The West Bank

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What is the West Bank?

• Shouldn't Israel give the PLO the 'West Bank' in exchange for a promise of
peace?

• Is Israel obligated by any agreements or U.N. Security Council resolutions to give

the entire West Bank to the PLO?

What is the West Bank?

• The West Bank refers to the region of land west of the Jordan River that was
occupied by the Kingdom of Jordan between the years 1948 and 1967. There is no
other significance to its borders. Since 1967, Israel has not annexed that land, but
rather let the inhabitants of that land continue to keep their Jordanian citizenship.
The world, however, no longer refers to its inhabitants as Jordanians; they have
since become 'Palestinians'. The 'West Bank' contains the two most important
cities to Jews: the Old City of Jerusalem and Hebron, the latter contains the tombs
of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The West Bank contains the heart of the Jewish
people, the tribal lands of Judea and Samaria.
- Society for Rational Peace

• It is illogical to think that a bank of such a narrow brook as the Jordan should
spread out over tens of kilometers, from the Allenby Bridge to Elkanah. In Arutz-
7 we say Judea, Samaria, Binyamin, and Gaza. This is much more accurate from a
geographic and historical standpoint.
- Arutz-7

Shouldn't Israel give the PLO the 'West Bank' in exchange for a
promise of peace?
• "No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish people in Israel. No Jew has
the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the authority to do so. Not even the
entire Jewish people today has the authority to yield any part of Israel. It is the
right of the Jewish people over generations, a right which under no condition can
be canceled. Even if Jews in a specific period proclaim that they are relinquishing
this right, they neither have the power nor the authority to deny this right to future
 generations. No concession of this type is binding or obligates the Jewish people.
Our right to the country - to the entire country - exists as an eternal right, and until
the full and complete redemption is realized, we shall not yield our historic right."
- David Ben-Gurion, in his speech at the Basle Zionist Congress, 1937

Is Israel obligated by any agreements or U.N. Security Council

resolutions to give the entire West Bank to the PLO?
• The Oslo 2 Accords make no mention of percentages or the size of territory from
which Israel is to withdraw. There is no basis in the accord for the Palestinian
claim that Israel must pull back from all or most of Judea and Samaria.

• Nowhere in the Oslo Accords does it state that the extent of each withdrawal is to
be a subject of negotiations between the two sides. Israel has the sole authority to
decide the extent of the withdrawals. This position is supported by the United
States. A statement issued by the State Department spokesman on January 15,
1997, at the time of the signing of the Hebron Accord, said, "The Note for the
Record, prepared by the United States at the request of the parties, makes clear
that further redeployment phases are issues for implementation by Israel rather
than issues for negotiation with the Palestinians."

• The Oslo 2 Accords make no mention of percentages or the size of territory from
which Israel is to withdraw. There is no basis in the accord for the Palestinian
claim that Israel must pull back from all or most of Judea and Samaria, nor is
there any basis for asserting that each of the FRDs must encompass a certain
percentage of territory.

• Nowhere in the Oslo Accords or the Hebron Protocol does it state that the extent
of each withdrawal is to be a subject of negotiations between the two sides. Israel
has the sole authority to decide the extent of the withdrawals.
A statement issued by the State Department spokesman on January 15, 1997, at
the time of the signing of the Hebron Accord, said, "The Note for the Record,
prepared by the United States at the request of the parties, makes clear that further
redeployment phases are issues for implementation by Israel rather than issues for
negotiation with the Palestinians."
At a press conference in London on May 5, 1998, U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright said it is "obviously up to the Israelis to decide what their
security requirements are."