Ariel Sharon is a pragmatic expan-sionist who views Israeli settlement inthe West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusa-lem, and the Golan Heights as both anideological imperative and a securityasset. As the recently elected primeminister of Israel, Sharon faces the chal-lenge of integrating these objectives intoan overall policy toward Yasser Arafat’sPalestinian Authority and the three mil-lion Palestinians under Israeli occupa-tion who oppose Israel’s colonizationpolicies.

Sharon rejects absolutely the premiseunderlying the diplomatic efforts of theBarak government—beginning with theactivation of the Stockholm channel inspring 2000 and ending in January 2001at Taba—that it is possible and prefer-able to make the territorial sacrificesrequired to “end the conflict” with thePalestinians. The aftermath of formerprime minister Ehud Barak’s resoundingelectoral defeat has revealed that a

majority within his own Labor partysupports Sharon’s view.

Sharon is one of the three or fourIsraelis who have had the most influ-ence on the creation and expansion ofIsraeli settlements in the occupied terri-tories since 1967. “Were there notJewish settlements today on the GolanHeights in Judea and Samaria,” Sharonnoted in 1995, “Israel would long agohave returned across the Green Line.The Jewish settlements are the only fac-tor that has prevented the agreement ofthis [Rabin] government to withdrawand [has] created difficulties for it in thenegotiations.”

Each of these outposts represents asymbol of Sharon’s effort to mold poli-tics, demography, and geographyaccording to Zionist preferences, and heis not prepared to surrender them easily.From Sharon’s perspective, former U.S.president Bill Clinton’s acknowledgmentthat the demographic transformationcreated by settlements is the basis forIsrael’s territorial claims in the occupiedterritories, including East Jerusalem,can be viewed as a victory and a contin-uing challenge for Israeli expansionists.

Sharon’s leadership has been espe-cially important in the creation of whatformer prime minister Yitzhak Rabinderisively termed “political settle-ments”—those sparsely populated out-posts that dot the central highlandsrunning in a north-south line betweenJenin and Jerusalem. These settlements,which Rabin numbered at around 60,were conceived by Sharon to explicitlyforestall the creation of a territorially

viable Palestinian entity and to serve thetactical security function of dispersingthe Israel Defense Forces throughoutthe entire region.

The Oslo process accommodatedthese settlements as well as the largeroutposts—Ma’ale Adumim, the Etzionbloc, Ariel—historically favored bymuch of Israel’s ruling establishment.The map created by the Oslo II accordin September 1995 and last modified inMarch 2000 is almost a mirror image ofSharon’s cantonization plan, whichenvisaged the creation of noncontiguousPalestinian cantons in the West Bankand Gaza Strip surrounded by Israelisettlements and roads. In contrast, themap of the Palestinian state proposed byBarak at Taba (see pages 4 and 5)acknowledges that about 100 of theseoutposts fail to pass both the demo-graphic and territorial preconditions forannexation by Israel.

At this early stage in his tenure, andas distasteful as the notion is to Israelipolicymakers today, Sharon has chosennot to alter the assessment upon whichIsrael’s participation in the Oslo processis based—that is, that Arafat and thesecurity apparatus he heads remain part-ners in the effort to secure Israel’s settle-ment and security interests in the WestBank and Gaza Strip.

Partners must be accommodated ifthey are to remain partners. As a minis-ter in the government of BenjaminNetanyahu, Sharon, in discussions withboth Palestinian and U.S. officials,

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Also in this issue:

Short Takes 3Barak’s Taba Map 5Settlement Time Line 6, 7

——— ◆ ———

REPORT ON

ISRAELI SETTLEMENTIN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

A B i m o n t h l y P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e Fo u n d a t i o n f o r M i d d l e E a s t Pe a c e

Volume 11 Number 2 March-April 2001

ARIEL SHARON MOVES TO CENTER STAGE

SHARON, continued on page 7

FOUNDATION FORMIDDLE EAST PEACE

Merle Thorpe, Jr.Founder

(1917–1994)

Philip C. Wilcox, Jr.President

Geoffrey AronsonEditor

Efrat ShviliJerusalem Correspondent

Jenna BeveridgeEditorial Associate

Blanca MadaniWebmaster

ADVISERS

Lucius D. BattleLandrum R. BollingMurray J. GartPeter GubserJean C. NewsomGail Pressberg

TRUSTEES

Peter M. CastlemanChairman

Lucius D. BattleCalvin H. Cobb, Jr.James J. CromwellStephen HartwellRichard S.T. MarshRichard W. MurphyWilliam B. QuandtSally S. Thorpe

The Foundation, a non-profit, I.R.C. 501(c)(3)organization, receives noU.S. or foreign governmentfunds. It supports peace andsecurity for Israelis andPalestinians through mutualrecognition and a negotiateddivision of historicPalestine.

Copyright © 2001

2 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement March-April 2001

TO OUR READERS

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’svision of Israeli-Palestinian relations, dis-cussed in this issue, is a recipe for moreconflict, not peace. Sharon would reversethe clock and ignore Ehud Barak’s CampDavid proposals, Bill Clinton’s more gener-ous ideas, and the proposals put forth atTaba in January. Sharon’s promise to limitthe Palestinians to 41 percent of the WestBank, preserve all settlements, and yieldnothing on Jerusalem preserves the volatilestatus quo that underlies the collapse of thepeace process. The Bush administration hasdismissed the Clinton proposals and wouldprefer to let the parties slug it out alone.Instead, it should reengage soon.

Sharon’s statement that new peace talksrequire an end to the violence is a moreserious proposal. The Oslo promises toforeswear force and negotiate in good faithwere sound and must be resurrected byboth parties. Violence breeds fear andhatred and undermines the moderates onboth sides. Stopping it is a two-way street.

If Yasser Arafat is to crack down onPalestinian violence, there must be majorreciprocal steps by Israel. Responsibility forthe violence lies not just with Palestinianmilitants who foolishly believe they candefeat Israel, and with Arafat’s apparentparalysis, but also with Israel’s unprece-dented harsh and lethal tactics. More fun-damentally, mutual violence is inherent inthe occupation relationship in which Israelholds a monopoly on power and has usedit, unilaterally and in violation of its ownOslo promise, to force its goals in the terri-tories, foremost, by continuing to seize landand build settlements. Violence is, however, only asymptom of the conflict. Preaching againstit is useless without dealing with the causes, a challenge that now awaits PrimeMinister Sharon.

—————— ◆ ——————

Ma’ariv: In the Army’s view, isthere room for the evacuation ofisolated settlements as part of anagreement with the Palestinians?

Deputy Chief of Staff MosheYa’alon: From the tactical securi-ty point of view, the evacuationof settlements today could pro-vide some advantage, but from astrategic vantage, it would be a

terrible mistake. It would meanthat we are withdrawing as a con-sequence of violence. To my sor-row this happened to us [inOctober 2000, when the IDF,under fire, evacuated] Joseph’sTomb, and we have seen howmuch this action raisedPalestinian spirits.

Ma’ariv, February 16, 2001

During his February visit to Israel, Secretary of State Colin Powellwas told by prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon that Israel intended tokeep its settlements in the Jordan Valley as well as those located alongthe mountain ridges east of the Green Line.

“We learned a lot from you Americans,” Sharon explained. “We sawhow you moved West using this method.”

Ha’aretz, February 26, 2001

March-April 2001 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 3

The intifada can have the potential to unsettle the stabilityof the Zionist enemy and deter him by hitting at his soldiersand settlers. Consequently, it will achieve a similar result towhat Hizballah achieved in South Lebanon, namely, theunconditional Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank andGaza without us having to relinquish our claim on 80 percentof Palestine. Thus it is better to build a state in the Jabalyarefugee camp without conceding our right to Palestine, thanto establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza while givingup on 80 percent of Palestine. This is the basic rule. We arenot for giving up Palestine.

Why are we asked about killing heavily armed settlersoccupying our land who have a free hand to do as they pleaseand take our lands by force—calling them civilians? Thetruth is that there is not one civilian in the Zionist entity.They are all soldiers carrying arms. He who finishes his mili-tary service joins the reserves until the day he dies. The ques-tion about killing civilians should be addressed to the Israeliside—we are defending ourselves: I want to ask you—[set-tlers] who have been killed in Gaza recently—what are theydoing here? Several dozen settlerstake over more than one-third ofthe Gaza Strip’s 360 square kilo-metres, while one millionPalestinians live in the rest.

Abdelaziz Rantisi, Hamasspokesman, Falastin al-Muslima /

Mideast Mirror, February 16, 2001

—————————————

“The Sharon era will not be oneof stability and security as thecriminal Sharon claims,” said a leaflet distributed last week inBethlehem by the Fatah political party. “The settlements thathe spent his life building and establishing at the expense ofPalestinian land will become hell and fire.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, February 19, 2001

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We were calm for seven years in order to give a chance tothe negotiations, of which I have been a keen supporter. Butthe Israelis used that time in order to negotiate interim agree-ments that were never implemented and to continue theirpolicy of a fait accompli on the ground: the new settlements,the expropriations, the confiscation of land, the keeping ofprisoners in the jails. Why should calm now be restored? Sothat they can resume the same policy? We have the right toself-determination, like all the peoples of the world.

Marwan al-Barghuthi, Fatah secretary general in the West Bank, Le Monde, October 26, 2000

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Residents of Gush Etzion, following their successful effortsyesterday, attempted to continue blocking the highway thereto Arab traffic this morning. Police intervened, however, andeven arrested Women in Green leader Nadia Matar. She laterexplained, “Chief of Staff Mofaz gave clear instructions thattwo or more Arab men in private cars are not to drive on theroads of YESHA, while Arab families and Arab taxis areallowed. So we were basically forcing the army and the policeto do their job.”

Arutz Sheva News Service, February 13, 2001

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Former president [Bill] Clinton offered his ideas to assistthe parties in their efforts, and the former president himselfmade clear that the ideas would leave with him when they left office.

Richard Boucher, spokesman,U.S. Department of State, February 9, 2001

—————————————Just as we set a limit to Lebanon and had the strength to

leave it, and as we set a limit to therecession and had the strength totake the country out of the reces-sion and bring it to a state ofgrowth, we shall also have thestrength to take our boys out ofJudea and Samaria.

Ehud Barak, Israeli prime minister, Jerusalem Post,

January 31, 2001

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During the period of September 29, 2000-January 15,2001, the Israeli occupation forces razed 6291.5 dunams ofland in the Gaza Strip, about 4776.5 dunams (76%) of whichwere agricultural lands, and about 1515 dunams (24%) werewooded and sandy areas. During the period of December 19,2000-January 15, 2001, the Israeli occupation forces razed1835.5 dunams of land, about 1240.5 dunams (67.6%) ofwhich were agricultural lands and 595 dunams (32.4%) werewooded lands. These figures do not include houses and civil-ian and agricultural facilities established on these properties,which were also razed and demolished. Bulldozers of theIsraeli occupation forces also demolished 88 Palestinian hous-es on razed areas during the period of September 29, 2000-January 15, 2001, making their residents homeless.

“Uprooting Palestinian Trees and Leveling AgriculturalLand,” the fourth report on Israeli land sweeping and demo-

lition of Palestinian buildings and facilities in the Gaza Strip, by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights,

January 26, 2001

Every Republican administration,like that of the elder Bush in 1991,and the new one, eventually reachesthe connection between oil barrelsand settlements.

MK Uri SavirHa’aretz, March 1, 2001

SHORT TAKES

The talks at Taba and Eilat conducted by Israel and thePalestinian Authority in the waning weeks of the Barak gov-ernment achieved both a conceptual and practical break-through on the central question of the territorial dimensionsof a Palestinian state and the corresponding extent of Israeliannexation of territories occupied in June 1967. The Barakgovernment, in a departure from positions put forward at theCamp David and Washington negotiations, modified long-standing territorially-based security demands, allowing for asignificant transformation of its settlement-related require-ments. The Palestinians, in turn, for the first time presented amap acceding to Israel’s annexation of some West Bank (andEast Jerusalem) territory where settlements had createddemographic realities that were hard to ignore, in return forland of equal value in Israel. Despite what Palestinian nego-tiator Abu Ala described as “very tangible progress,” consider-able obstacles remained to resolving contradictory Palestinianterritorial and Israeli settlement demands.

The final status map presented by Israeli negotiator GiladSher in January 2001 proposed Israel’s annexation of 5 per-cent of the West Bank. A reconstruction of this proposal,based upon extensive investigation, appears on the page oppo-site. The map is significant in a number of respects. On aconceptual level, it disaggregates Israeli security demandsfrom territorial/settlement issues. Israel dropped demands forextensive lease-back arrangements in the Jordan Valley, alongthe southern West Bank perimeter and around Kiryat Arba,in contrast to the map presented by Israel in December 2000.(see page 4 of the January 2001 Report). Instead, there werefar more productive discussions about the creation of discreet,limited security points in the Jordan Valley, arrangementswhich would have no territorial or settlement dimension andwhich would not be conditioned on Israeli control of princi-ple transport routes.

This new Israeli policy also established the basis for thereduction in Israel’s territorial demands along east-west corri-dors in the Ariel and Ma’ale Adumim regions, a reductionthat markedly increases the territorial continuity of the pro-spective Palestinian state. Corridors reaching to Kedduminand Shavei Shomron west of Nablus, to Shilo and Eli acrossRoute 60, from Ma’ale Adumim to Bet El and Ofra northeastof Ramallah, and east of Ma’ale Adumim towards the JordanValley are no longer included in territory claimed by Israel.These settlement corridors protrude like slender but lengthyterritorial ‘fingers’ deep into Palestinian territory, controllingall its key crossroads and functionally cantonizing it into sec-tions that can be controlled much more easily than one con-tiguous bloc.

Israel’s more restrictive application of this geopoliticalmechanism made impossible the realization of another keyelement of Barak’s settlement program—the incorporation ofat least 80 per cent of West Bank settlers into Israel, notcounting those in annexed East Jerusalem. The Taba map

would lower this threshold to 65 per cent of West Bank set-tlers, excluding those in East Jerusalem. The Taba map signi-fied that more than one third of Israeli settlers, living in 87West Bank settlements, would have to be evacuated. Thevalue of real property in these outposts would be deductedfrom the compensation claims of Palestinian refugee propertyin Israel.

4 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement March-April 2001

DECONSTRUCTING THE TABA TALKS

Nablus

Jenin

Tulkarm

Kalkilya

AbuDis

Bethlehem

Hebron

Jericho

Ramallah

REHAN

OFARIM

ARIEL

EastJ'lem

EFRAT

MODIINILLIT

KEDUMIM

J ord

an R

ive

r

DeadSea

ISRAEL

Projection of the Abu Mazen-Beilin Map

0 20 KM

20 Miles

Areas annexed to Israel

Major Israeli Settlements

SHOMRONSETTLEMTS.

GIV'ATZE'EV

MA'ALEADUMIM

BETAR

K.ETZION

FMEP Map : © Jan de Jong

WEST BANK

SHANI

Palestinian State

TABA TALKS, continued on page 7

March-April 2001 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 5

'Brown' Area:Palestinian Sovereignty

Palestinian Autonomous Areas(Areas A and B)

'White' Area: Israeli Sovereignty /Settlement Built-up Areas

Israeli Settlements within'Brown' Areas

No Man's Land as defined in Armistice Agreement 1949

Jewish state according toUN Partition Plan-1947

Palestinian State according to UN Partition Plan-1947

Projected Palestinian State according to theIsraeli Proposal-2001

Proposed land- swap areas

Halutza

WESTBANK

GAZASTRIP

ISRAEL

Gaza

Jerusalem

TelAviv

EG

YPT

JOR

DAN

Israeli territory offered as partof a 3 % land-swap

A Palestinian State – Historical Comparison

Nablus

Jenin

Tulkarm

Kalkilya

AbuDis

Bethlehem

Hebron

Jericho

Ramallah

City limits unilaterallyexpanded by Israel,June 28, 1967,annexed by Knesset,July 30,1980

KADIM

GANIM

YIZHAR

REHAN

ELKANA

BETEL

OFARIM

K.ARBA

ARIEL

EastJ'lem

SHIM'A

EFRAT

OFRA

SHILO

TALMON

MODIINILLIT

ITAMAR

ELONMOREHKEDUMIM

AVNEHEFEZ ENAV

J ord

an R

ive

r

DeadSea

ISRAEL

Final Status Map Presented by Israel — Taba, January 2001

0 20 KM

20 Miles

Map : © Jan de Jong

Halhul

BRAKHASHOMRON

SETTLEMTS.

SANUR

GIV'ATZE'EV

MA'ALEADUMIM

BETAR

K.ETZIONTEKOA

Dhahriye

MEZADOTYEHUDA

ESHKOLOT

MEHOLA

MEVODOTAN

SHAVESHOMRON

ZOFIN

EMANUEL

KALIA

MA'ALEEFRAIM

Biddia

Rantis

Biddu

Ni'lin

Saffa

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DeirDibwan

Foundation for Middle East Peace

ALFEMENASHE

HALAMISH

BETARYE

LatrunSalient

SAL'IT

ORANIT

Based on a 5 % – West Bank Territorial Transfer to Israel

West Bank Sovereignty Areas,including Number of Israeli Settlements

and Percentage of Settlers,excluding East Jerusalem

BrownArea 95 %

White Area 5 %

41 / 65%

87 / 35%West Bank

6 ❖ Report on Israeli Settlement March-April 2001

October 25 Gunshots are fired at Psagot; the Israel Defense Force respondswith three tank missiles. Exchanges of firealso take place at the Ayosh junction northof Ramallah, at a roadblock in Bethlehem,and the Elisha military outpost near Jericho.

Artuz-7 reports the planting of a roadsidebomb and shooting by Palestinians on anIsraeli convoy en route to Morag. No injuries are reported.

The IDF fires four mortar shells into al-Bireh after shots are fired into the Psagotsettlement.

According to the Addameer Association, theIDF twice shells the village of Beit Jala andthe nearby Aida refugee camp from the Gilosettlement; residents of Beit Sahour areshelled once by tanks as well.

According to the Addameer Association,Israeli settlers attack Palestinian villages inHebron, Hossan, and Tekou in the Bethle-hem region, and Beit Furik, Burin, Huwarra,Qaryout, and Yitma near Nablus. ManyPalestinians report injuries as a result ofthese attacks.

The Addameer Association reports that thehomes of some Palestinian residents ofHebron are being used by the IDF as newmilitary outposts. Palestinians under Israelicontrol in Hebron [H-2] remain under cur-few for the 26th consecutive day.

Ha’aretz reports that the settlement outpostof Mitzpe Hagit on the Allon Road is beingresettled one year after it was evacuated aspart of an agreement with the government ofEhud Barak.

October 26 Palestinians shoot at the settlement of Gilo. The IDF responds withmachine-gun fire and shells. According toHa’aretz, many families who live in thesoutheast portions of Gilo have temporarilyleft; families who have stayed sleep in roomson the western side of their homes.

Amnesty International reports more than130 Palestinian deaths, 40 of them childrenat the hands of Israeli security forces.Amnesty also claims that Israeli securityforces have persistently used excessive force.

October 27 Palestinians throw rocks atIsraeli vehicles near Bethlehem and theJordan Valley, injuring four people.

Palestinians fire on Gilo from Beit Jala, hit-ting nine homes.

Ha’aretz reports that the IDF will invest$6.25 million in armored ambulances, buses,and other vehicles, bulletproof vests, bullet-proof windows for houses facing Palestinianareas, concrete blocks, and night-vision andother optical equipment. One thousandreservists residing in settlements have beencalled up for service in the preceding month.

October 28 Palestinians shoot at Israelitargets and settlements including Adura,(south of Hebron), the Atarot airport inEast Jerusalem, Gilo, the Katif bloc, andKadim.

Al-Ayyam reports that the IDF destroyed aPalestinian farm and orchard for the protec-tion of the Morag settlement in Gaza.

October 29 Arutz-7 reports three fire-bombs are thrown at Neveh Dekalim inGaza. No injuries are reported.

Clashes erupt in Nablus and the Netzarimjunction in Gaza, killing four Palestiniansand wounding more than 50 others. TwoIsraelis are wounded.

Palestinians fire at the control tower of theAtarot airport in East Jerusalem. No injuriesare reported.

Palestinians fire on Psagot and engage Israelisoldiers near the Ayosh junction and IDFcheckpoints near Hebron, Kalkilya, Nablus,and the settlement of Vered Jericho.

Fifteen Israeli tanks and armored vehiclesengage in a nine-hour gun battle withPalestinians in efforts to open the Karni-Netzarim road in Gaza.

The Rabbis Union, led by former chief rabbiAbraham Shapira, states, “The rights andobligations of the Nation of Israel to sover-eignty over the Land of Israel and to the set-tlement of the land are an eternal commandby the Creator to the entire nation, for theentire land, throughout all the generations.Every concession weakens us, and gives ourenemies more strength and confidence tofight us.”

Ha’aretz reports that in the wake ofHizballah’s capture of three Israeli soldiers,the IDF has closed the tourist facility at theGolan settlement of Neve Ativ.

October 30 The IDF accuses the Palestin-ian Authority of violating agreements prom-

ised to keep the Netzarim corridor in Gazaopen to Israeli traffic.

A roadside bomb detonates next to an Israelibus near the Morag settlement in Gaza. Noinjuries are reported.

Shooting incidents occur at al-Haddad, nearJerusalem, and the Ayosh junction north ofRamallah.

Palestinian gunmen shoot and kill twoIsraelis at the National Insurance Institutionin Jerusalem.

Palestinian police release the body of anIsraeli civilian found in Beit Jala near hishome in Gilo.

Yediot Aharanot reports that settlers haveestablished a Web site, www.helpingisrael.com, to encourage contributions to settle-ment efforts to defend against Palestinianattacks. Items requested include night-visionequipment and armored playgrounds.

October 31 Palestinians shoot at an Israelibus near the settlement of Alfei Menashe,injuring one passenger.

November 1 Palestinians shoot at IDFoutposts and settlements at Atzmonah inGush Katif, the Ayosh junction, the Deganhilltop in Efrat, Karni junction, and Rachel’sTomb. Residents of Jelazun burn tires andthrow rocks and firebombs at IDF soldiersnear the Beit El settlement.

The Tunnel Road closes to traffic. Ha’aretzreports that the IDF is advising the con-struction of a western alternate to the high-way. The proposed road would run from theJerusalem neighborhood of Malha viaWallaja to the al-Hadar intersection north ofthe Etzion bloc.

An IDF officer tells Ha’aretz that journeysof residents to and from Netzarim are nowbeing taken under fire. Settlers travel inarmored cars provided by the IDF.

Artuz-7 reports an IDF plan to cut its forcesin the West Bank and Gaza by 20 percent. AYESHA council spokesman states the deci-sion is “illogical, ignores the state of war inYESHA, and will invite further attacks byPalestinians on Jewish residents.”

According to IDF Radio, Hamas and theTanzim jointly declare that the intifada will operate in East Jerusalem and that lives of the Jewish settlers “will become hell.”

SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

March-April 2001 Report on Israeli Settlement ❖ 7

The IDF lifts the curfew on the Palestinianresidents of Hebron.

Palestinians fire on the Gilo settlement fromBeit Jala. According to an IDF officer, thefiring “was the most massive and intense . . .since the beginning of the current violence.”The IDF responds with machine-gun fire,missiles, and helicopters. No injuries arereported.

While touring the Gilo settlement, Jerusa-lem mayor Ehud Olmert and senior policeofficers come under Palestinian fire. Olmertdemands that the IDF take a more forcefulpolicy on Beit Jala, stating that the army“should retake Beit Jala” if necessary andimpose a closure in order to prevent attackson Gilo. Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordersan aid package for residents of Gilo andother border neighborhoods.

Palestinians shoot at the Vered Jericho set-tlement and kill one reserve officer near theIDF’s Elisha outpost.

The IDF warns Palestinian residents of oneHebron neighborhood to evacuate theirhomes after an evening of heavy gunfire.

Palestine Report claims that the Israeli armyhas opened ten new bypass roads onPalestinian land classified as Area A.

Palestinians in Abu Sneinah shoot at resi-dents of the Abraham Avinu settlement inHebron.

Two Israeli soldiers are killed attempting torescue wounded soldiers at al-Hadar, nearthe Tunnel Road. One other Israeli soldierdies near Elisha, outside Jericho.

Ha’aretz reports that plans for the expansionof the Golan settlement of Katzrin have

become operational. The return to “businessas usual” includes the construction of 1,500dwelling units in the settlement, enough toincrease the population of 7,500 by 50 per-cent, as well as infrastructural improvements.The settlement of Klia Elon has also wonpreliminary approval for 50 additional units.

November 2 A pipe bomb explodes under-neath a car near the Jerusalem Theatre,injuring one person.

In Hizme Palestinians close the Jerusalem-Shomron road, which services traffic fromJerusalem to the Binyamin and Shomronsettlements. ◆

SETTLEMENT TIME LINE

endeavored to establish an agreed-uponbasis for the creation of a Palestinianstate, albeit one hobbled in both its ter-ritorial and sovereign dimensions byIsraeli territorial and security demands.Sharon’s formula, however, was consis-tent with the Oslo process crafted forRabin, with its focus upon “interimagreements” enhancing Israel’s settle-ment objectives and its overall security.

Since that time, Sharon has expand-ed his notion of the territorial dimen-sions of the state of Palestine to includethe 41 percent of the West Bank nowclassified as Areas A (17.2%) and B(23.8%) and most of the Gaza Strip.While he does not come close to meet-ing minimal Palestinian demands for afinal status agreement, Sharon also doesnot require the kind of Palestinian con-cessions—first among which is anexplicit agreement to “end the con-flict”—unsuccessfully demanded byBarak.

As Sharon sees it, the challenge fac-ing both Israelis and Palestinians afterthe guns fall silent, a challenge that theparties have failed to meet since theopening of “final status” talks last year, isnot to repudiate but to reinvigorateOslo’s focus on interim solutions. Thenext step: the agreed-upon establish-ment of a Palestinian state that leavesIsrael’s settlement and security objec-tives intact. ◆

SHARON, continued from page 1

Israel’s Taba map is both conceptual-ly and territorially reminiscent of theAbu Mazen-Beilin Plan of 1995, whichestablished a Palestinian willingness toconsider trading settlement blocs forequivalent Israeli land. A map illustrat-ing the Plan’s principles was never dis-closed and remains controversial to thisday.

The final status map suggested byIsrael at the Taba talks begins to addressPalestinian concerns that the scale ofIsrael’s settlement-related demandswould decisively prejudice the territorialcohesion of the West Bank and thatArab East Jerusalem would be frag-mented, jeopardizing the socio-eco-nomic viability of a Palestinian state.Although improving Palestinian territo-rial contiguity and unhindered roadpassage, Barak’s map would neverthelessnot solve remaining defects impactingupon both territorial continuity andtransport corridors in crucial locationsnear Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem,Kalkilya and Nablus.

The map presented by Palestiniannegotiator Abu Ala aimed at addressingthese deficiencies. The Palestinian maprepresents a significant historical anddiplomatic landmark. As Prime Minis-

ter Barak noted, it marked the first timethat the Palestinians had incorporatedthe principle of Israeli annexation ofWest Bank territory into a formal pro-posal.

The Abu Ala map illustrated threeimportant Palestinian objectives: reduc-ing the area to be annexed by Israel totwice the settlements’ current built-upareas; minimizing the number of WestBank Palestinians to be annexed byIsrael from more than 20,000 projectedby Israel’s Taba map to practically zero;rejecting the annexation of any part ofthe Jerusalem area settlements of Ma’aleAdumim or Givat Ze’ev.

Palestinian leader Nabil Shaath, inhis February 2001 discussions withSecretary of State Colin Powell inWashington, brought out both theIsraeli and Palestinian maps to demon-strate how much the parties hadimproved upon the current territorialdivision of the West Bank. Powell,according to one source, had neverbefore seen the maps. He explained thatthe Bush administration never said thatTaba had not moved the parties closer.It had only noted that none of whattranspired was binding upon the gov-ernment of Ariel Sharon. ◆

TABA TALKS, continued from page 4

U.S. president [George W.] Bush called to relay his good wishes. He told me of his desire for close coop-eration with the government which I will head. He recalled a tour we went on together of Samaria and theJordan Valley.

The government that I will lead will work towards restoring security to the citizens of Israel, and towardachieving genuine peace and stability in the region. I know that peace means painful compromises on bothsides. Any settlements reached will be based on security for all peoples in the region. I call upon our neigh-bors the Palestinians to abandon the path of violence and return to dialogue and pursuit of a resolution tothe disagreements between us in a peaceful manner. The government which I will lead will work toward arealistic settlement which will safeguard the existential and historical interests of Israel, and will be basedon mutual respect and the fulfillment of reciprocal obligations.

The government that I will lead will raise the flag of social issues, alongside the flags of security andpeace, with the top priority being education. Above these are the flag of Zionism, the flag of national honor,immigration, and settlement of the land. The government which I will establish will pursue the strengthen-ing and building up of a united Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and the eternal capital of the Jewish peoplefor which we are forever obligated: “If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand lose its cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not set Jerusalem above myhighest joy.”

Israeli prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon’s victory speech, February 7, 2001

Foundation for Middle East Peace1763 N Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20036Telephone: 202-835-3650Fax: 202-835-3651E-mail: jeff@fmep.orgInternet: http://www.fmep.org

Back issues of the SettlementReport and the 1991–1996Index are availale on requestfrom the Foundation’s office.

Settler population in the West Bank and Gaza 203,068

Settler population increase during Barak’s tenure,June 1999-December 2000 22,419

Distinct settlement locations in the West Bank and Gaza 200 sites

Government tenders issued for construction in West Bank/Gaza settlements,June 1999-September 2000 3,499 units

Building sites in the West Bank/Gaza sold by the Israel Lands Administration, 2000 2,804 lots

Building permits issued by the Ministry of Housing and Construction in West Bank/Gaza settlements, January-October 2000 1,184 units

Public construction starts in West Bank/Gaza settlements, 2000 1,943 units

Shooting incidents against settlers/settlements

in the Etzion bloc 299 incidentsOctober 1, 2000-January 24, 2001:

from Beit Jala toward Gilo 53 incidentsat Rachel’s Tomb 59 incidentsfrom Bet Sahour to Har Homa 10 incidents

Rock-throwing incidents against Israeli targets in the Etzion bloc,October 1, 2000-February 13, 2001 2,000 incidents

Closure frequency of Tunnel Road, linking the Etzion bloc to Jerusalem,September 28, 2001-February 13, 2001 91 times

Percentage increase in traffic along the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway since the beginning of shooting incidents along Route 443, the secondary route through the West Bank 40 percent

Decrease in traffic along Route 443 since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada 80 percent

BARAK’S SETTLEMENT LEGACY