Professor Hillel Frisch advocates expanding settlements in the West Bank — Jerusalem Post
In Israel, Hillel Frisch, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University, advocates extensive Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a column for the Jerusalem Post. In the author’s view, this should be part of Israel’s security policy rather than be limited to individual strategic areas.
Debate over strategic areas
Frisch argues against the approaches of geographer Arnon Sofer and geostrategy expert Efraim Inbar. According to the column’s author, Sofer criticized extensive settlement outside relatively small enclaves and called for focusing on the Galilee and the Negev. Inbar, Frisch notes, advocated selective strategic settlements in the Jerusalem area and the Jordan Valley.
Frisch himself believes that almost all of the West Bank highlands are of strategic importance. He refers to the proximity of this area to Israel’s coast and cities: from Nablus to the sea, he says, it is about 35 kilometers in a straight line. The author also claims that aircraft taking off from Ben-Gurion Airport can be observed from the highlands near Budrus, while Beersheba is visible from the Dahiriya area.
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The author’s security arguments
Frisch asserts that Israel Defense Forces control alone is insufficient without the presence of settlements. In his view, the need to protect settlers encourages the military to patrol the territories more actively, allegedly narrowing the opportunities for armed groups to prepare attacks.
The author links the high level of Palestinian terrorism to areas where there have been few Israeli settlements, including Jenin. As another example, he cites farms that, according to him, are increasingly appearing between the Jordan Valley and the mountain ridge with Palestinian localities. Frisch claims that they contributed to a recent reduction in terrorism and an increased sense of security on the Allon Road.
Hillel Frisch is also a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS).
