JERUSALEM (AP) – When Israelis go to the polls next month, tens of thousands of Jewish settlers in the West Bank will also be casting votes, even though they do not live on what is sovereign Israeli territory.
This exception in a country that doesn’t allow absentee voting for citizens living abroad is a telling reflection of Israel’s somewhat ambiguous and highly contentious claim to the territory, which has been under military occupation for almost a half century.
Over the years, Israel has cultivated a separate legal system there. The Palestinians are ultimately governed by Israeli military rule – while Israel’s own criminal and civilian laws apply to more than 350,000 Jewish settlers in a way they cannot apply to Israeli expats.
The settlers’ voting rights stem from Israel’s 1969 election law that stipulates “there will only be voting on Israeli land,” with exceptions made for diplomats and soldiers serving on naval vessels. The law was amended the following year – when the settlement movement was in its infancy – to allow voting by Israelis “whose address is listed in the population registry located in territory held by the Israel Defense Forces.”
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and began settling the territory soon after – first halfheartedly, then in greater waves, especially after the nationalist Likud first came to power in 1977. The Palestinians, backed by most of the international community, claim the area as part of a future independent state, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem.