Israel’s President Affirms “Right to Settle West Bank”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who during his first year in office has earned across-the-spectrum respect for his attitude of inclusiveness and his commitment to “being the president of all the people,” has come under attack for affirming Israel’s “right to build” communities on land Israel conquered in the 1967 war and which is claimed by the Palestinians as the site of their future state. Although Israel’s supporters present legal arguments justifying Jewish building on the land, the majority of the international community accepts the Palestinian position that Israel’s West Bank towns are illegal according to international law even though the issue has not been adjudicated. Since 1967, Israel has allowed more than 350,000 Jews to build homes in the West Bank. The Palestinians also claim east Jerusalem where more than 150,000 Jews live, but Israel has annexed those areas despite the Palestinian claim and refuses to lump the Jerusalem issue together with the larger issue of “settlements.” While hosting representatives of Israelis who live on post-1967 lands in his office, Rivlin said, “We must not give anyone the sense that we are in any doubt about our right to our land. For me, the settlement of the land of Israel is an expression of that right, our historical right, our national right.” Rivlin came under verbal attack from Israel’s political right wing when he characterized the Jews who firebombed a Palestinian home killing two as “terrorists.”