Israel

THE IDF IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Figure 16. Israeli Settlements in the Golan Heights, 1985

Figure 17. Israeli Settlements in the West Bank, October 1986

Figure 18. Israeli Settlements in the Gaza Strip, January 1988

In the course of the June 1967 War, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula. As a result of the 1979 Treaty of Peace Between Egypt and Israel, the Sinai Peninsula was restored to Egypt. Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem soon after the June 1967 War, reasserting this fact in July 1980, and in 1981 it annexed the Golan Heights (see fig. 16). As of 1988, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with a combined population of at least 1,400,000 Arabs, remained under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. The 57,000 Jews residing in settlements in the two territories in 1988 came under the central government of Israel proper (see figs. 17 and 18).

The primary mission of the military government was to maintain internal security in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Border Police, the Shin Bet, the Israel Police, and the IDF all shared in the task of maintaining order. Immediately upon occupation of the territories in June 1967, Israel launched an intense pacification program. Harsh measures were used to suppress local noncooperation campaigns, strikes, and especially terrorist activities. Local residents whom Israeli officials deemed subversive were deported, Arab homes believed to house anti-Israeli activists and their supporters were destroyed, and dissenters could be placed in administrative detention for up to six months. These and other repressive measures derived from the emergency regulations of the British Mandate period.

Data as of December 1988