A/HRC/22/63 ten) is entitled ―Settlement‖. Whether inside or outside Israel, settlements are identified as a national priority and, as such, recipients of preferential Government support. The document puts particular emphasis on supporting settlements beyond the green line: ―1. Settlement in the Negev, the Galilee, the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley, and in Judea, Samaria [West Bank] and Gaza is of national importance, to Israel's defense and an expression of of [sic] Zionist fulfillment. 2. The Government will alter the settlement policy, act to consolidate and develop the settlement enterprise in these areas, and allocate the resources necessary for this. The Government of Israel will safeguard its vital water supplies, from water sources on the Golan Heights and in Judea and Samaria.‖ (18 June) • Settlements with no Government authorization (―outposts‖) begin to be established on the hills east of Itamar, in Amona east of Ofra and on Givat Hadagan north of the settlement of Efrat.54 1998 • The Israeli Government approves Decision No, 3292, which defines certain towns and villages as National Priority Areas (NPA) ―A‖ and ―B‖. Many settlements are defined as NPA ―A‖, which entitles them to a number of benefits in housing, a wideranging benefits in education as well as for industry and agriculture, grants and subsidies, indemnification for the taxes imposed on their produce by the European Union; tax levels significantly lower than those established for communities inside the Green Line, and larger balancing grants to the settlements to cover deficits. 55 (15 February) 1999 • More than 50 new settlements without Government authorization (―outposts‖) are reported to have been established by the end of Prime Minister Netanyahu first tenure in Government (May).56 • Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001) presents to the Knesset his basic policy guidelines. The third strategic line (out of twelve) is entitled ―Settlement‖ and indicates the Government support to continue developing settlements already established in the West Bank and Gaza, while indicating that no new settlements will be built: ―4.1 The Government views all forms of settlement as a valued social and national enterprise (…); 4.2 Until the status of the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria [West Bank] and Gaza is determined (…) no new communities will be built and no existing communities will be detrimentally affected; 4.3 The Government will work to ensure the security of the Jewish residents in Judea, Samaria [West Bank] and Gaza, and to provide regular Government and municipal services -- equal to those offered to residents of all other communities in Israel. The Government will offer a response to the on-going development needs of existing communities. Socio54 55 56 34 Peace Now, First petitions against the outposts. http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/first-petitionsagainst-outposts Adalah Position Paper ―On the Israeli Government‘s New Decision Classifying Communities as National Priority Areas‖, February 2010, Adalah - The Legal Center for the Arab Minority Rights in Israel, See also B‘Tselem ―By Hook and By Crook: Israeli Settlement Policy in the West Bank.‖ July 2010, Summary Peace Now, ―Hayovel and Haresha - Illegal construction‖ HCJ 9051/05 - September 2005 http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/hayovel-and-haresha-illegal-construction