Stop the tit-for-tat: Settlements cannot be used as a punishment for terrorism - editorial

It’s become as predictable as it is counterproductive. Whenever the Israeli government perceives a move by an international body that will inch closer to the legitimization and recognition of the trappings of Palestinian statehood, it punishes the Palestinians.

The latest decisions, taken by the security cabinet late Thursday night and published only by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, were in response to five countries’ announcements over the last month that they were unilaterally recognizing Palestine as a state.

Israel’s answer to Spain, Ireland, Norway, Armenia and Slovenia? Authorizing five outposts as official settlements – Evyatar, Givat Assaf, Sde Efraim, Heletz and Adorayim, one for each country’s recognition of Palestine.

In addition, the cabinet approved canceling exit permits for Palestinian Authority officials to leave the country and increased enforcement against illegal Palestinian buildings in Area C of the West Bank, which is under total Israeli control. The cabinet rescinded authorization given to the PA nearly three decades ago for control of nature reserves in Area B of the West Bank, jointly controlled militarily by Israel and civilly by the PA.

 “After weeks of discussions, the Israeli government promoted an appropriate response to the anti-Israeli measures led by the Palestinian Authority,” Smotrich said in a statement, referring to the PA’s activity against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the United Nations.

Claiming that the PA had “joined Hamas in trying to harm Israel in Israel and the world, and we will fight it,” Smotrich added: “For those who needed proof, we got it on October 7. A Palestinian state in the heart of Israel is an existential danger; I will not allow such a disaster to be brought upon the State of Israel.”

Israel Ganz, who heads both the Yesha Council and the Binyamin Regional Council, welcomed the move, saying, “Judea and Samaria are crucial for the security of central Israel, and strengthening them reinforces Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Modi’in, and Jerusalem.

 “Especially in these difficult days, when we are at war for our home, strengthening the communities in the land of our ancestors is the proper Zionist response to the countries that are trying to promote a stranglehold on Israel by establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of the land over the heads of our children,” Ganz explained.Naturally, the EU condemned the moves “in the strongest terms possible.”

Be that as it may, and whether one supports the move or not, the issue that arises following last week’s cabinet decision – and any time the government responds to Palestinian statehood moves by announcing new settlements and more sanctions against the PA as it has done in the past – is the timing.

It’s impossible to ignore the subtext here that Israel is retaliating to a deliberately detrimental move being committed against it by implementing its own intentionally detrimental move – a case of tit-for-tat schoolyard brinkmanship. You do something bad; we’re going to do something worse. Using the threat of settlements as a “punishment” feeds directly into the narrative that an Israeli presence on the West Bank is an obstacle to a peace agreement and is inherently counterproductive.

Time to set a policy

Instead of utilizing settlements as a stick-out-your-tongue “oh yeah?” weapon, Israel needs to finally reach a consensus and set a policy regarding the territories. Suppose it’s government policy that no parts of Judea and Samaria will ever be given up to make way for a Palestinian state. In that case, there’s no reason for cabinet declarations like last week’s. Israelis should be encouraged to move to settlements, and there should be a massive building drive.

At the same time, if the policy, even after October 7, leaves room for a future accommodation with the Palestinians that would cede areas in Judea and Samaria and consolidate some settlements, then there’s also no reason for last week’s cabinet declaration, which would make that already unlikely reality even more distant.

The punishment of more settlements as a reaction to regional events must be taken off the table. It should be policy, not a knee-jerk reaction, that drives the government’s decisions. It’s time to decide.