A/HRC/22/63 largely been acted upon by successive Governments of Israel. The mission notes a pattern whereby plans developed for the settlements have been mirrored in Government policy instruments and implemented on the ground. 24. The first settlement established was Kefar Ezyon, in September 1967. In the early years, the establishment of settlements followed a typical pattern. The settlers had access to the highest ranking Government officials, played on their emotional ties to the land and encouraged these officials to lead and participate in establishing and expanding settlements through, inter alia, the seizure of land for ―military purposes‖. 25. In June 1967, Israel illegally annexed 70 km2 of land incorporating East Jerusalem and a number of nearby Palestinian villages into the expanded boundaries of the Jerusalem municipality of Israel. It promptly built 12 Israeli ―neighbourhoods‖ that enveloped nearby Palestinian quarters and villages. An outer layer of settlements beyond the municipal boundaries were then built, thereby severing the geographical continuity of the city from the rest of the West Bank. Since the 1970s, the Jerusalem municipality of Israel has openly pursued a policy of ―demographic balance‖, most recently seen in the city master plan also known as ―Jerusalem 2000‖. The master plan calls for a 60/40 demographic balance in favour of Jewish residents. 26. Studies on settlements commissioned by the Office of the Prime Minister in 2005 (the Sason report) and 2012 (the Levy report) document the Government‘s authorization in the establishment and expansion of settlements up to 1992, and indicate that settlements built afterwards with no Government authorization (―outposts‖) were established with the ―full knowledge of all [authorities], starting with the government ministers and prime minister, and until the lowest enforcing agencies (…) the denial had but one goal only: to withstand criticism by various factors, mostly international‖. 12 Sason concluded that ―unauthorized outposts violate[s] standard procedure, good governing rules (…) endanger the principle of the rule of law [and thus] urgent measures must be taken to change [this] reality‖.13 In contrast, the findings of the Levy report suggested the retroactive authorization of ―outposts‖. 27. In September 2005, through the ―disengagement plan‖, Israel dismantled 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip (and four in the West Bank), evacuated the settlers residing there and withdrew the army, while maintaining exclusive control of the airspace of Gaza and continued to conduct military activities in the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip. The ―disengagement plan‖ was presented in Israel as an essential step to preserve its control over the settlements in the West Bank. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been quoted as saying ―in the framework of the ‗disengagement plan‘, Israel would strengthen its control of those parts of the land that will constitute an inalienable part of the State of Israel in any future agreement.‖14 28. Since 1967, some 250 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established, either with or without Government authorization. The number of settlers is estimated at 520,00015 (200,00016 in East Jerusalem and 320,000 in the rest of the West 12 13 14 15 Yehudit Karp, ―A harsh indictment‖, Haaretz, 27 November 2012. Talya Sason, ―Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts‖, 10 March 2005. Available from www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Law/Legal+Issues+and+Rulings/Summary+of+Opinion+Concern ing+Unauthorized+Outposts+-+Talya+Sason+Adv.htm. Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, Lords of the Land: the War for Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007 (New York, Nation Books, 2007). Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ―The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Settlement Policies‖, Update December 2012. Available from 7