The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

The remarkable military victory of Israel gave rise to, or rather, encour -
aged the existing messianic and religious sentiments. These elements,
which had been “tamed” or “monitored” by the more secular and socialist
leadership of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel, now
flourished, and dictated policy to the mainstream of Israeli politics and
to decision-makers.
Meanwhile however, after the opposition right-wing Likud party came
to power in 1977, settlement expansion became official Israeli policy,
which it continued to be even after the Oslo Accords of the mid-’90s,
the peace process which followed upon the first Palestinian Intifada.
That was a symbolic turning point in the history of the conflict, as it
ended the era of secular and socialist oriented leadership by the Labour
Party. The settlement of the occupied territory as an official and open
policy of the new government was not only a political change, but a social
and economic transformation as well. The socialist economic and
social structure which had previously prevailed was now transferred
from the State of Israel to the occupied territories – and its benefits restricted
to the Jewish settlers.
The government offered huge subsidies and benefits to the Israeli-Jew -
ish citizens, who moved to build their centre of life in the occupied territories.
The huge allocation of national budget for the settlements and
settlers, at the expense of the citizens living within the Green Line (pre-
1967 Israel), was attractive for to the less privileged elements of society
and those living in poor development towns in “the periphery” – areas
remote from the core areas of Israel.
The First Intifada
Since the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israel had occupied Jerusalem, the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip. After some initial violence in 1970, it was
relatively quite in the occupied territories. Borders were open. Israelis
went shopping in the West Bank and Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians
went to work to Israel daily. From the Israeli point of view, this reality
could have lasted forever, but the Palestinians were displeased with the
occupation. They saw their land slowly disappearing, especially after the
right-wing Likud Party came into government in 1977. Israel did not im-
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