Third of settlements built on land seized for 'security purposes'

By Meron Rapoport

More than one-third of West Bank settlements were built on private Palestinian land that was temporarily seized by military order for "security purposes," according to a report by the Civil Administration that is being published here for the first time.

The settlements in question, which include Ariel, Kiryat Arba and Efrat, have tens of thousands of residents, and many have existed for decades. A security source termed this a "difficult statistic" that is liable to cause trouble for Israel both in Washington and its own courts.

The defense establishment has consistently refused to publish this information, and a month ago, the Defense Ministry told a court that its publication would "damage the state's security and foreign relations." Peace Now, which discovered the data, said it proves that most of the settlements are illegal even under Israeli law, and termed the attempt to hide the information a "blow to democracy."

International law allows the seizure of occupied territory, but only for military needs. Instead, Israel built many of the settlements via such seizures, in defiance of a 1979 cabinet decision that forbade using private Palestinian land for settlements.

A legal source said the very fact that so many settlements were built in this way will make it hard for the state to convince the High Court of Justice that "military necessity" justifies keeping them in existence rather than returning the land to its Palestinian owners.

According to the Civil Administration data compiled in October 2006, 44 of the 120 West Bank settlements "are based to some extent" on lands seized by military order. A knowledgeable security source said that most of this land was privately owned by Palestinians.

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