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Most research and analyses of Israel's settlement enterprise has focused on the usage of particular paragraphs in the Geneva Convention. For over 50 years Israel has refuted the usage of the Geneva Convention with regards to its settlements. Doing so, the more relevant question arises on what laws, governance, and regulations, is of importance in understanding Israelis behavior? If one accepts the premise that Israel is occupying some areas, and as an occupying force is forbidden to change laws from previous sovereign, it becomes relevant as to what the laws are and how are they being followed. The aim with this book is to go deeper to understand the rationale behind Israeli land policies.
This book is not necessarily a full rejection of the arguments that have been advocated by different scholars that seek to brand Israel's settlement enterprise as illegal, nor is it to be understood as a full acceptance of those arguments at hand. Rather, I want this book to show nuances in an infective question. The idea is to give the reader an insight into the arguments made by Israel and its judiciary which has not been properly addressed nor researched about through earlier scholars. By including stories about personalities such as Rabbi Menachem Froman & Shabtay Bendet, this book aims to fulfill its purpose of not politicizing the Israeli settlement enterprise through one particular understanding.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Method
One Historical Background to Israeli Land Policy
The Zionist Dimension
From Market Transactions to State Expropriation
The Israeli Supreme Court
Different Laws
The Difference in Legal Status Over the Land
Failure to Protect Arab Peasantry and the Entering of Zionist Settlers
The Categorization of Present Land Ownership in the West Bank
Two The Land Laws: Different Takings and Approaches
Israel Accused of Reinterpreted Article 43 of The Hague Regulations of 1907
Private and Public Disputes Intertwine?
The Stance of B'Tselem
The Stance of Peace Now
The Stance of the Edmund Levy Report
Three Article 43 of The Hague Regulations
Prolonged Occupation Creates Unbridgeable Conflicts
Respect the Laws in Force versus Flexibility When Conditions Change
More Politics, Less Law
Four Israel, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and The Hague Regulations: Different Takings and Approaches
The Most Common Arguments For and Against the Illegality of Settlements
The Geneva Convention Applies, but Not Justiciable in Israeli Court System?
Five A Review of US Presidents' Policy vis-à-vis Israeli Settlements
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Six A Paradigm Shift?
Seven Two Different Destinies, Two Separate Paths
The Unlikely Peace Activist
The Former Settler
Conclusions
Appendix One
Appendix Two
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
About the author
Martin Blecher is a political scientist in Sweden. His articles have been published in Jerusalem Post and Israel National News as well as in Swedish newspapers. His previous book was an anthology that contained views of proponents versus opponents to the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
Summary
Few scholars have taken an interest in how Israel has rationalized and defended its settlement policies through its use of Ottoman land laws combined with the Hague Regulations. This book provides a descriptive study of Israel’s land policies.
