Wadi Ara or Nahal Iron (Arabic: وادي عارة, Hebrew: נחל עירון, ואדי עארה), refers to an area within Israel that is mostly populated by Arabs. It is located northwest of the Green Line and is mostly within Israel's Haifa District. Originally captured by Arab League forces (Iraqi) in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was ceded to Israel in an apparent exchange for territory south of Hebron in the 1949 Israel-Jordan armistice. In March 1949 as the Iraqi forces withdrew from Palestine and handed over their positions to the smaller Jordanian legion, 3 Israeli brigades manoeuvred into threatening positions in Operation Shin-Tav-Shin in a form of coercive diplomacy. The operation allowed Israel to renegotiate the cease fire line in the Wadi Ara area of the Northern West Bank in a secret agreement reached on 23 March 1949 and incorporated into the General Armistice Agreement. The green line was then redrawn in blue ink on the southern map to give the impression that a movement in the green line had been made. It has been estimated that 15 villages were ceded to Israel.1
The area has come under political attention as some Israeli politicians such as Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party have brought up transferring the area to the sovereignty and administration of the Palestinian Authority for a future Palestinian State. In return the Palestinian Authority is to transfer specific large Israeli settlement "blocs" within the West Bank east of the Green Line to the Israel. According to politicians who support this land-swap, Israel would ensure and secure itself as primarily Jewish state. However many politicians within the Knesset disagree and believe it would only decrease Israel's Arab population by a mere 10%, while most Israeli Arabs object to trading Israeli citizenship for Palestinian citizenship.2
Localities in Wadi Ara
Arab
Jewish
References
See also
Coordinates: 32°29′38.67″N 35°3′16.13″E / 32.494075, 35.0544806
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