority that denounce settlements as being illegal. The United Nations Human Rights Council has also called
18904-657: Was being targeted. As formulated it states that one type of offence occurs when the perpetrator transfers "directly or indirectly" a portion of its own population into an occupied territory, stipulating that "transfer" must be understood "in accordance with the relevant provisions of international law." Israel initially voted against the Statute because of this passage, but later, in December 2000, signed it, only to declare in June 2002, that it had no intention of ratifying it. At present, based on
19043-572: Was introduced in 1990. Leila Farsakh maintains that this system imposes "on Palestinians similar conditions to those faced by blacks under the pass laws . Like the pass laws, the permit system controlled population movement according to the settlers' unilaterally defined considerations." In response to the Al-Aqsa Intifada , Israel modified the permit system and fragmented the WBGS [West Bank and Gaza Strip] territorially. "In April 2002 Israel declared that
19182-498: Was involved in drafting the Fourth Geneva Convention, argued that the convention "was not designed to cover situations like Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, but rather the forcible transfer, deportation or resettlement of large numbers of people." International law expert Julius Stone , Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney , and Eugene Rostow , Dean of Yale Law School , argued that
19321-455: Was no mention of returning the West Bank, though secret talks with Jordan did take place over possible forms of accommodation between the two countries regarding it. In the meantime, with government permission granted, Kfar Etzion was re-established in September 1967, becoming the first civilian settlement to be built in the West Bank. During the 1970s, Israel's Supreme Court regularly ruled that
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