Green Line (Israel)

The term Green Line is often used to refer to the 1949 Armistice lines established between Israel and its opponents (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt) at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Green Line separates Israel not only from these countries but from territories Israel would later capture in the 1967 Six-Day War, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The name "Green Line" refers to the green pencil used to draw the line on the map during the talks.

Overview

The Green Line encompasses 78% of what was Palestine in 1947. Although the line does not formally denote an official border, as is explicitly stated in the 1949 Armistice Agreement with Jordan ("military considerations only"), in practice it is largely used to differentiate between those areas within the Israeli side of the Line, which are administered as part of the State of Israel, and the areas outside it, which are either administered by the Israeli military or in agreements with the Palestinian National Authority. The extended municipality of Jerusalem constitutes one exception to this: although the parts ruled by Jordan until 1967 fall outside the Green Line, Israel considers them to be sovereign Israeli territory according to the Basic Jerusalem Law (1980). The Golan Heights are another exception, having been informally annexed with the Golan Heights Law (1981). Israeli Settlements are also subject to the laws of the State of Israel rather than its military or the PNA's laws. Most countries and international organizations treat the Line as a de facto border. As of December 2005, the Line formally divides the areas of operation of the Israeli Magen David Adom and the Palestinian Red Crescent, although the former is still responsible for care in Israeli settlements.

Impact

The sections of the Line which delineate the boundaries between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza separated heavily populated regions. As such, drawing the precise line was complicated and the harm caused to peripheral settlements was great. The majority of the line corresponds to the military front of the 1948 War, and while the considerations dictating its placement were primarily military, it soon became clear that in many places it divided towns and villages and separated farmers from their fields. Consequently, the Green Line underwent various slight adjustments, and special arrangments were made for limited movement in certain areas.

Most impacted were (and for the most part, remain) Jerusalem, which the Line divided in half, into East and West Jerusalem; the city of Qalqilyah, which virtually became a Jordanian enclave within Israel, with only a narrow passage connecting it with the West Bank; and the village of Barta'a, which, partially due to errors on the map, was left with one third of its area in the Israeli side and two thirds outside of it. Kibbutz Ramat Rachel was left almost enitrely outside the Israeli portion of the Green Line.

Jewish population

During the war, male Jews who resided east of the Line, in Gush Etzion and the Jewish quarter of East Jerusalem, were taken prisoner by the Jordanians while the women and children were allowed safe passage. The males were allowed to return to Israel after the war. Although the Jordanian King offered protection to Jews who might wish to reside East of the line, few opted to stay within the Jordanian side of the Line.

In July 8, 1948, the Jewish inhabitants of Kfar Darom and Naharayim were evacuated by Israel due to military pressue by Egypt and Jordan respectively. Israel also withdrew villages in the Lebanese Upper Galilee, whereas Syria withdrew from Mishmar ha'Yarden.

Controversially, since the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank in 1967, Israeli governments have promoted the establishment of Jewish settlements south and east of the Line. From August to September 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip and evacuated the Jewish population who lived south of the Line in Gaza back to sovereign Israeli territory. With Ehud Olmert's Convergence plan, Israel has future plans to disengage (if necessary, unilaterally) from much of the West Bank (east of the Line), probably by 2007 or 2008. Unlike the Gaza disengagement, this is expected to correspond much less with the Green Line, primarily by retaining Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem — forming, together with West Jerusalem, Israel's "complete and united" capital in accordance with the 1980 Jerusalem Law — and the large Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank. As well, some of the border is likely to be drawn in relation to the West Bank Barrier. (See BarrierMay2005.png)

Arab population

The majority of Arabs who had inhabited what became the Israeli side of the Line either fled or were expelled during the war. Those Arabs who remained generally became Israeli citizens. The Umm al-Fahm-Baqa al-Gharbiyye-Tira area, known in Israel as "the Triangle," was originally designated to fall under Jordanian jurisdiction, but Israel insisted on having it within its side of the Line, due to military and strategic reasons. To achieve this, a territorial swap was negotiated with Transjordan, giving the latter Israeli territory in the southern hills of Hebron in exchange for "the Triangle" villages in Wadi Ara.

During the Six Day War, Israel occupied extensive territories outside the Green Line which were inhabited by about three million Palestinians, including refugees from the 1947-1949 war. The Green Line remained the administrative border between these territories (with the exception of Jerusalem) and the areas inside the Israeli side of the Green Line.

In 1967, East Jerusalem was annexed into Israel, with its Arab inhabitants given permanent residency status. Domestically, its status as part of Israel was further entrenched with the Jerusalem Law of 1980. In 1981, the rule of law of the State of Israel was extended to the Golan Heights with the Golan Heights Law in what can be seen as an informal annexation.

The Green Line and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The question of whether or to what extent Israel should withdraw its population and forces to its side of the Green Line remains a crucial issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although the Palestinians were not party to the drawing of the Line, its existence plays a key role for the boundaries of the future state they seek.

From the early 1970s on, some elements in the Palestinian national movement, notably in Fatah and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), mooted the possibility of the establishment of a Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967. Nevertheless, the PLO did not recognize it as a prospective border between a Palestinian state and an Israeli state until the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, where this was hinted at. This was further highlighted in the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Unlike Fatah, Hamas, which following the Palestinian legislative election of 2006 controls the Palestinian Legislative Council and Prime Ministership (Fatah controls the Presidency), formally refuses to see the Green Line or one roughly corresponding to it as a prospective border between Israel and a future State of Palestine. Smaller parties and groups such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, the Popular Resistance Committees, and Islamic Jihad lean more toward Hamas than Fatah's position.

During April 2006, Hamas' political branch issued statements which claimed that suicide bombing attacks inside Israel corresponded to a temporary phase of the struggle and are not expected to ensue indefinitely (or until the destruction of Israel, following its official platform). This was, however, quickly contradicted and rejected by the military wing of Hamas.

In Israel, following the legislative election of 2006, it is likely that at least 68 of the Knesset's 120 members will favour a unilateral withdrawal to borders roughly corresponding to the Green Line. One striking development of the election was that Likud, who for decades subscribed to the concept of Greater Israel which ignores the Line, and before the split leading to the founding of Kadima was the ruling and largest party, saw its numbers diminish to one quarter its former strength, its lowest point ever. Thus, only 35 MKs can be seen to be ideologically committed to opposing unilateral withdrawal. The important role the Green Line currently plays in Israeli-Palestinian relations will be greatly diminished once official borders are drawn between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

External links

1948 Arab-Israeli War | Middle East peace efforts