Settler Movement in Israel Since the 1970s and Its Impact on the Politics of the Middle East - Assignment Example

Discuss the rise of settlement and the settler movement in Israel since the 1970s and its impact on the politics of the Middle East The rise of settlements and the settler movements in Israel since the 1970 has various consequences on the politics in the Middle East. The settlement created by the Israelis in the West Bank territory is because of the social, political and religious conceptions of the Israel government. Consequently, these settlements have a negative political impact in that they arose from the six-day war that led to Israel taking parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Ariel et al. 1-3). Consequently, this created the way for the construction of these settlements (Ariel et al. 1). The impact of the settlement has pushed an agenda towards the drawing of boundaries for a two state in order to solve the conflict that has taken about 30 years. However, there has been a delay on the implementation of a two-state solution due to the politics. Influence on the Israeli supporters and the underlying Israeli governmental coalition for the past twenty years. Consequently, the disengagement of the Israelis from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be a breakthrough towards the realization of a two state solution. Additionally, the Gush movements in the Israeli have been successful due to the use of statehood option for the sake of peace to the Palestinians (Newman 196). According to the Israeli belief, the land of Israeli was God given, and the six-day war was a success in the liberation of the land that had previously been ruled by the non-Jewish. These lands included the Golan Heights, in Syria and the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in Palestine (Newman 196). In this scenario, this has caused a territorial conflict throughout the Middle East by the Arab States viewing this action as going against the international law. Number peace agreements have been signed between warring countries in the region. Israeli has signed several peace agreements with many countries in the Middle East. Examples include peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, Jordan in 1994, but there were no preconditions on the treaty that recognized Israeli as a Jewish State. This is because there was still controversy on Israelis occupation in foreign lands. The Israeli Prime ministers like Sharon and Olmert gave preconditions to the Palestinian authorities during their tenure that they recognize the Israeli settlement for the exchange of peace. Consequently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no interest in the fair settlement in the peace agreement making the realization of the two solutions a nightmare. Zionism has been a major obstacle towards the realization of a two state solution (Slater 597). However, the continued settlement of the Jewish majority in Jerusalem, West Bank and the Golan heights has heightened the tensions between the Arabs and the Jewish People. The Israeli Settlements are increasing day by day, and there has been speculation of an expanded conflict through the Middle East. Most of the countries in the Middle East are opposed to the Israeli settlement in a foreign territory. Countries like Iran their leaders have publicly said that Israeli will cease to exist in the Middle East. As the result of this phenomenon, the continued Israeli holdings of land belonging to Arabs exposes Israeli to multitude of threats. Additionally, the Israeli Settlements have led to a pattern of stagnation in the Israeli politics and the Middle East in general. The key problem that is now facing the Israeli for 45years is in the West Bank and large Palestinian population residing in the territory (Lustick 25-27). Additionally, the Israeli press has been filled with the merry go round politics, scandal, and career implosion, and Palestinian terrorism, rockets from Gaza, liquidations, retaliations, and human rights violations. What now remains is the bigger war between the Arabs and Jews (Lustick 25-27). In this scenario, the Israeli continued occupation in the West Bank can have continued negative political and military implication on the Israelis. War in Israeli has continually recurred. In 2006, Israeli was recovering from its war with Hezbollah and recently it is recovering from the Gaza rocket attacks. Furthermore, there has been a serious political challenge in Israeli with its neighbors whose main cause is the Israelis continued settlement on the captured land during the six-day war in 1967. Netanyahu reign also led to political crisis. When Netanyahu came to power, he further escalated the political conflict by further constructing road networks and settlements further integrating West Bank into the Israeli territory. Moreover, due to Israelis political stagnation, it has attracted attention from many people throughout the Middle East (Lustick 28). Many observe that Israelis future is uncertain due to its stern position on its settlements in the West Bank. Israel has also been seen as mistreating Palestinians. At the end of the 1967 Israel war, Israeli annexed its territories and absorbed the Arabs into the Israeli territory. There was an ethnic cleansing which saw the Palestinian captured territories treated differently from other areas. The Israel treatment of Palestinians has since changed since the 1980s. Additionally, the number of Palestinians killed each month is increasing. In many wars of Israeli and Palestinians has led to a massive loss of lives in the side of Palestinians. Consequently, this has raised political temperatures in Arab allies of Palestinians on the credibility of the Israeli country on the Palestinian territory. This has led to enmity in the entire region (Gordon 458). Hezbollah, Iranians and the Saddam Hussein regimes were against the Zionist, who they perceive as perpetrators on the Palestinian land. Although some countries recognize Israeli as a Jewish State, most of the Middle Eastern Countries have not done so. There have been negotiations by the UN to create two separate states for the Arabs and the Jews. However, due to the settlements and the annexes by Israeli on expanded territory, the Netanyahu administration is opposed to the idea for the creation of two separate states. Additionally, on political matters, Israel finds itself on political odds with the countries of the region. Since the 1970s, Israel has had many wars with the Arab states in the region (Gordon 459). In the 1970s, Egypt signed an accord with Israel that stipulated that the Gaza Strip to be under the control of the Israel, but to return to the Palestinians. The Accord also gave powers to Egypt to control the entire region of the Sinai Peninsula (Gordon 459). Moreover, Israel also signed a peace accord with Jordan on a war that costed both countries billions of dollars and Jordan became the second country to sign a peace agreement with Israel (Gordon 459-460). Furthermore, in 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed the Iraq nuclear facilities and in retaliation Iraq responded by firing 39 scud missiles. Currently, the conflict has degenerated to the Israel Palestinian conflict. This is because the Palestinians feel that their land has been unfairly taken from them by Israelis who settle in this land is illegally. The ongoing expansion of the settlements into the Palestinian territories has greatly undermined the realization of a two-state by national solution (Gordon 464). Most of the Palestinian leaders have accepted the formation of a two state accord that will see the realization of two States, but most of the Israelis feel that they should remain Jewish State because of religious reasons. Additionally, on political matters Israel is the only democracy found in the Middle East (Gordon 464). However, due to its continued engagement with the Palestinians, the Israel rule has become theocratic, racist, intolerant of dissent, and it has increased intolerance against dissent (Gordon 464). The Jewish State has become a subject of political and police repression against the rights of the Palestinians. Furthermore, the main conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is their conquest against the colonialism movement of the Israelis that denies the Arab existence on their land. The Zionist movement was designed in a way of redeeming the unclaimed land for the settlement of the Jews (Gordon 455). Consequently, the Zionists were using the Bible as one of their guidelines for remapping and organizing various archeological digs and hiking expeditions. Consequently, in the 1970s Palestinians faced land expropriation, denial of civil liberties. In conclusion, the rise of the settlements and settler movements since the 1970s has created a serious impact on the politics of the Middle East. Israel captured huge tracks of land, which belonged to the Arabs, and by using the Zionist movements and the Bible, they started capturing territories captured in the Bible, and they claimed to be theirs. In retaliation, almost most of the Muslim countries that surround Israel were unsatisfied on the way Israel was conducting its activities in the region. Countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Palestine have had wars with Israel on the issue of settlements. Additionally, the rapid coming up of the Jewish settlement on the West Bank has caused a recurrent conflict with the Palestinians who see the Israelis as colonialists on their land. The war attracted attention of other Middle Eastern countries that see the only way to end the crisis is to create a two state of the Arabs and the Jews. Hence, the crisis in the region is most likely to continue. Works Cited Ariel, Shaul, Nathanson, Roby, Rubin, Ziv and Kertcher, Hagar. “Historical Political and Economic Impact of Jewish Settlements in the Occupied Territories”. Israel European Policy Network. Web 16 November 2014. Gordon, Neve. “Of Dowries and Brides: A structural Analysis of Israel’s Occupation”. New Political Science 29.4 (2007): 453-478. Print. Lustick, Ian. “Israeli Needs A New Map.” Middle East Policy 20.2 (2013): 25-37. Print Newman, David. “From Hitcnachalut to Hitnatchkut: The Impact of Gush Emunim and Settlement movement on Israeli politics and Society”. Ebscohost.com. Web 16th November 2014. 192-224. Slater, Jerome. “Zionism the Jewish State, and an Israeli Palestinian Settlement: An option piece.” Political Science Quarterly 127.4 (2012): 597-625. Print. Read More