The most moral army in the world…

JVL Introduction

Central to successive Israeli governments’ policy from soon after 1967, in violation of the fourth Geneva Convention, was the taking over of Palestinian land for settlement, newly opened files reveal.

Prime Minister Golda Meir reminded her ministers when discussing settlements, outposts, land expropriations and the like in 1971: “we simply do and do not talk [about it].”

The scale may have been small to begin with, but the intention was unequivocal. In January 1972, for example, the IDF Central Command ordered the Jordan Valley Brigade to ensure that “no land is cultivated,”– even if it meant poisoning Palestinian lands.

This article was originally published by Haaretz on Fri 23 Jun 2023. Read the original here.