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1968 - 1972
SETTLEMENT AFTER THE SIX DAY
WAR
After the Six Day War efforts were made to establish settlements in the new territories. By 1972 nine
new settlements had been set up in Sinai and the Gaza Strip; 17 in the Jordan Valley, Judea and
Samaria, and 15 in the Golan Heights. The town of Yamit was built in northeast Sinai. In the Golan
Heights, the center of settlement activity was the city of Katzrin. Many of the settlements in Judea and
Samaria were located at sites of historical Jewish settlement prior to the War of Independence, such as
the Etzion Bloc and Hebron.
Within the Green Line (as the June 4, 1967 border came to be known) development of the Galilee was
a priority. Isolated settlements dotted the countryside. Many of these doubled as observation posts
(mitzpim). Other communities were based on sophisticated industry and high technology. Industrial
centers include the Tefen Region, in the heart of a hitherto unpopulated area. The underlying idea is
to concentrate new industries in a single area (a sort of hothouse), supplying them with services and
assisting them to become independent and profitable.
When the gates of the former Soviet Union were opened to those wishing to leave, large numbers of
Russians arrived in Israel. Many of them settled in the Galilee , where the population balance had
hitherto weighed against the Jewish inhabitants.
UNITED JERUSALEM, THE ETERNAL CAPITAL
OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL - IYAR 28,
5727
The Six Day War liberated the eastern section of Jerusalem. With the unification of Jerusalem, the
city grew both territorially and numerically to become the largest in Israel. Before the war the
population numbered 260,000 Jews and Arabs. By 1972 the population was 300,000 and today the
figure is close to 550,000. Geographically the city has more than doubled.
In 1980 the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Law, imposing state rule on the entire city. Jerusalem was
declared the indivisible capital of Israel. A further law was passed to protect the holy places of all
three major religions. It states: “The holy places will be protected from desecration and other damage.
It is not permitted to prevent freedom of access to the holy places to people of any religion.”
Yitzhak Rabin, who served as Chief of Staff during the Six Day War, received an honorary doctorate
at the Hebrew University. When accepting his award on Mount Scopus he said: “The entire nation
was moved and many wept when they received tidings of the capture of the Old City... The
paratroopers sobbed openly on the stones of the Western Wall. This phenomenon is unequaled in the
history of the peoples of the world. Members of the Defense Forces do not customarily express
themselves in such terms, but those who shared in that hour on the Temple Mount witnessed a
revelation of unsurpassed magnitude...”
News Briefs
Pictures reprinted with permission, all rights reserved to Alpha Press.
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