Gazelles in crisis, researchers say
“When the day blows gently, And the shadows flee, Set out, my beloved, Swift as a gazelle, Or a young stag, For the hills of spices!” reads a verse in Song of Songs, a powerful celebration of love that is traditionally read as an allegory of the connection between the people of Israel and God (translation Sefaria.org).
Indeed, for millennia, mountain gazelles have roamed freely around the land, with their graceful slender bodies and their dark gaze becoming an integral part of its ancient landscapes. But Israeli researchers have raised an alarm about their survival and are proposing a comprehensive plan to protect them.
With about 5,000 gazelles, Israel has remained the last stronghold of the species once common all over the so-called Levant, including northern Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, according to a paper published in Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation on Wednesday.
“The mountain gazelle – which in Hebrew is called ‘tzvi Eretz Yisrael,’ the gazelle of the Land of Israel – is one of the three species of gazelles living in the country,” Dr. Uri Roll, a researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and co-author of the paper, told The Jerusalem Post. “It is slightly more adapted to mountainous areas, while usually gazelles live in flat areas.”
Archaeological evidence of the gazelles’ presence dating back thousands of years recurrently emerged, reinforcing the
deep connection between this species and the land. It is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible. A verse of the Book of Daniel even calls Israel Eretz Hatzvi, even though most commentators agree that in this instance, tzvi should not be translated as gazelle, but rather as glory or splendor.
“For many animals and plants in the Bible, we cannot really be sure that they are the same as today,” Roll said. “For gazelles, however, we are more confident for several reasons: They are actually not only mentioned but also described in the Bible, and the description fits the species that we know. Moreover, the name has remained the same also in Arabic.”
Rapid human expansion in the past 200 years has taken a heavy toll on the population, as gazelles require vast areas of land to prosper and their habitat has progressively and dramatically shrunk and been invaded or fragmented by urban development, he said.
“Gazelles feel trapped very easily,” Roll said. “They need large swaths of land, and they have become very scarce, specifically in the central part of Israel and along the coastal plain. So instead of having one large area with 1,500 to 2,000 gazelles that can move in between and breed, they are confined in de facto encaged areas.”
An example of this process can be found in the Gazelle Park in Jerusalem, where gazelles previously in the wild have found themselves living in an area surrounded by new neighborhoods.
This fragmentation has led to highly detrimental consequences, Roll said.
“They lose the ability to exchange genes with one another, and also the interactions with humans are problematic,” he said. “Dogs chase them, they get hit by cars and so on.”
Illegal poaching also constitutes a threat, Roll said.
“Moreover, in Israel we are not very good at taking care of our trash, which is often abandoned in nature and in semi-regulated dumpsters,” he said. “This increases the numbers of predators, such as jackals. These animals chase gazelles and especially their young.”
“There are several courses of action that need to be taken in order to help gazelles and several species,” Roll said. “As far as fragmentation goes, something that has already started and needs to be done even more is building over- and underpasses around highways. Where this is not possible, it is advisable to check the genetic makeup of small populations and transfer individuals if needed.”
“In the more holistic approach, Israel needs to have a general plan for the future, incorporate large passages and large swaths of lands that will enable animals to roam freely between regions,” he said. “Some areas that still allow gazelles to move between the North and the South coastal plains are been developed rapidly to the point where such movements will no longer be possible. Steps need to be taken immediately if we want our land to continue to include this animal that we are called after.”
In working to save its gazelles, Israel could be able to provide important lessons to the world, Roll said.
“We are talking about a particular species in a particular country,” he said. “But when we look at the rest of our planet and at the human population
If Netanyahu were to move forward without the Trump plan, one possibility would be to annex just the settlements. The municipal lines of those settlements are already set. The security perimeter is clear. One would only have to deal with issues of sovereignty within those municipal lines, thereby allowing for more time to finalize the map of additional territory and roads between the settlements that would be annexed.
The plan would be easier than finalizing the 30% map, but it would not assuage any critics, such as the international community, the Palestinians and the Israeli Right. The largest sticking point for the Israeli Right would likely be the fate of the unauthorized outposts, whose boundaries are not set.
The uproar about those communities within the Israeli Right would be as great, if not greater, than the existing anger over the settlement enclaves. Effectively, they would have to be either legalized en masse, including the setting of their boundaries, or face evacuation. Netanyahu has promised that no one would be forcibly uprooted as a result of his plan.
3. Phased annexation starting with the Jordan Valley
Long before the Trump plan, there was talk of the Jordan Valley first due to Israeli security concerns that this area is critical to ensuring the nation’s future safety. The terrain, effectively 20% of the territory designated for annexation under Trump’s plan, sits between sovereign Israel and Jordan. Israel fears that should that territory become part of a failed Palestinian state taken over by a terrorist group like Hamas, it would drive a wedge of enemy territory between Jordan and Israel.
That corridor is seen as particularly sensitive because there is a direct geographical line between Jordan, Iraq and Iran. Should Jordan be taken over by a fundamentalist Islamic regime, there would be no buffer zone to protect Israel. The border is Israel’s longest, and maintaining an IDF presence there is of vital importance. But no past framework for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has ever given that territory to sovereign Israel. At best, there was an understanding that Israel would retain security control.
The presence of Jericho and surrounding Palestinian villages, totaling some 50,000 Palestinians, means the mapping process is complicated. Many of the mapping and security issues that could prevent Israeli preparedness for annexation in July would exist with this plan as well. There is broad objection to Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, including from the Palestinians, the international community and Jordan and the Arab world.
4. Phased annexation starting with some or all of the settlement blocs
During the Obama administration, the international community, the Palestinians and the US spoke of a twostate