Linking the Gaza Strip with the West Bank: - Jerusalem Center For ...

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III. Israel’s Security ConsiderationsA. Israel’s Right to Self-DefenseB. Israel’s Need for Defensible BordersC. Have Technological and Political Developments Made Defensible Borders Obsolete?D. Does Progress in the Peace Process Diminish the Threat of Terrorism?3636373940page 4IV. Viability of a Palestinian StateA. “Viable Statehood” in ContextB. Terms Defined: “Viability” and “Viable”C. Legal Criteria for Statehood1. A Defined Territory2. Other Criteriaa. A Permanent Populationb. Governmentc. A Capacity to Enter into Relations with Other Statesd. Independencee. Modern Developments in International LawD. Examples of Viable Non-Contiguous States444444464647474747484848Conclusion52Notes56JCPA Publications64
Executive SummaryOn March 27, 2007, U.S. Secretary of State CondoleezzaRice reiterated her call for a “viable” Palestinianstate. Before a viable Palestinian state can come intoexistence, the Palestinian Authority and Israel mustcome to certain agreements. It is understood that issuessuch as the political status of Jerusalem, the questionof refugees, Jewish settlements, borders, and securityarrangements locally and against long-range missiles(and weapons of mass destruction) are fundamentalelements in any political agreement between Israel andthe Palestinians. The idea of a territorial link betweenthe Gaza Strip and the West Bank, commonly calledthe issue of “safe passage,” is often overlooked. In theopinion of the authors this additional disagreementmust be addressed if the peace process is ever to reacha successful conclusion. Safe passage, in turn, raiseslegal, economic, and security concerns for Israel as wellas for the Palestinians.International law, traditional and modern, positsthat to be recognized as a state an entity must meetcertain requirements. One is the need for a definedterritory, although there is no prescribed minimumsize of the territory. Further, it is not a requirementthat the boundaries of the territory be fixed or certain.Accordingly, alterations to a state’s territory, whetherby increase or decrease, do not affect the identity of thestate or compromise its existence. 1What is vital to note is that the criterion of a definedterritory does not require that the state possessgeographical unity. Stated in the positive, a state mayconsist of disconnected territorial areas. Thus scoresof states are comprised of a mainland and islands, suchas Australia. In addition, and of particular relevance tothis monograph, a state may be comprised of separatedterritories between which lies territory of a foreignsovereign entity. For example, the United States andits state of Alaska are separated by approximately 500miles of Canadian territory. 2 In fact for the sake of thismonograph we have identified nine such examples ofnon-contiguous states, which will be discussed below.The lack of a link between separated territories doesnot affect whether a new political community should berecognized as a state under international law. In addition,based on past and present international practice, a statedoes not possess an inherent right to a link between itsgeographically distinct areas. In particular, this may beapplied to the sovereign link called for by the Palestiniansbetween Gaza and the West Bank.From 1948 to 1967 the Gaza Strip was controlled byEgyptian military rule. During that period the West Bankwas occupied by Jordan. Thus for almost twenty years,there was no connection between these two territories.After Israel captured these areas in the 1967 Six-DayWar, U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which wasadopted in November 1967 to recommend a resolutionof the final status of the territories, made no mention ofa territorial link between Gaza and the West Bank. Whatis essential is the control of territory — that the stateconstitutes a certain coherent territory that is effectivelygoverned. 3The Oslo Accords of the 1990s and specifically theDeclaration of Principles outlined the interim selfgovernmentalarrangements agreed to by Israel and thePLO (which would become the Palestinian Authority).These included immediate Palestinian self-rule in Gazaand Jericho, early empowerment for the Palestinians inthe West Bank, and an agreement on self-governmentand the election of a Palestinian legislative council. 4Shortly after the DOP was signed, negotiations beganbetween the parties concerning the implementation ofthe first stage of the DOP, which was Palestinian selfrulein Gaza-Jericho. These negotiations resulted in theGaza-Jericho Agreement (Cairo Agreement) that wassigned on May 4, 1994. 5 The notion of safe passage isfirst mentioned in the Oslo-era Gaza-Jericho Agreementarticle on security arrangements, one of four main issuesthat the agreement addresses. 6Today, there is very widespread international support forthe creation of a Palestinian state. It is therefore likely thatless will likely be demanded of the nascent Palestinianentity in terms of adherence to the criteria for statehood.page 5
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Not only is the need for Palestinia
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If the Palestinians were to constru
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models have been used. All three mo
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Law, 69 (1994).105See Malcolm N. Sh
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194Ulrich Fastenrath, Servitudes, 1
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279Available at: http://en.wikipedi
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