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.
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-a-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
