Building Blitz In The West Bank

The Judea and Samaria of our Bible are often referred to these days simply as "The West Bank". The area lies west of the River Jordan, and was under the control of the State of Jordan until 1967, when Israel overran it during the Six Day War. It has since been kept under Israeli control. Israel's Prime Minister Begin insists on referring to it as "Judea and Samaria", declaring the area "belongs to the Jewish people for ever."

Bible references to such places as Bethlehem, Hebron and Sychar leave impressions of small, unhurried communities, continuing over centuries with little change or expansion. As was the case, of course, before 1967, when the old style Arab way of life left the whole area relatively undeveloped.

During the past fifteen years the Israelis have developed just over 100 small settlements in the West Bank area. These settlements are quite widely dispersed. surrounded by barbed wire fences, they form little islands of Jewish pioneers among the predominantly Arab population. Many of the settlers are religious extremists, zealous for the Bible lands promised to the patriarchs, and willing to eke out a living by farming the rocky soil. The settlements also provide useful outposts for military intelligence.

In September, 1982 the President of the USA offered a plan towards a Middle East peace settlement. He proposed that the West Bank and Gaza Strip should become associated with Jordan, and urged the Israelis to stop building further settlements in the territories they occupied in 1967. Israel's response has been a dramatic "building blitz" in the West Bank. They aim to have 100,000 Jewish people living in the territory by the middle of this decade, and envisage the possibility of 1.4 million Jews alongside 1.6 million Arabs in 40 years' time. This policy they hope will make it politically impossible for any future Israeli government to withdraw from the West Bank.

This new development policy is far more ambitious than the old settlements scheme. Suburban-type townships are being created to accommodate upwards of 400 families. Each township will have its own shopping centre, health facilities and schools, but will be linked with good highways to such centres as Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Described as "Levittowns", most of the new suburbs will be within half an hour's commuting time from these large centres.

So the Levittowns hold great financial attraction for middle-class people who need cheap housing. Special low-cost land and low-interest mortgages under the settlement scheme mean that houses and apartments are available at about one third of the normal cost in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Little wonder the scheme is proving extremely popular! Volunteers to populate isolated settlements in rocky farmland were becoming harder to find; but there has been a scramble to secure an apartment or bungalow in a new Levittown.

The pace of development is spectacular, for great resources are being allocated to the project and all is being pushed forward with feverish haste. Syria's refusal to withdraw its army from Eastern Lebanon, and the continued presence there of Palestinian forces, provide Israel with a feasible reason for a continuing military presence in Southern Lebanon. Russia's support of Syria makes the United States hesitant to put undue pressure on Israel. This provides a situation in which Israel feels able to press on with new settlements in the West Bank, and she is making the most of it. One American official has commented, "The President has a choice. He can tell the Israelis that they must stop the settlement or it will cost them dearly. Or he can watch his peace invitation get buried by Israeli bulldozers."

In connection with West Bank area there is an interesting scripture which looks forward to the dramatic crisis at the time of the end, when "all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together" against Jerusalem.

"In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left... the LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah" (Zech. 12:6,7).

Today's military planners in Israel are understandably afraid that the nation's security will be jeopardized if the West Bank is not under Israeli control. The verses quoted from Zechariah indicate that in the final crisis of Israel's military defence the ancient area of Judah will have a vital role. Are we now seeing in the building blitz in Judea and Samaria a trend towards Jewish ascendancy and control in the area, in preparation for that dire future struggle?

unknown | Oct 1983
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