The effects of Israeli policies on Palestinians’ basic needs in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem

Abstract

This study offers a quantitative assessment of claims by non-­governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, and the Inter­national Court of Justice regarding Israel’s alleged apartheid ­practices. We examine how Israeli policies affect Palestinians’ access to basic needs by constructing a bespoke deprivation index. To establish a causal link between our variables of interest, we introduce a novel instrument: the density of Old Testament site mentions within 5 km of each Palestinian locality. This leverages settler ideological preferences while satisfying the exclusion restriction, validated through placebo tests using New Testament-only landmarks. Our findings show that Israeli policies significantly undermine Palestinian food security, increase exposure to water shocks, and reduce access to food markets, schools, pharmacies and healthcare. By quantifying the systemic impact of such policies, this study contributes empirical evidence to legal and qualitative claims that Israel’s actions may amount to apartheid. Demonstrating the structured and intentional nature of these policies helps establish the criterion of intent – a necessary legal condition for the crime of apartheid. As such, our results may inform future legal proceedings against Israel and prompt international actors to reconsider complicity in, or support for, these practices.