Israeli politics may, at times, seem absurd. But nothing is more absurd than allowing a handful of hardcore ideologues in the settlement movement to hold an entire nation hostage to its beliefs.

The Israeli Peace Now movement recently issued an extremely thorough study of the attitudes that settlers have toward Israeli democratic institutions and possible compensation for being required to evacuate their homes. Peace Now found that most settlers are more pragmatic, respectful of the democratic process and willing to accept reasonable compensation than many people had been led to believe.

But rather than embracing this benevolent portrayal of settlers, the Settlers Council, which is supposed to represent them, hotly denied these “allegations.”

Why? Because the ideological views of the Settlers Council and their supporters in the Israeli government simply do not reflect the thinking of the settlers themselves. They would have Israelis believe that any attempt to remove the settlements would be met with fierce resistance from the people who live there, people who supposedly are living in the territories to fulfill their commitment to religious and Zionist ideals.

However, Peace Now — which has long considered Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza to be impediments to Israeli security and peace — found that more than three-quarters of settlers moved to the territories for “quality of life” issues, not for religious or national security reasons. Successive Israeli governments have offered heavy financial incentives for people to move to the West Bank and Gaza and provided further subsidies for them to stay there. Combined with beautiful landscapes and bypass roads that allow easy access into Israel proper, government funding has provided settlers with an attractive lifestyle that they otherwise could not afford inside the Green Line.

It was no surprise, then, when the study further revealed that only 2% of settlers would use extreme measures, such as taking up arms, to fight a democratic decision taken by the Israeli government or a referendum to withdraw from the settlements. In fact, 68% of settlers recognize the authority of Israeli democratic institutions to make that decision and would comply with it, while another 26% of settlers would obey such a decision following a struggle against it with legal means.

If Israel decided to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza, Peace Now found, 59% of settlers would consider suitable financial compensation as the best solution, while another 10% would prefer moving to a community inside the Green Line as sufficient compensation. Around 23% of settlers would prefer moving as a community to another settlement in the territories. Just 9% would refuse any solution.

The Settlers Council said that the Peace Now study was slanted. In actuality, it was very accurate, with just a 2% margin of error.

The Settlers Council also said that Jews continue to move to the West Bank and Gaza, with a 7.7% population increase since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000. But a closer look at that number is revealing. New Interior Ministry figures show that over the last 12 months, there has been just a 5.21% increase in the territories, with most of this rise coming from natural growth, not internal migration.

The main lesson behind the Peace Now study is that, contrary to the assertions of the Israeli government and the Settlers Council, settlers will not be a major obstacle to any future peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The majority of settlers would accept such an agreement, even if it means leaving their homes in exchange for reasonable compensation.

Unfortunately, there is no official program in place to help settlers move to Israel. Peace Now is calling on the Israeli government to fill this void by establishing an entity that will help settlers relocate, by stopping the flow of subsidies that keep people in the settlements and by using some of those funds to establish a fair compensation program for settlers.

It is time for the Israeli government to make it possible for settlers to make aliya, that is, to move inside Israel proper. The government has a moral responsibility to these Israelis since it enticed them to live in the territories to begin with.

It is time for the Israeli government to stop letting its “fear” of upsetting the settlers justify its policies, like delaying the establishment of a security fence or avoiding political negotiations with the Palestinians.

It is time for the Israeli government to cease putting the future of Israel at risk as a Jewish, democratic state by insisting on holding onto the settlements – and the 3.5 million Palestinians who live around them.

Patricia Barr is co-chair of Americans for Peace Now.

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