Before Sebastia: The Schem Group’s Attempts to Establish an Israeli Settlement, 1969-1970

Abstract

The article will focus on the little-known affair related to the repeated attempts to establish an Israeli settlement in Nablus (Schem) or its vicinity during 1969-1970. A group of Betar youths who were affiliated with various Zionist right-wing parties (and who became known as the Schem Group) make seven separate attempts to establish a settlement in Samaria despite the government’s opposition. Each attempt was blocked by the determined response of the security forces. Despite the significant attention devoted by academic research to the attempts at settling the West Bank in the wake of the Six Day War, this particular affair has received little attention. The episode occurred against the backdrop of the dissonance between the impassioned statements made by Menachem Begin—as the leader of Herut and Gahal—that Judea and Samaria should not be given back and the limited settlement initiatives undertaken by the movement. The article examines the determined government response to the settlement attempts, the circles that backed the group and the ambivalent attitude of Menachem Begin (who was a minister-without-portfolio at the time) toward that initiative. The article will describe the bonds forged between the Schem group and the Elon-Moreh gar’in (core group) members who undertook a similar initiative. That initiative eventually succeeded, with the government’s approval for the group to settle in the [army] camp at Kadum.