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Reinvigorating the Discussion of Israel's Rights in the West Bank

(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Avi Bell - The Commission to Examine the Status of Building in Judea and Samaria (the "Levy report") has drawn criticism for its inclusion of a section concerning the lawfulness of Israeli settlement activity. But the report's argument is surprisingly modest in substance; it does little more than endorse the traditional official Israeli position that the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the West Bank, and in any event does not bar Israeli settlements. Some have argued that by asserting its legal rights, Israel will signal that it is unwilling to entertain "land for peace" compromises. This seems a doubtful thesis. Israel has asserted its legal rights to Jerusalem for decades, but yet repeatedly offered compromises on its rights in the city. What the Levy report has done is to reinvigorate the discussion of the legitimacy of Israel's position under international law after many years in which Israel has been silent about its legal rights. The writer is a professor in the Rackman Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University and the University of San Diego School of Law.
2012-07-27 00:00:00
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