The October 7 massacre and the debate over Haredi military enlistment have pushed one of Israel’s traditional political fault lines somewhat into the background: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the future of the West Bank.
Less than a month before the election, ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth asked the parties where they stand on settlement construction, Israeli sovereignty, a future Palestinian state, illegal outposts and Palestinian construction in Area C.
Yashar!
“Yashar! supports strengthening the settlement blocs and establishing new communities legally, in accordance with Israel’s national interests and the recommendations of the security establishment.”
On a future diplomatic agreement, the party said: “The establishment of a Palestinian state is not on the agenda as far as we are concerned. We have no plan to evacuate communities as part of a diplomatic arrangement.”
On sovereignty: “Yashar! opposes moves that would endanger the Jewish majority in the State of Israel, something that would lead to a binational state. Israel has no interest in assuming responsibility for the civilian lives of some 2 million Palestinians.”
The party said it would strengthen existing communities and promote legal construction, while examining the legalization of unauthorized outposts on a case-by-case basis. It also supports enforcement against illegal Palestinian construction in Area C.
Likud
Likud declined to respond, saying only that it “does not participate in questionnaires.”
Beyachad
“We support Jewish settlement anywhere it is carried out legally. We oppose a Palestinian state and the transfer of territory.”
On evacuating settlements: “We oppose the evacuation of Jewish communities built legally under any circumstances.”
On sovereignty, the party cited Naftali Bennett’s 2012 plan: “Area C is viewed as a future sovereign part of the State of Israel. Obviously, discretion must be exercised regarding the timing.”
The party said illegal Palestinian construction should be removed, while Israeli outposts on legally held land should be regularized. Construction on private land without authorization, it said, should be evacuated.
Yisrael Beytenu
“Yisrael Beytenu supports strengthening settlement in Judea and Samaria, including advancing construction in the E1 area. Decisions on establishing new communities, their location and scope, should be based on security and planning considerations.”
On the Palestinian Authority, the party said: “Thirty-three years after the Oslo Accords, it is clear that the experiment failed. The Palestinian Authority has become a terrorist organization specializing in diplomatic terrorism, and we must think intelligently about how to cancel the Oslo Accords and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.”
(Photo: Elisha Ben Kimon)
On sovereignty: “We support applying Israeli sovereignty to Area C.”
The party also called for stronger enforcement against illegal Palestinian construction and said unauthorized Israeli construction should be removed.
The Democrats
“The October 7 massacre proved the failure of the concept of ‘managing the conflict.’ For years Netanyahu strengthened Hamas and weakened the Palestinian Authority, and the State of Israel paid the price in the worst disaster in its history.”
The party said the IDF and Shin Bet should retain full freedom of action against terrorism, “but alongside military strength, a diplomatic-security strategy is required.”
On illegal outposts: “We will evacuate illegal outposts that create points of friction.”
On a future agreement: “Israel is a Jewish and democratic state, and in order to remain so we must strive for separation as part of a regional move with the United States and moderate Arab states, with security guarantees and without compromising Israel’s security.”
United Torah Judaism
The party does not have a unified flagship policy on the West Bank. Agudat Yisrael, its Hasidic faction, generally leans further to the right, while Degel HaTorah, its Lithuanian faction, tends to take a more moderate position.
Neither faction has made West Bank policy a central campaign issue, preferring to focus on Haredi concerns.
Shas
Shas says that, as one of the “founders of the right-wing bloc,” it has supported initiatives promoted by Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit.
The party does not make West Bank settlement policy a central campaign issue, but it opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and has backed settlement initiatives advanced by Bezalel Smotrich and other right-wing parties.
Otzma Yehudit
“Otzma Yehudit supports establishing new communities in all parts of Judea and Samaria, and certainly opposes evacuating communities and farms.”
On sovereignty: “We will work to apply full Israeli sovereignty, dismantle the Palestinian Authority of its assets and weapons, and use all security and government mechanisms to encourage voluntary migration from Judea and Samaria and Gaza.”
On unauthorized Israeli outposts, the party gave a brief answer: “We will regularize them.”
Joint List
“The occupation is the root of all evil,” the party said, objecting to ynet’s terminology and calling instead for use of the phrase “the occupied West Bank.”
“All settlements, which constitute a violation of international law and are even defined as a war crime, must be evacuated immediately and without delay,” the party said.
On sovereignty: “There cannot and will not be any such ‘regularization.’ These are dangerous messianic fantasies that violate the principles of justice and universal morality and amount to institutionalizing apartheid and Jewish supremacy beyond the Green Line.”
On Palestinian construction in Area C: “It is none of Israel’s business what Palestinians do on their own land.”
On illegal Israeli outposts: “Evacuate, evacuate and evacuate.”
Religious Zionism-Zehut
“We have carried out an enormous, unprecedented revolution in settlement in Judea and Samaria that has, in practice, eliminated the idea of a Palestinian state.”
The party said that since the beginning of the current term it had regularized what it described as all “young settlements,” declared 104 new communities and established 160 agricultural farms.
On E1, it said: “We approved 3,401 housing units in a historic strategic move that strengthens continuity between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.”
E1
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
On sovereignty: “Religious Zionism supports applying full Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and bringing hundreds of thousands of additional settlers.”
On unauthorized outposts: “Full regularization without exception.”
Amcha Yisrael
“We believe in the right of the people of Israel to its land and support establishing communities in Judea and Samaria and throughout the country.”
On evacuating settlements: “The October 7 massacre and the war in Gaza proved once and for all that evacuating communities and transferring them to the enemy is an existential danger, not a solution.”
On sovereignty: “Our position is that a Palestinian state will never be established alongside us. To eliminate that idea, the state must deepen its hold on the land and apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and everywhere in the country.”
The party also called for the immediate demolition of illegal Palestinian construction and said Israel should seek to legalize Israeli holdings wherever possible while maintaining the rule of law.
The Reservists and the Economic Party
“We support settlement throughout all parts of the State of Israel. The strategy is to seize commanding terrain and agricultural land.”
On future evacuations: “No. Anything established with the approval of the state and the IDF will remain.”
On sovereignty: “The party supports sovereignty through actions, not words. If there is an opportunity to apply Israeli law, for example in the Jordan Valley, the blocs or another strategic area, we will support it.”
On illegal construction: “Strict enforcement, full evacuation.”
Ra’am
Ra’am supports advancing a negotiated two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would be established alongside Israel.
The party opposes extending Israeli sovereignty over West Bank territory and supports resolving the issue through an agreement between the sides.
It also opposes policies that prevent Palestinians from developing and building in Area C. The status of illegal Israeli outposts, according to the party, should be determined as part of a future diplomatic agreement.
Blue and White
“The party supports strengthening settlement in Judea and Samaria, with an emphasis on the Jordan Valley, the mountain ridge communities, the southern Hebron Hills and the seam-line area.”
The party said its framework, similar to the Trump plan, would not require evacuating settlements but would instead create infrastructure intended to provide “maximum security and maximum freedom of movement.”
On unauthorized construction, it said: “Part of the rule of law is enforcing building laws for the entire population, and therefore we will strengthen enforcement forces and their authority.”