The effects of population settlements and territorial labeling on domestic audience

Evidence from Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Bibliographic Data

ID24225217
AuthorsOded Haklai (0000-0003-4683-234X, Queen's University), Anna Zhang (0009-0001-0105-9368, independent scholar)
Year2026
Volume63
Issue5
Pages928-941
Publication date2026-09-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/jopres/xjag053
OpenAlexW7170360421
LanguageEN
References cited55

States trying to absorb previously external territories under dispute need to convince their national community that the newly acquired territory is an indivisible part of the homeland, important for national security, identity, and prosperity, and is generally worthy of incorporation even at a cost of a protracted conflict. Two strategies that states use to this end are territorial labeling, which means assigning a name to the territory that evokes intrinsic ties to the nation's history and populating the acquired territory with members of the national community (population settlements). To date, no empirical study has evaluated the impact of these two strategies. Using an original survey experiment in the case of Israel, we test the impact of territorial labeling and population settlements on the propensity of Israeli Jews to view the territories Israel conquered from Jordan in the 1967 war (West Bank/Judea and Samaria) as tied to their homeland, important for economic prosperity and national security, and on support for annexation and continued population settlements. We find that territorial labeling is consequential for all our outcomes of interest, whereas the impact of population settlements, specifically the demographic concentration of conationals, is on perceptions of connection to historic homeland and security importance, with no observed effect on policy preferences. These findings have theoretical implications for our understanding of how national territories are socially constructed and made seem more indivisible, demonstrating specifically the impact of symbolic-discursive practices and tangible, material changes on territorial attachments and policy preferences in territorial conflicts.

Israeli Jews · Israeli settlements in the West Bank · National identity · national security perceptions · policy preferences · population settlement · symbolic practices · territorial attachment · territorial disputes · West bank · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Social and Intergroup Psychology

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