Citing opinion polls in which over half the Israeli public believe the settlements augment state security, Sasson-Gordis wrote: “Even if the idea that the settlements contribute to security had some validity in the past, today it has none. The presence of civilians across the West Bank does not assist defense and strains security forces, sucking up much of their resources, adding endless points of friction and extending the army’s lines of defense.” [...]
Based on conversations with Kaplinsky and other senior officers, Sasson-Gordis estimates that almost 80 percent of the forces located in the West Bank are involved in direct protection of the settlements, with the remainder scattered along the Green Line (the pre-1967 borders). [...]
Kaplinsky told the study “the perception that the settlements serve security is an anachronistic one, suitable for the prestate period before borders were defined; this was the conception of seizing territory. In the first decades of the state, we didn’t have the technologies we currently possess for achieving security. A country that at any given moment operates three satellites, has the 8200 SIGINT unit and many other intelligence units, makes the settling of one hill or another meaningless in terms of our defensive capabilities, for deterrence or for early warning advantages.”
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