The West Bank is the crux of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

As violence erupts across the West Bank—with Israeli forces launching 'Operation Iron Wall' in Jenin and settler attacks intensifying in Palestinian villages—the region's significance comes into sharp focus. While international attention has often centered on Gaza, the West Bank is emerging as the true epicenter of the conflict.

The West Bank - or Judea and Samaria as the religious settlers insistently call it - represents the most emotionally charged real estate in Israel's religious Zionist psyche. Here, in these highlands, Abraham is said to have first received God's covenant. In Hebron, the patriarchs and matriarchs were buried in the Cave of Machpelah. On these hills, the Torah teaches that David established his first kingdom before conquering Jerusalem. For the faithful, every stone is a testament of Biblical stories: Rachel's tomb near Bethlehem, Joseph's tomb in Nablus, the ancient altar at Mount Ebal. For religious Zionists, they represent the very deed to the land, signed not by mortal authorities but by divine command.

The movement's relationship with these territories underwent a seismic shift after the lightning victory of the 1967 Six-Day War. In a matter of days, what had been distant biblical geography, accessible only through prayer and study, suddenly became tangible soil under Jewish feet as Israel annexed both Sina’i and the West Bank. The religious segment of Israeli society saw divine providence in Israel's impressive victory against neighbouring Arab states. 

The theological foundation for these settlements, and modern religious Zionism itself, rests on a metaphysical framework developed by the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and his son Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva. Their teachings fused messianism with modern nationalism, arguing that secular Zionist state-building was unknowingly preparing the ground for divine redemption. The elder Kook had developed a revolutionary religious philosophy that saw secular Zionism not as a threat to traditional Judaism, but as part of God's mysterious plan for redemption. Even secular Jews building settlements or serving in the army were, in his view, unknowingly advancing the divine purpose. The younger Kook's students, who founded the Gush Emunim settlement movement in 1974, saw the 1967 capture of the West Bank as clear evidence of this process unfolding.  Just weeks before the 1967 war, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook had delivered a famous speech at Jerusalem's Mercaz HaRav yeshiva, breaking down in tears as he cried out, "Where is our Hebron? Have we forgotten it? And where is our Shechem (Nablus)? Have we forgotten it?" His students saw the subsequent military victory as nothing less than divine intervention - God himself preparing the way for Jewish return.

The religious settlements of today are experiencing unprecedented growth. Some, once isolated outposts, have grown into developed cities with modern infrastructure. For example, Beitar Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement near Jerusalem, started as a cluster of caravans in 1990 and has since transformed into a city of over 60,000 residents, doubling its population roughly every decade. Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has unprecedented authority over West Bank settlements in his role within the Defense Ministry, has declared 2025 as the “year of sovereignty” over the West Bank.

The growing messianic dimension of the Israeli Right and the religious settlements in the West Bank shows no signs of slowing down. As a matter of fact, data reveals an underpinning demographic reality: the percentage of the Ultra-Orthodox among the Settlers is growing. Their birth rates - averaging 5.4 children per family versus 2.1 for secular Israeli Jews - suggest this religious character will only intensify. The movement also maintains sophisticated institutional networks. The Yesha Council coordinates between settlements, runs media campaigns, and lobbies government ministries. A parallel education system of over 60 religious preparatory academies feeds graduates into elite military units, where national-religious soldiers now comprise over 30% of combat officers. Religious study centers in the territories receive approximately $125 million annually in government funding.

The demographic reality is stark: religious settler populations are expanding rapidly through high birth rates, while increasing their influence throughout the military, education system, and government ministries. This isn't just about numbers - it represents a fundamental ideological shift, since for many religious Zionists, the concept of territorial compromise isn't merely politically unpalatable; it contradicts their deepest theological convictions about Jewish destiny and divine promise.

Formal annexation, however, faces significant obstacles. International opposition remains robust, particularly from the United States, though its stance is difficult to anticipate due to the unpredictability of the Trump administration.  Israel's security establishment harbors serious concerns about managing an enlarged Palestinian population. There's also considerable resistance from moderate segments of Israeli society who fear the diplomatic and democratic implications of such a move. 

The more likely path seems to be what analysts some call "creeping annexation" - a continued expansion of settlements and Israeli control while avoiding official declarations. This strategy allows Israel to establish facts on the ground while maintaining strategic ambiguity. The possibility of a negotiated two-state solution appears to be fading. Each new settlement, each political victory for religious nationalists, makes territorial compromise more difficult both practically and politically. Without significant shifts in current trajectories - perhaps prompted by external pressure or internal political transformation - we're likely heading toward increasingly entrenched conflict rather than resolution.