Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., September 24, 2009 Tishrei 6, 5770 | | Israel Time: 21:45 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Culture Strenger than Fiction Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Magazine Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Last update - 14:24 20/07/2009
The painful cost to Israel of its settler adventure
By Bradley Burston
Tags: IsraelNews, Barack Obama 

Click here for more articles by Bradley Burston

[This is the third installment in theOutpost Watch series]
___________________________


As friction between the Obama administration and Israel mounts over Washington's repeated calls for a freeze on settlement construction, anxious supporters of Israel's West Bank settlement enterprise ask one question with ever greater urgency and frequency:

Why should settlers have to pay the price for peace between Israel and the Palestinians?

The question is intended to be rhetorical, meant to dismiss and deflect pressure to curb expansion of West Bank enclaves.

But in a real sense, it is precisely the question of the moment. Why, in fact, should settlers be made to pay the price for peace?

The answer, in short: Because of what the settlement movement has cost us, cost Israel. And because of what it is costing Israel now.

1. The cost in dollars

The settlement movement has cost Israel some $100 billion over the past 40 years.

Setting aside the considerable waste and graft in building projects in the West Bank and Gaza, the cost to Israel's development has been incalculable. Settlement in remote areas has siphoned off critically needed funds for investment in employment, infrastructure, housing and social welfare in central Israel, the Galillee and the Negev.

Huge expenditures on West Bank road construction, including parallel highways intended only for use by Israelis, and roads built at great expense to remote and often illegal settlements, have taken a human toll as well. They have put off the upgrading of dangerous roads [designated "red highways"] within Israel, adding materially to one of the country's most lethal problems. Last year more than 440 people died on Israel's highways, more than 12 times the number of Israelis killed in terror attacks.

2. The cost to Israel's security

For decades, the enormous burdens of guarding settlements, policing roadblocks and maintaining the far-reaching bureaucracy of occupation have robbed the IDF of vitally needed resources of time and funding for military training.

In recent months, as Haaretz military commentator Amir Oren has reported, Prime Minister Netanyahu's wrangling with President Obama over settlement construction has been doing damage to the IDF's capability to face the threat posed by Iran.

3. The cost to Israeli democracy and the rule of law

The unwillingness of the settlement movement to brook compromise, even when in direct defiance of national consensus, and its explicit threats to exploit Israel's precarious political system to topple any democratically elected government which makes significant progress in negotiations with the Palestinians, places the very nature of Israeli democracy in doubt.

The double standard which for decades has favored settlers with inexpensive housing, heavily subsidized social services, and blind-eye building permits has long been accompanied by a kid-gloves approach regarding settler violence against Palestinians and their property.


4. The cost to Israel's diplomatic credibility

Both in established settlements and in outposts acknowledged by Israel as illegal, settlers and settlement planners have covertly bent and distorted zoning procedures, military directives, and government decrees in order to boost settlement, block Palestinian construction, agriculture, and access to employment, and effectively neutralize measures intended to foster Israeli-Palestinian peace progress.

Measures aimed at driving a secure wedge between settlers and Palestinians have had the effect of tarnishing Israel's international image, and have kept many nations from normalizing and strengthening diplomatic ties with Israel.

The settlers' rejection of all territorial compromise renders moot all proposals similar to the Arab League peace initiative.

5. The cost to Israel's relationship with the U.S.

With every move of ostentatious defiance mounted by the Netanyahu government, the Obama administration finds the Palestinian Authority a more reliant, cooperative, and businesslike partner for diplomacy and West Bank security.

The gratuitous machismo characterizing many of the declarations of right-wing parties, in particular the shrill back-benchers of Netanyahu's Likud and members of Avigdor Lieberman's indictment-shadowed Yisrael Beiteinu, has done little to win domestic backing in Israel, but has landed with dramatic and destructive effect in Washington.

____________________



View Outpost watch in a larger map

With thanks to Adam Abrams

Follow Bradley Burston on Twitter

Previous Blogs:
How would Israel look if its left finally died?
This is what is wrong with a Jewish state
Slapping Obama, or Please God, keep Israel from making peace
Outpost Watch: Obama's future minefield - and Netanyahu's
I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran
In Iran, upheaval in the streets, but nuclear business as usual
Loving Israel by hating Obama
GM as parable, and Israel's sudden choice: Obama or Kahane
In Israel, Adam Lambert would have won
Obama, Netanyahu, and two states for spoiled brats
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
I'm not naive
Obama at UN : Israeli-Palestinian peace talks "without preconditions."
Distorting Netanyahu
Egyptian magazine published 'humiliating' depiction of Israeli Prime minister
  1.   Excellent! 14:09  |  Dan 20/07/09
  2.   Burston a sucker for Pal propaganda? Why the mistakes? 14:11  |  Joe Sittizen 20/07/09
  3.   the painful cost of wasting time on stupid meanderings 14:28  |  eliot 20/07/09
  4.   A 1947 question. 14:39  |  Apa 20/07/09
  5.   Remember Gush Kativ 14:39  |  Anshel 20/07/09
  6.   cost of settlers 14:42  |  Frank Zabow 20/07/09
  7.   Correction 14:42  |  Solomon 20/07/09
  8.   Burston is a voice of reason 14:46  |  WHG 20/07/09
  9.   Cutie Burston ,how `bout owing up to Oslo disaster? 14:49  |  Absolute Sweden 20/07/09
  10.   #3 15:01  |  sharon 20/07/09
  11.   Burston & Settlements 15:27  |  Bruria 20/07/09
  12.   One moe thing 15:29  |  Jewish 20/07/09
  13.   Burston is Being Unfair 15:29  |  Walid 20/07/09
  14.   The cost to come will not be measured in terms of pain 15:33  |  Ivar 20/07/09
  15.   Painful cost of Israelis letting it happen 15:34  |  David 20/07/09
  16.   Settlement is a continuation of settling Land of Israel 15:39  |  Sam 20/07/09
  17.   Obviously, this makes no difference 15:42  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/07/09
  18.   Unfair scapegoating -and denies the real cause for the conflict 15:51  |  Shalom Freedman 20/07/09
  19.   Bradley - YOU are also a Settler! 16:00  |  Gershon 20/07/09
  20.   The Settlement Movement was a disaster from the start 16:47  |  Lee 20/07/09
  21.   "SETTLEMENTS" are a product of not the cause of the problems 16:49  |  PETER SM 20/07/09
  22.   #19 perfect 16:53  |  baruch 20/07/09
  23.   Shalom Freedman Perpetuates the Myth 16:53  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/07/09
  24.   Talking sense to the insensate 17:03  |  Mark Lincoln 20/07/09
  25.   premise illogical 17:05  |  David M 20/07/09
  26.   Walid - Why in the World ? 17:13  |  Jane 20/07/09
  27.   The biggest cost - 40 years of diverted focus 17:15  |  Papamaneiros 20/07/09
  28.   PETER SM-Sorry, it`s just not working anymore 17:18  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/07/09
  29.   A 1947 question. 17:27  |  Cesare 20/07/09
  30.   Burston`s slave mentality 17:30  |  Justin White 20/07/09
  31.   Great article 17:42  |  andrew 20/07/09
  32.   No psm here is the problem 17:48  |  raphael 20/07/09
  33.   Palestinians want to have it both ways 17:51  |  Sam 20/07/09
  34.   its a question of policy not settlements 17:56  |  David 20/07/09
  35.   Zionits think there is a magic border they can stop 17:58  |  georgna 20/07/09
  36.   Zionits think there is a magic border they can stop 17:58  |  georgna 20/07/09
  37.   The one minor benefit Burston forgot 18:01  |  Phil 20/07/09
  38.   settlements were to part of a land swap for stronger borders 18:08  |  Michael Bloodyscot 20/07/09
  39.   Settlements keep Israel safe 18:53  |  Benjamin 20/07/09
  40.   Burstonj Forgot 18:57  |  HJoe 20/07/09
  41.   The Fact Is... 19:15  |  Cool B 20/07/09
  42.   THANK YOU , GREAT ARTICLE 19:24  |  j 20/07/09
  43.   ALL "settlements" are Illegal 19:25  |  Lee Kaplan 20/07/09
  44.   To the world Israel = Hooligan Settlers. It`s a shame really, be- 20:04  |  Gail 20/07/09
  45.   Missing dots for pre-1967 settlments 20:19  |  Aaron 20/07/09
  46.   High cost 20:27  |  Sandy 20/07/09
  47.   Peace from Pharaoh? 20:30  |  Israeli 20/07/09
  48.   David M #26: that`s speculative argument - 20:32  |  ivo 20/07/09
  49.   Why should Israel pay the price? 20:33  |  Michael N 20/07/09
  50.   Burston the blind 20:36  |  Jon 20/07/09
  51.   What don`t you give away costly lands 20:41  |  Nora 20/07/09
  52.   Apa #4, Cesare #31: maybe you should read what happened in 1947 20:49  |  ivo 20/07/09
  53.   LET ME DISPEL A MISCONCEPTION 20:53  |  Ian 20/07/09
  54.   Lee Kaplen #45: Settlements are not illegal 20:54  |  Steve Klein 20/07/09
  55.   To Gershon et al 20:54  |  BDF 20/07/09
  56.   No such thing as Settlements its hate speech 21:02  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 20/07/09
  57.   Tel Aviv is a settlement to the PLO and Hamas as well 21:05  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 20/07/09
  58.   Re#45 21:14  |  Joe 20/07/09
  59.   Tell it like it is, Bradley! Todah! 21:19  |  Aharon 20/07/09
  60.   The painful cost to Israel of its settler adventure 21:28  |  flora 20/07/09
  61.   #45 Lee-On what basis are they illegal? 21:29  |  Justin White 20/07/09
  62.   The painful cost to Israel of its settler adventure 21:37  |  Yaakov 20/07/09
  63.   To Yaakov Sullivan (#s 17,23,28, etc.) On what the world "sees" 22:01  |  flyingdoc57 20/07/09
  64.   Aharon #55: By 1967, ben Gurion was an old man. 22:33  |  Steve Klein 20/07/09
  65.   Give some, they want more 22:39  |  Gilad 20/07/09
  66.   The real cost 23:00  |  Michael 20/07/09
  67.   Yaakov stay on the can. 23:09  |  petra 20/07/09
  68.   Nora, you nailed it, BINGO! 23:12  |  petra 20/07/09
  69.   Not Illegal In the Least 23:30  |  Jane 20/07/09
  70.   To Yaakov Sullivan (#`s 17, 23, 28, 62, and more to come) 23:54  |  flyingdoc57 20/07/09
  71.   Benjamin #39 00:02  |  michael 21/07/09
  72.   ian #53 00:07  |  michael 21/07/09
  73.   Sad truth 00:30  |  Philip 21/07/09
  74.   #61 Justin White 00:56  |  Courcey 21/07/09
  75.   You forgot 0. 01:26  |  robk 21/07/09
  76.   Stop settler bashing 01:34  |  Eli 21/07/09
  77.   Bradley to the International Community 02:09  |  Chris Linthwaite 21/07/09
  78.   the gigantic cost of a WB pull-out needs to be calculated, too - 02:40  |  ivo 21/07/09
  79.   #56 Quite right chaim---they are "illegal settlements" 03:33  |  Labhras 21/07/09
  80.   to Ivo, Prague 04:33  |  David M 21/07/09
  81.   SULLIVAN .Settlements are the direct outcome of Arab refusal 06:13  |  PETER SM 21/07/09
  82.   Israel has recognized borders. 06:20  |  James Hovland 21/07/09
  83.   Appreciation 06:28  |  Mustafa 21/07/09
  84.   The Pleasure Principle at work? 06:29  |  Mark Lincoln 21/07/09
  85.   The settlers would be nowhere had it not been for the support 07:17  |  Peace now 21/07/09
  86.   #26, Jane, if only Walid could give it a rest 10:31  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 21/07/09
  87.   #72 james howland knows something i dont 10:32  |  v hardman 21/07/09
  88.   talking of "settler adventure" 10:37  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 21/07/09
  89.   Tell The Whole History Because Half Truths Are lies Too 11:09  |  Tim R 21/07/09
  90.   The Holy Settlers 11:11  |  Udi Carmeli 21/07/09
  91.   If the successive governments... 12:12  |  sh 21/07/09
  92.   Udi Carmeli 12:16  |  sh 21/07/09
  93.   #76 Eli of Tel Aviv 12:35  |  Chris Linthwaite 21/07/09
  94.   David M #80: I wouldn`t be so hard on them - 12:45  |  ivo 21/07/09
  95.   JAMES HOVLAND really? 12:49  |  PETER SM 21/07/09
  96.   Tim R #89: there`s wide agreement on keeping Gush Etzion etc. - 13:07  |  ivo 21/07/09
  97.   The painful cost to the settlers themselves 13:17  |  Eli E 21/07/09
  98.   Jane 13:57  |  Walid 21/07/09
  99.   You forgot the other settlements: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem 14:13  |  Shmuel 21/07/09
  100.   Eli E - beautiful, completely accurately observed post 14:14  |  sh 21/07/09
  101.   #99 Shmuel 14:23  |  Chris Linthwaite 21/07/09
  102.   Jane, have you been to the West Bank 17:29  |  Ibrahim 21/07/09
  103.   When was it NOT painful to be a Jew? 18:19  |  petra 21/07/09
  104.   Walid - Disgusting IF True 18:19  |  Jane 21/07/09
  105.   #88 What has the Al Qaida Story to do 18:28  |  Ardi 21/07/09
  106.   The expenditure is relative to the importance of this land 18:38  |  Jason 21/07/09
  107.   All of This Pain 18:39  |  Yaakov Sullivan 21/07/09
  108.   #99 Shmuel, we were doing fine in Poland 19:09  |  Ardi 21/07/09
  109.   To: Eli E 19:10  |  Jason 21/07/09
  110.   settlers are not a private affair mr.burston 19:14  |  hieronimus 21/07/09
  111.   Mr. Burston....in the mean time 19:44  |  Lynn 21/07/09
  112.   Let`s look at it in four dimensions? 19:51  |  Fortuna Benmayor 21/07/09
  113.   settler adventure & Arab belligerence 20:12  |  Irina 21/07/09
  114.   Occupation is an Unnecessary Burden 20:41  |  Vladek 21/07/09
  115.   Israel`s pain has come almost exclusively from concessions. 21:02  |  Chaim 21/07/09
  116.   The left needs to pay the price for it`s rejection by Israel. 21:10  |  Chaim 21/07/09
  117.   #69, Jane, agreed 21:55  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 21/07/09
  118.   The cost of the comunist propaganda 22:11  |  Ana 21/07/09
  119.   Bruria from Haifa is right; time to butt out! 22:47  |  george 21/07/09
  120.   American Jews 23:03  |  Rusty 21/07/09
  121.   Bruria: No, we won`t "butt out" Those days are over 23:11  |  Aharon 21/07/09
  122.   And another thing 23:23  |  Sylvie 21/07/09
  123.   #88 Haaretz hasn`t reported on the Jordanian 00:38  |  Lynn 22/07/09
  124.   Cost of Settlers 01:55  |  Julian 22/07/09
  125.   Settlements are a minor issue, really. 03:53  |  Rod 22/07/09
  126.   Burston on the folly of Colonialism 05:14  |  Cynical American 22/07/09
  127.   The PAINFUL cost has yet to be paid by Israel 05:24  |  Joe 22/07/09
  128.   The PAINFUL cost has yet to be paid by Israel 06:29  |  Joe 22/07/09
  129.   Painful cost/Shimon Peres/politics and time 07:21  |  Judy Abeles Eliasov 22/07/09
  130.   Well done Burston 07:51  |  Hannah 22/07/09
  131.   Years ago the settlements were a dream for most Israelis, except 09:13  |  S 22/07/09
  132.   Bradley, In a broad sense--you all need to leave ... 11:24  |  Dutch 22/07/09
  133.   ivo #96 Maybe ... Maybe NOT ... 12:18  |  Tim R 22/07/09
  134.   Dutch #110 12:35  |  Tim R 22/07/09
  135.   112 Tim R, 13:41  |  Dutch 22/07/09
  136.   The painful cost to Israel of Bradley Burston 14:02  |  Jameel @ The Muqata 22/07/09
  137.   #114 A silly argument, Tim R 14:20  |  Johnboy 22/07/09
  138.   Dutch #119 Who Are you Trying To Fool? 00:57  |  Tim R 23/07/09
  139.   Johnboy #121 You Are An Expert At Presenting Silly Arguments 01:30  |  Tim R 23/07/09
  140.   Jonboy (#121) pwns TimR (#117) 12:38  |  Ari Gold 23/07/09
  141.   Rod @ #119 - that might not be necessary 13:38  |  Ari Gold 23/07/09
  142.   Ari Gold #124 Thank You For Saying Nothing 14:03  |  Tim R 23/07/09
  143.   EXCELLENT WORK! THANKS! 15:49  |  Andrea 23/07/09
  144.   re to # 126 cynical American 23:21  |  Michael Dar 24/07/09
  145.   Not so fast! The Pals will be grateful... 07:45  |  Wod 26/07/09
  146.   Wod #144 Did You Say You Are From... 15:53  |  Tim R 26/07/09
  147.   Burston you are a genius! 19:21  |  Michael Dar 27/07/09
  148.   I don`t see how any of this can be disputed 02:31  |  newageblues 29/07/09
  149.   Who will pay to move the settlers out 14:21  |  Dekel 29/07/09
  150.   #11 Bruria 00:45  |  Steve 30/07/09
  151.   Steve #150 2nd Try 12:46  |  Tim R 31/07/09
  152.   WEST BANK SETTLERS 00:03  |  ALEX Bar-Elan 01/08/09
  153.   TO APA # 4 00:18  |  Alex Bar-Elan 01/08/09
  154.   Tim R - Silly arguments?? Look at your own 04:10  |  CJ 01/08/09
  155.   Well-Said Bradley 09:45  |  B`galil 01/08/09
  156.   CJ #154 17:50  |  Tim R 01/08/09
  157.   Tim R 15:29  |  CJ 02/08/09
  158.   CJ #157 01:52  |  Tim R 03/08/09
  159.   CJ #157 2nd Try 11:41  |  Tim R 03/08/09
  160.   Great article 15:10  |  American People 04/08/09
  161.   על אלה אני בכיה 18:21  |  Jeremiah 05/08/09
  162.   israel 21:33  |  josh 24/09/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Holiday Greetings from the Heart
LIBI-Caring for Israeli Soldiers
WORLD'S LARGEST YOM KIPPUR SERVICE
150 Locations. 40,000 Participants Great Investment. Guaranteed Results
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Amazing Jewelry
Visit SoKoBe.com for the best priced fine jewelry in the world
More Headlines
21:21 Netanyahu slams UN, challenges it to confront Iran
21:32 Israel relieved as Goldstone Report scantly mentioned at UN
19:32 UN Security Council calls for nuclear weapons states to disarm
16:50 Spain contest bans Israeli team affiliated with West Bank college
17:01 Exiled Iranians name sites of alleged nuclear bomb research
17:16 Abbas: Partial halt on settlement activity is not a freeze
15:52 Day after UN walkout, German FM calls Ahmadinejad 'disgrace'
19:56 Leonard Cohen performs in Israel after selling out concert in record time
00:19 TV ROUND-UP: Obama calls for Israel-PA peace talks 'without preconditions'
18:40 As UNRWA turns 60, it asks for more funding for Palestinian refugees
10:35 WATCH: UNGA highlights - Ahmadinejad causes walkout, Gadhafi rips up UN charter, Obama pushes Mideast peace
15:43 Iraqi PM: Resolving dispute with Syria `almost hopeless`
16:19 Slain teen's sister denies victim drank alcohol before murdered
08:46 ICC may try IDF officer in wake of Goldstone Gaza report
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved