https://www.jpost.com/opinion/why-the-uproar-over-sovereignty-630551
Predictably, on cue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he intends to extend Israeli law and sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) has elicited a tsunami of opposition, fears of dire consequences, threats of sanctions by the EU and threats by Jordanian and PLO leaders to abrogate treaties and agreements.
Why, however, is this so controversial and upsetting?In Jerusalem, Hebron and other areas, there have been Jewish communities since the First and Second Temple periods. After the destruction by the Romans, they rebuilt.
In Hebron, a Jewish community was reestablished in the Byzantine period, and then reconstituted in the 16th century. It was destroyed in August 1929, when 67 Jewish residents were murdered.
Jewish communities such as Gush Etzion, built in Judea and Samaria during the 1920s and 1930s, were destroyed during the 1947-1949 war and were rebuilt and expanded since the 1967 Six Day War. About half a million Jews live in 121 “settlements” in Judea and Samaria.
PLO leaders and the international community recognized Israel’s claims to these areas (in Area C) in the Oslo agreements in return for creating a Palestinian National Authority under the PLO.
Why, then, do plans to extend Israeli law and sovereignty provoke such extreme responses? It seems to be nothing more than confirming what already exists and has been agreed upon.