What are the settlements and how did they come to be there?
As the situation stabilised after the Six Day War, some Israeli Jews began to establish communities in the territories captured in the war. Some were religiously inspired, believing it to be their duty to settle on land that was promised in the Bible to the Jewish people. Others were motivated by concerns of national security, believing that the territory belonged rightfully to the Jewish nation and was essential for its future security. Israel’s leaders felt that settlements in certain key strategic locations were important for Israel’s future security. Because the Arab states refused to recognise Israel, prior to the Six Day War, permanent borders were never fixed. For this reason, Israel’s borders remained the temporary ceasefire lines of 1949. These borders made Israel highly vulnerable to a military attack that could divide the country in two. At its narrowest point, the State of Israel between the Green Line (the 1949 armistice line between Israel and Jordan) and the Mediterranea
