Mediocrates
07-26-2004, 08:02 AM
The History of Jewish Settlement in Yesha
I. From The Six Day War to The Yom Kippur War.
Many adult Israelis today still remember the emotional declaration by Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Minister of Defense during the Six-Day War, on the day that Jerusalem was liberated: “We have returned to our holiest places and we will never be separated from them again”. A few days later, at a very impressive memorial ceremony for the fallen of the War of Independence in 5708 (1948), he elaborated on this theme and said: “We have returned to the mountain, to the birthplace of our nation, to the heritage of our founding fathers, (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to the land of the Judges and to the fortress of the Kingdom of David. We have returned to Hevron and to Shechem, to Bet Lechem and to Anatot, to Jericho and to the fords of the Jordan”.
However, the government at that time, including Minister Dayan, refrained from making any substantial practical moves following these statements and avoided taking advantage of the "Right of Return". The government, satisfied with a military presence in Yesha and with the phenomenon of numerous Israelis touring the areas invested no thought to the possibility of settling these areas. Even the possibility of rebuilding the Jewish communities of the Etzion Bloc which had been abandoned and then destroyed in the War of Independence, was never discussed by the government. The first people to raise the idea were the survivors of Kfar Etzion, led by Chanan Porat, and other nationalists such as the writer Aharon Amir and the lawyer, Elyakim HaEtzni. They pressured various official agencies until the government eventually acceded to their request and in the month of Elul 5727, 4 months after the end of the war, permitted them to rebuild the settlement. The United States, by the way, strongly condemned the renewal of the Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion.
Eventually, the manner in which Kfar Etzion was resettled became the model for the entire settlement enterprise. Almost always, the initiative came from the people themselves or from the various settlement agencies and only afterwards did the government grant approval.
About three months after the renewal of Kfar Etzion, Har Gilo, the second settlement in liberated Yehuda (Judea) was established thanks to the initiative of Tel Aviv poet, Yoram Ben Meir. The then C.O. of Central Command, Rehavam Ze’evi HY’D, (may the Almighty avenge his soul) originally ordered the settlement to be dismantled, but soon changed his mind. Ben Meir, known as “Pitzy” lives there to this day. Afterwards it was the turn of Kiryat Arba, Pesach 5728, (1968). The government was not enthusiastic at all about this, the extreme left protested vehemently, but thanks to the then Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Alon Z”L (may his memory be blessed), governmental support was given for the renewal of the old-new Jewish settlement in the City of the Patriarchs. The first settlers moved from the Park Hotel, which they had rented, to a special area in the Military Administration Building in Hevron. Four years later they moved to permanent homes in Kiryat Arba. The decision to build Kiryat Arba was passed in the Knesset in the spring of 1970 with a comfortable majority, 48 for, 5 against and 7 abstentions. Seven more years were to pass before it become possible to renew Jewish settlement in the city of Hevron itself in 1979 during the term of the first Likud government. A group of women led by Rabbanit Miriam Levinger took over Beit Hadassah, an historic Jewish building which had been destroyed by the Arabs in the pogroms of 5689 (1929). About a year later, this point also received official recognition.
From Golda to Begin.
II. From Elon Moreh to Ariel.
Contrary to the area of Judea which was settled in the years immediately following the Six Day War and the Jordan Valley, which was settled gradually as a result of government decisions (Mehola, Argaman, Pezael etc), Samaria was left empty of Jews until after the Yom Kippur War. Golda Meir’s government initiated the establishment of army and civilian outposts in the Yamit District, in Southern Sinai and in the Gaza District, but made a point of not settling the area between Jerusalem and Jenin. From time to time soldiers were sent to evict groups from the Beitar movement who tried to gain a foothold in the territory.
A serious settlement initiative began just before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, but was implemented only after the end of the war. After the fighting ceased, a group of young women affiliated with the Mercaz Ha’Rav Yeshiva, approached Prime Minister Golda Meir with a request to approve the establishment of a settlement near Shechem. Golda welcomed them but rejected their request. Six months later, those same women, together with their husbands, started a settlement of their own not far from Shechem. They were known as the “Elon Moreh Garin" (the Elon Moreh Nucleus) of Gush Emunim. “Allow us to build our homes in Samaria” they requested. They returned and the army evicted them seven times. The eighth time, in December 1975 (Chanukah 5736), at the old railway station at Sebastia, an historic agreement was reached which led to the founding of Kedumim. The poet Chaim Guri and the then Minister of Defence Shimon Peres drafted the agreement.
A few months earlier, in April 1975, Minister Peres secretly approved the establishment of a “work camp” at Ofra, 25 kilometers north of Jerusalem. During the same period, Yithchak Rabin''s (first) government, decided to establish what later became the city of Ma’aleh Adumim. This decision was taken as a reaction to the official recognition granted by the United Nations to the PLO and in response to pressure applied by “Garin Ma’ale Adumim and by Minister Yisrael Galili. This same government also decided to build Elkana in the Western Shomron two weeks before the election upheaval of 1977, which brought the Likud to power. Another decision in principle taken by this government was the creation of Ariel, which eventually became the capital of the Shomron.
From Yitzchak Shamir until Oslo
III. From Beit-El to the Gaza Coast
The breakthrough in Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria occurred only after Menachem Begin came to power in 1977. “There will be many more Eilon Morehs” promised Begin during his first visit to the Kedumim settlers after his victory. Shortly after taking office, the leaders of Gush Emunim; Chanan Porat, Uri Elitzur, Benny Katzover, and Rabbi Moshe Levinger, presented Begin with a project to build twelve new settlements in Judea and Samaria. Begin was initially hesitant and reluctant to accept this plan but eventually gave the project his blessing. Thus were born the communities of Beit-El, Shilo, Neveh-Tzuf, Mitpeh Yericho, Shavei Shomron, Dotan, Tekoa and many others.
At first, physical conditions in these new communities were very difficult. Crowded accommodations, mud, primitive sanitary conditions and almost no public transport typified the Jewish villages in Yesha. There were psychological problems as well. Israeli left-wing parties and the international media created a major scandal over each new caravan or hut that was built. In 1978 a petition was presented to the Supreme Court against the establishment of Beit-El on land that had been expropriated from the “Palestinians” for security reasons. A temporary injunction froze all development work in this new community including work on the infrastructure for the sewage system. The threat of eviction hung over Beit-El and all the other new communities built in the a similar way. Only after several weeks did the Supreme Court reject the petition and color returned to the cheeks of the Jews in Yesha. “There are Judges in Jerusalem” praised Menachem Begin.
For a 15 year period, until the end of the Shamir government era, tens of communities were established in Judea, Samaria and Benjamin. Tens of thousands of Jews gradually made these places their home. The most substantial government contribution to the settlement effort came from Ariel Sharon, during the periods that he served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Housing. Sharon roamed the area together with heads of the Yesha Council and of Amana, the company dedicated to initiating Jewish towns in Yesha, in order to find suitable spots for settlement. He spent time drawing up plans and he identifying and obtaining the necessary budgets. The Amana representatives concerned themselves with finding the settlers to occupy these settlements. The joint aim for both sides was to prevent the creation of a Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria. The settlements were spread out in such a way as to minimize areas between the River Jordan and the “Green Line” which were empty of Jews. Most of the settlements were located on hilltops for security reasons.
In the winter of 1980 an important milestone regarding Yesha towns and villages was reached. The Supreme Court, responding to a petition by Israeli Leftists and “Palestinians”, ordered the uprooting of a group of settlers who had settled on land near the Arab village of Rujib in Samaria. The petitioners claimed that the land was private “Palestinian” land. From that point on, Jewish villages in Yesha were created only on Israeli "State Land". As a result, the communities in Yesha were based on sounder legal and moral ground than many settlements in “pre-67 Israel” where innumerable kibbutzim and other agricultural settlements were formed on land that had been abandoned by Arab refugees during the War of Independence.
I. From The Six Day War to The Yom Kippur War.
Many adult Israelis today still remember the emotional declaration by Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Minister of Defense during the Six-Day War, on the day that Jerusalem was liberated: “We have returned to our holiest places and we will never be separated from them again”. A few days later, at a very impressive memorial ceremony for the fallen of the War of Independence in 5708 (1948), he elaborated on this theme and said: “We have returned to the mountain, to the birthplace of our nation, to the heritage of our founding fathers, (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) to the land of the Judges and to the fortress of the Kingdom of David. We have returned to Hevron and to Shechem, to Bet Lechem and to Anatot, to Jericho and to the fords of the Jordan”.
However, the government at that time, including Minister Dayan, refrained from making any substantial practical moves following these statements and avoided taking advantage of the "Right of Return". The government, satisfied with a military presence in Yesha and with the phenomenon of numerous Israelis touring the areas invested no thought to the possibility of settling these areas. Even the possibility of rebuilding the Jewish communities of the Etzion Bloc which had been abandoned and then destroyed in the War of Independence, was never discussed by the government. The first people to raise the idea were the survivors of Kfar Etzion, led by Chanan Porat, and other nationalists such as the writer Aharon Amir and the lawyer, Elyakim HaEtzni. They pressured various official agencies until the government eventually acceded to their request and in the month of Elul 5727, 4 months after the end of the war, permitted them to rebuild the settlement. The United States, by the way, strongly condemned the renewal of the Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion.
Eventually, the manner in which Kfar Etzion was resettled became the model for the entire settlement enterprise. Almost always, the initiative came from the people themselves or from the various settlement agencies and only afterwards did the government grant approval.
About three months after the renewal of Kfar Etzion, Har Gilo, the second settlement in liberated Yehuda (Judea) was established thanks to the initiative of Tel Aviv poet, Yoram Ben Meir. The then C.O. of Central Command, Rehavam Ze’evi HY’D, (may the Almighty avenge his soul) originally ordered the settlement to be dismantled, but soon changed his mind. Ben Meir, known as “Pitzy” lives there to this day. Afterwards it was the turn of Kiryat Arba, Pesach 5728, (1968). The government was not enthusiastic at all about this, the extreme left protested vehemently, but thanks to the then Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Alon Z”L (may his memory be blessed), governmental support was given for the renewal of the old-new Jewish settlement in the City of the Patriarchs. The first settlers moved from the Park Hotel, which they had rented, to a special area in the Military Administration Building in Hevron. Four years later they moved to permanent homes in Kiryat Arba. The decision to build Kiryat Arba was passed in the Knesset in the spring of 1970 with a comfortable majority, 48 for, 5 against and 7 abstentions. Seven more years were to pass before it become possible to renew Jewish settlement in the city of Hevron itself in 1979 during the term of the first Likud government. A group of women led by Rabbanit Miriam Levinger took over Beit Hadassah, an historic Jewish building which had been destroyed by the Arabs in the pogroms of 5689 (1929). About a year later, this point also received official recognition.
From Golda to Begin.
II. From Elon Moreh to Ariel.
Contrary to the area of Judea which was settled in the years immediately following the Six Day War and the Jordan Valley, which was settled gradually as a result of government decisions (Mehola, Argaman, Pezael etc), Samaria was left empty of Jews until after the Yom Kippur War. Golda Meir’s government initiated the establishment of army and civilian outposts in the Yamit District, in Southern Sinai and in the Gaza District, but made a point of not settling the area between Jerusalem and Jenin. From time to time soldiers were sent to evict groups from the Beitar movement who tried to gain a foothold in the territory.
A serious settlement initiative began just before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, but was implemented only after the end of the war. After the fighting ceased, a group of young women affiliated with the Mercaz Ha’Rav Yeshiva, approached Prime Minister Golda Meir with a request to approve the establishment of a settlement near Shechem. Golda welcomed them but rejected their request. Six months later, those same women, together with their husbands, started a settlement of their own not far from Shechem. They were known as the “Elon Moreh Garin" (the Elon Moreh Nucleus) of Gush Emunim. “Allow us to build our homes in Samaria” they requested. They returned and the army evicted them seven times. The eighth time, in December 1975 (Chanukah 5736), at the old railway station at Sebastia, an historic agreement was reached which led to the founding of Kedumim. The poet Chaim Guri and the then Minister of Defence Shimon Peres drafted the agreement.
A few months earlier, in April 1975, Minister Peres secretly approved the establishment of a “work camp” at Ofra, 25 kilometers north of Jerusalem. During the same period, Yithchak Rabin''s (first) government, decided to establish what later became the city of Ma’aleh Adumim. This decision was taken as a reaction to the official recognition granted by the United Nations to the PLO and in response to pressure applied by “Garin Ma’ale Adumim and by Minister Yisrael Galili. This same government also decided to build Elkana in the Western Shomron two weeks before the election upheaval of 1977, which brought the Likud to power. Another decision in principle taken by this government was the creation of Ariel, which eventually became the capital of the Shomron.
From Yitzchak Shamir until Oslo
III. From Beit-El to the Gaza Coast
The breakthrough in Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria occurred only after Menachem Begin came to power in 1977. “There will be many more Eilon Morehs” promised Begin during his first visit to the Kedumim settlers after his victory. Shortly after taking office, the leaders of Gush Emunim; Chanan Porat, Uri Elitzur, Benny Katzover, and Rabbi Moshe Levinger, presented Begin with a project to build twelve new settlements in Judea and Samaria. Begin was initially hesitant and reluctant to accept this plan but eventually gave the project his blessing. Thus were born the communities of Beit-El, Shilo, Neveh-Tzuf, Mitpeh Yericho, Shavei Shomron, Dotan, Tekoa and many others.
At first, physical conditions in these new communities were very difficult. Crowded accommodations, mud, primitive sanitary conditions and almost no public transport typified the Jewish villages in Yesha. There were psychological problems as well. Israeli left-wing parties and the international media created a major scandal over each new caravan or hut that was built. In 1978 a petition was presented to the Supreme Court against the establishment of Beit-El on land that had been expropriated from the “Palestinians” for security reasons. A temporary injunction froze all development work in this new community including work on the infrastructure for the sewage system. The threat of eviction hung over Beit-El and all the other new communities built in the a similar way. Only after several weeks did the Supreme Court reject the petition and color returned to the cheeks of the Jews in Yesha. “There are Judges in Jerusalem” praised Menachem Begin.
For a 15 year period, until the end of the Shamir government era, tens of communities were established in Judea, Samaria and Benjamin. Tens of thousands of Jews gradually made these places their home. The most substantial government contribution to the settlement effort came from Ariel Sharon, during the periods that he served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Housing. Sharon roamed the area together with heads of the Yesha Council and of Amana, the company dedicated to initiating Jewish towns in Yesha, in order to find suitable spots for settlement. He spent time drawing up plans and he identifying and obtaining the necessary budgets. The Amana representatives concerned themselves with finding the settlers to occupy these settlements. The joint aim for both sides was to prevent the creation of a Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria. The settlements were spread out in such a way as to minimize areas between the River Jordan and the “Green Line” which were empty of Jews. Most of the settlements were located on hilltops for security reasons.
In the winter of 1980 an important milestone regarding Yesha towns and villages was reached. The Supreme Court, responding to a petition by Israeli Leftists and “Palestinians”, ordered the uprooting of a group of settlers who had settled on land near the Arab village of Rujib in Samaria. The petitioners claimed that the land was private “Palestinian” land. From that point on, Jewish villages in Yesha were created only on Israeli "State Land". As a result, the communities in Yesha were based on sounder legal and moral ground than many settlements in “pre-67 Israel” where innumerable kibbutzim and other agricultural settlements were formed on land that had been abandoned by Arab refugees during the War of Independence.