Israel's "Illegal" Outposts

It is always interesting and frequently frustrating to read about Israel's "outposts" and settlements. The article from the 3/14/05 NY Times - Israeli Cabinet Pledges to Raze Some Outposts in West Bank - is no exception. The article states that the Cabinet is going to "dismantle two dozen illegal settlement outposts established in the West Bank". There are two problems here. First, why tear down the housing? Why not leave it for the Palestinians? After all, so many Palestinians homes have been destroyed by the Israeli government, wouldn't it be a nice gesture to leave the house standing? Second, the way the "outposts" are talked about sounds as if the "settlers" just went out there on their own - they did not.

No, Israel has been funding those "outposts". And even before the decision that 105 settlements were illegal (3/10/05), Israel had already reported its intention legitimize 120 illegal settlements (2/25/05). In other words, Israel acknowledged that the settlements were illegal, but that it would "legalize" them. Now how in the world they were (or are) intending to do that remains a mystery.

The outposts are illegal under Israeli law, and under agreements to not expand Israel's control of the West Bank. However, these outposts are established and maintained by Israel. All of the double talk aside, action to remove the settlers from their illegal occupation of territory is so far only talk. Even the Israeli Cabinet's "pledge" contains no time line whatsoever. Given the convoluted history of returning land, does anyone want to make any bets on if those settlers will actually be removed?