May 17
Dramatic political change in Israel: Menachem Begin and the Likud Party gain control of the government and promise to promote substantial growth in settlements. The government abandons the Alon Plan, removes the limitations on settlement, and encourages settlement in Samaria [the northern West Bank] and in densely populated Palestinian areas. During the period of right-wing governments that follows (1977–84), some seventy new settlements are established, and the number of settlers rises dramatically, reaching thirty-five thousand. The massive settlement growth begins in 1982, following completion of the peace agreement with Egypt and the evacuation of the Israeli settlements in the Sinai. Many of the settlements take the community-town form: spacious homes with yards and the residents working outside the settlement (mainly west of the Green Line). This model opens the way for building settlements in places where the land is not contiguous or convenient for development and thus facilitates maximum use of state lands in the Occupied Territories.June 19
The Sunday Times INSIGHT team reports that “Israel tortures Arab prisoners” and cites the following practices: suspension of the detainee by the hands and the simultaneous traction of his other members for hours at a time until he loses consciousness, burns with cigarette stubs, blows by rods on the genitals, tying up and blindfolding for days (in one case, for seven days), bites by dogs, and electric shocks at the temples, mouth, chest, and testicles.———
A-Najah National University in Nablus is founded.