ABSTRACT
As the 1967 War drew to a close, Israel’s ‘unity government’ and its military strategists were forced to formulate an approach to the control of their vast new conquests. But the demographic aspect of absorbing the indigenous Palestinian population into the Jewish State ruled out annexing these areas outright to Israel. The Allon Plan initially focused on the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). Allon tentatively planned for Gaza’s refugees – ca. 75% of the Gaza population – to be transferred to the two militarily administered cantons created on the West Bank, followed by the annexation and settlement of the Gaza Strip, though this never eventuated. The Likud came to power having adopted a pro-settlement platform highly critical of the Allon Plan limitations and having pledged their support for the initiation of unfettered settlement programs throughout the OPT. Prime Minister Begin appointed Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon head of ‘Allon’s’ Settlement Committee.
