West Bank

   The area of historical Palestine lying west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea (and known by many Israelis and Jews by the biblical terms Judea and Samaria). Designated by the United Nations Palestine Partition Plan to become part of an Arab state, it—along with the eastern half of Jerusalem—was occupied by Jordan during the War of Independence (1948—49). On 24 April 1950, the parliament of Jordan passed legislation designed to unite the West Bank and East Jerusalem with Jordanian territory east of the Jordan; however, this annexation was largely ignored by the international community. The area came under Israeli control during the Six-Day War (1967), although (with Israel's indulgence and cooperation) Jordan maintained an administrative presence in the West Bank. In the summer of 1988, King Hussein announced that Jordan was disengaging politically and administratively from the area.

   Pursuant to the Oslo Accords of 1993, areas of the West Bank were transferred by Israel to the control of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA). At the Camp David II and Taba talks with the Palestinians, Israel's Ehud Barak proposed to transfer 95-97 percent of the West Bank to Palestinian control. However, some of these areas were temporarily reen-tered by the Israel Defense Forces in Operation Defensive Shield during the Al-Aksa intifada in pursuit of Palestinian terrorists who were maintaining bases in the West Bank and attacking Israel with impunity from there. Beginning in 2003, Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon chose to address the terrorism challenge by constructing a security barrier (security fence, separation fence) separating Israelis from West Bank Palestinians. Four isolated settlements in the northern West Bank were included in Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan that was implemented in August-September 2005. During the campaign leading up to the March 2006 election, Kadima leader Ehud Olmert outlined his plan for further disengagement from the West Bank, and he reiterated his determination to implement his convergence plan if elected.

   See also Arab-Israeli Conflict; Suicide Bombings.