Geographic Perspectives in Southwest Asia

After the 1973 war, the Palestinians emerged as Israel’s principal opponent. Egypt and Jordan eventually renounced their claims to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively, and recognized the Palestinians as the legitimate rulers of these territories. The Palestinians in turn saw themselves as the legitimate rulers of Palestine, which they defined as territory including the State of Israel. Palestinian and Israeli perspectives over the future have not been reconciled over the past half century.

Israeli Perspectives

In dealing with its neighbors, Israel considers two elements of the local landscape especially meaningful. First, Israel is a small country (smaller than New Hampshire), with a Jewish majority, surrounded by a region of hostile neighbors. In contrast, Islamic Arab countries in the region encompass more than 25 million square kilometers (10 million square miles). Nearly all Israelis live within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of an international border, making them vulnerable to attack.

Second, the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is divided into three narrow, roughly parallel physical regions (Figure 6-67):

• A coastal plain along the Mediterranean Sea.

• A series of hills reaching elevations above 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).

• The Jordan River valley, much of which is below sea level.

Physical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean

The physical geography consists of narrow coastal lowlands and interior highlands interrupted by the Jordan River valley.

The U.N. plan for the partition of the Palestine Mandate in 1947 (as modified slightly by the armistice ending the 1948–1949 war) allocated most of the coastal plain to Israel, whereas Jordan took most of the hills between the coastal plain and the Jordan River valley, a region generally called the West Bank (of the Jordan River). Farther north, Israel’s territory extended eastward to the Jordan River valley, but Syria controlled the highlands east of the valley.

Jordan and Syria used the hills between 1948 and 1967 as staging areas to attack Israeli settlements on the coastal plain and in the Jordan River valley. Israel captured these highlands during the 1967 war to stop attacks on the lowland population. Israel still has military control over the Golan Heights and West Bank, and attacks by Palestinians against Israeli citizens have continued.

After capturing the West Bank from Jordan in 1967, Israel permitted Jews to construct settlements in the territory. Some Israelis built settlements in the West Bank because they regarded the territory as an integral part of the biblical Jewish homeland, known as Judea and Samaria. Others migrated to the settlements because of a shortage of affordable housing inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders. Jews comprise about 20 percent of the West Bank population, and Palestinians see their immigration as a hostile act. Israel has military control over the portion of the West Bank where most of the Jews live.

To deter Palestinian suicide bombers from entering Israel, the Israeli government has constructed barriers along the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and suburbs of Jerusalem. The West Bank barrier is especially controversial because it places on Israel’s side around 9 percent of the land, home to around 435,000 Israelis, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. Naming the structure reflects the differences. Israel calls the barrier a “security fence,” and Palestinians call it a “racial segregation wall.” Neutral sources call it a “separation barrier.” Israeli Jews have been divided between those who wished to retain some of the West Bank and those who wished to make compromises with the Palestinians in return for formal recognition and a stable peace. A large majority of Israelis supported construction of a barrier around the West Bank. The barrier has reduced the number of deadly Palestinian suicide attacks within Israel proper.

Pause & Reflect 6.4.3

How does the physical geography of Israel affect Israeli perspectives on the country’s security issues?

Palestinian Perspectives

Five groups of people consider themselves Palestinians:

• People living in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem territories captured by Israel in 1967.

• Some citizens of Israel who are Arabs.

• People who fled from Israel to other countries after the 1948–1949 war.

• People who fled from the West Bank or Gaza to other countries after the 1967 Six-Day War.

• Some citizens of other countries, especially Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

The Palestinian fight against Israel was coordinated by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), under the longtime leadership of Yassir Arafat, until his death in 2004. Israel has permitted the organization of a limited form of government in much of the West Bank and Gaza, called the Palestinian Authority, but Palestinians are not satisfied with either the territory or the power they have received thus far.

The Palestinians are divided by sharp differences, reflected in a struggle for power between the Fatah and Hamas parties. Some Palestinians, especially those aligned with the Fatah Party, are willing to recognize the State of Israel with its Jewish majority in exchange for return of all territory taken by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Other Palestinians, especially those aligned with the Hamas Party, which controls Gaza, do not recognize the right of Israel to exist and want to continue fighting for control of the entire territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The United States, European countries, and Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization.