A/HRC/22/63 III. Context9 18. Israeli settlements are located beyond the Green Line of 1949 and include structures in East Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank. The Oslo Accords established Area A, comprising approximately 18 per cent of the West Bank and encompassing urban Palestinian areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority; Area B, representing some 22 per cent of the vast majority of Palestinian rural areas, under Palestinian civil control, while the Israeli army has security control; and Area C, comprising an estimated 60 per cent of the territory, under full Israeli control for security, planning and construction purposes. Settlements are generally located among the more vulnerable sections of Palestinian society, predominantly agrarian villages. 19. The mission was informed that settlers may be divided broadly into three categories. The first are those who have moved on quality-of-life grounds and live in settlements close to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The second, ultra-Orthodox Jews, who constitute more than 25 per cent10 of the settler population, live in settlements largely isolated from other Israelis; ultra-Orthodox Jews seem also to be motivated by economic incentives and cheaper housing and are generally found in settlements closer to the Green Line. A third group seems to be motivated by political and religious ideologies; they live in the central part of the West Bank, often very close to Palestinian communities. 20. Since 1967, the Governments of Israel have openly led and directly participated in the planning, construction, development, consolidation and/or encouragement of settlements by including explicit provisions in the fundamental policy instrument (basic policy guidelines), establishing governmental structures and implementing specific measures. These specific measures include (a) building infrastructure; (b) encouraging Jewish migrants to Israel to move to settlements; (c) sponsoring economic activities; (d) supporting settlements through public services delivery and development projects; and (e) seizing Palestinian land, some privately owned, requisitioning land for ―military needs‖, declaring or registering land as ―State land‖ and expropriating land for ―public needs‖. 21. Government investment in the settlements has not been made explicit in the public budget, but allocated through hidden provisions in a process described by the former Head of the Israeli Civil Service Commission, Itzhak Galnoor (1994-1996), as (in 2007) ―partially secretive‖ and (in 2011) as ―a political tool‖. Government investment, excluding military expenses, has fluctuated over the years, with an estimated peak of $795.8 million in 2005.11 Quasi-governmental organizations, funded by the Government, including the World Zionist Organization, also provide funds to the settlements. 22. A governmental scheme of subsidies and incentives has been put in place to encourage Jewish migrants to Israel to move to settlements and to boost their economic development. Settlements have been defined as ―national priority areas‖, and benefit from housing and education subsidies and direct incentives to the industrial, agricultural and tourism sectors. 23. Various sources refer to settlement master plans, including the Allon Plan (1967), the Drobles Plan (1978) – later expanded as the Sharon Plan (1981) – and the Hundred Thousand Plan (1983). Although these plans were never officially approved, they have 9 10 11 6 See also annex I. Dror Etkes and Lara Friedman, ―The Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the West Bank‖, October 2005, available from http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/ultra-orthodox-jews-west-bank. Jeremy M. Sharp, ―U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel‖, Congressional Research Service report, 12 March 2012, available from www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf.