ABSTRACT
Since the signing of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, public debates in Israel over the necessity of strategic depth have centred on the West Bank. The assumption, until very recently, has been that ‘Israel’s main geostrategic weakness was the coastal plain facing Jordan, which was the “soft under-belly” of [Israel’s] posture’.1 The West Bank, consisting of Judea and Samaria, extends along the ‘soft underbelly’ of Israel, so termed for its proximity to the country’s most crucial strategic centres. Thus, demilitarising the West Bank of weaponry and forces was deemed essential by those who maintained a moderate stance on the issue of strategic depth. Hawks, in contrast, argued that Israel must retain military control over the whole of the West Bank.2
