Lords Of The Land by Idith Zertal

The War Over Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967–2007

This investigative history traces the rise and consolidation of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories from 1967 onward, documenting how political leaders, military authorities, religious-nationalist movements and economic interests collaborated to establish and expand settler communities. It argues the settlement project was not an accidental byproduct of war but a deliberate state-supported enterprise that relied on legal maneuvers, land expropriation, subsidies and force, shaping Israeli politics and society while entrenching Palestinian dispossession and daily humiliation. Combining archival research, interviews and moral critique, the book examines the strategies, conflicts and consequences of settlement policy and challenges readers to confront its long-term implications for justice, security and democracy.