Americans For Peace Now - Position On Settlements

Position On Settlements

APN believes that settlements in the West Bank represent a security liability for Israel and an obstacle to future peace efforts, and has advocated that the Bush Administration go on record in opposing the expansion of settlements and in favor of Israel's removing illegal settlement outposts. According to APN, President Bush's oft-repeated vision of a future Palestinian state, living alongside Israel, each country secure in its own borders, can never be realized if Israel continues to expand settlements and further consolidate its hold over land in the West Bank.

APN asserts that the economic and security challenges facing Israel are exacerbated by continued investment in settlements and refusal to rein in renegade settlers who persist in establishing new settlement outposts. Polls show wide support among Israelis for a settlement freeze, dismantling of outposts, and settlement evacuations, and also have shown that most settlers would accept withdrawal from settlements in the context of a peace agreement and a compensation program. APN believes that by making it impossible for Israel to disengage from the West Bank, settlements ensure that the government of Israel will eventually govern an area in which non-Jews outnumber Jews. Israel would thus be forced to choose between remaining a democracy and losing its character as a Jewish state, or retaining its character as Jewish state at the expense of democracy.