Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon claimed today that Jewish settlements on the West Bank were helping the Western world’s defense posture in the region. He said he did not think the Carter Administration understood this but saw signs that the Reagan Administration might be more receptive to his thesis.
Sharon, who heads the Ministerial Settlement Committee, spoke to foreign correspondents who he conducted on a tour of four West Bank settlements. He noted that 55 new settlements have been established in the territory since the Likud government took office in 1977 bringing the total on the West Bank and Golan Heights to 85 with a Jewish population of about 27,000.
Sharon stressed that his strong advocacy of Jewish settlement in the occupied territories was not based on historic connections or religious beliefs such as motivate the Gush Emunim settlers who comprise much of the West Bank’s Jewish population. Defense and security considerations alone shape his views, Sharon said.
According to the Minister, who is a retired general, Jewish settlements at strategic points was the only way to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and therefore they were important to the Western world’s defense against Soviet encroachment. A Palestinian state or one controlled by the Palestine Liberation Organization would inevitably by used as a toe-hold for further Soviet penetration into the Middle East, Sharon contended.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
