2017, Israel pledged 800 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS), approximately 228
million USD, for developing road infrastructure for colonies in the West Bank,124
which was approved in October 2019.125 Israel continues to pursue a policy of
colony expansion that demands construction of bypass roads to (a) connect
colonies to each other and (b) connect them to Jerusalem, regardless of how
deep they are within the West Bank. These roads are built in such a way as to
permanently exclude the Palestinian people from their use, with the majority
of the roads running parallel to already existing Palestinian roads,126 such as is
the case of the Jerusalem-Hebron Road (now known as Route 60).
The result is a reality in which Israeli-Jewish bypass roads, roadblocks and
checkpoints have fragmented and isolated the West Bank into enclaves.
These Palestinian areas are thus geographically separated from each other
by roads, colonies, military outposts, nature reserves, the Apartheid Wall
or some other Israeli implemented obstacle, as will become evident in the
case studies to follow. Concurrently, the road network functions to provide
a passageway for Israeli-Jewish travel, while acting as a barrier for the
movement of Palestinians. The road network is both a pretext and facilitator
for Israeli colonial expansion.127
124 See Ibid. The Israeli budget on infrastructure is around 1.8 percent. See also Ferry Biedermann,
“Israel Considering Infrastructure Spending to Close Gap and Boost Productivity,” CNBC, 21 July 2017,
available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/21/israel-considering-infrastructure-spending-toclose-gap-and-boost-productivity.html [accessed 28 February 2020]; in 2012, the total governmental
budget allocation for roads reportedly amounted to approximately 6.4 billion New Israeli Shekels
(NIS) (about $US1.8 billion) and 7 billion NIS (about $US2 billion) in 2014. See Library of Congress,
“National Funding of Road Infrastructure: Israel,” webpage, 23 January 2015, available at: https://
www.loc.gov/law/help/infrastructure-funding/israel.php [accessed 28 February 2020]. For more
on the Israeli’s infrastructure plans and development for the years 2018-2020, See Government of
Israel, “Infrastructure for Growth 2019,” available at: https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/news/spoke_
book030219/he/Spoke_growth140219.pdf
125 “Israel to Extent Sovereignty over Settlements Roads in the West Bank,” Middle East Eye, 1 November
2019, available at: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israels-transport-minister-extendsovereignty-over-settlement-roads-west-bank [accessed 28 February 2020].
126 Land and Water Establishment For Studies and Legal Services, By-Pass Road Construction in the West
Bank – The End of the Dream of Palestinian Sovereignty (Jerusalem: The Establishment, 1996), 16. See
also Issac, supra 114.
127 Every Israeli administration since 1967 has undertaken colony construction in the West Bank. Most of the
colonies deeper into the central West Bank are located on hilltops affording them a commanding presence over
surrounding Palestinian communities. See OCHA, The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements
and Other Infrastructure in the West Bank (2007), available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/sites/default/files/
ocharpt_update30july2007.pdf. Most recent figures put the size of the colonizer population in the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, at approximately 630,000 living in at least 143 colonies and 113 outposts. This
represents a dramatic increase in the past 12 years, from the 450,000 colonizers who were living in the oPt in
2007. See also Office of the European Union Representative (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNWRA), “Six-Month
Report on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied West Bank, Including East Jerusalem (reporting period JanuaryJune 2019)” (30 September 2019), available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/20190930_final_sixmonth_report_on_israeli_settlements_in_the_occupied_west_bank_including_east_jerusalem_reporting_
period_january_to_june_2019_0.pdf [accessed 28 February 2020].
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