Israel Green-Lights 19 More West Bank Settlements, Including Ganim & Kadim Re-establishment

When Ariel Sharon evacuated Ganim and Kadim in August 2005, many saw it as the first rollback of the post-1967 map; today’s reversal evokes France’s 1958 return to massive settler projects in Algeria just as decolonisation winds were blowing. The move fits a 57-year trajectory of ‘facts on the ground’—incremental land, road and legal changes that turn a military occupation into a civilian one-way street—mirroring other settler-colonial patterns (e.g., Morocco’s “Green March” into Western Sahara, 1975). It underscores three converging long-term trends: (1) the Israeli right’s shift from tactical ambiguity to explicit anti-statehood goals; (2) the erosion of international law’s practical bite despite unanimous rulings; and (3) a regional realignment where Western threats of aid cuts ring hollow while emerging powers stay neutral. On a century scale, each new outpost hardens a demographic and legal mosaic that, like South Africa’s 1913–1991 “homeland” strategy, can endure for generations even after formal policy changes. Whether today’s approvals mark the point of no return for the two-state model—or a high-water mark before outside pressure bites—will shape the landscape Israelis and Palestinians inherit in 2125.