THOSE DISPUTED SETTLEMENTS

Kaddum. Ofra. Ma'ale Adumim.

These are the three Israeli settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan River that Israeli Premier Menachem Begin legalized last week, to the distress of the Carter Administration. The communities had been founded in 1974 and 1975 by ultranationalist Jews in defiance of Labor government policy.

Since the Six-Day War, Israel has established 90 settlements in the occupied territories, including nine communities on the outskirts of Jerusalem, 36 on the West Bank (see map), 25 on the Golan Heights and 20 in Sinai and the Gaza

Strip. Total population of the settlements: about 60,000. But Kaddum (newly renamed Alon Moreh), Ofra and Ma'ale Adumim have had a special --and somewhat awkward--status since their founding. They were built not as part of the Labor government's plan to provide for the security of Israel's borders but by a zealous organization called Gush Emunim (Group of the Faithful). It believes that Jews have the right to settle in any part of the West Bank, since this land was included in ancient Judea and Samaria.

The decision by the Begin government to recognize the three settlements officially makes them eligible for subsidies and for such services as schools and bus transportation. But Begin's support for the communities last week also whetted Gush Emunim's desire to expand Jewish presence in the territories. The organization has recruited families to establish twelve more settlements on the West Bank, and threatens demonstrations unless the government authorizes them by September. Although Begin will probably impose a moratorium on new settlements until the Geneva Conference reconvenes, he pointedly told newsmen last week that there was no government freeze on establishment of new communities.

West Bank Arabs see the settlements as a threat--a view that Begin and his followers seem unwilling to accept. Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan even defended the communities as "constructive for peace," on the grounds that "I don't know anything more productive for peace than living together with the Arabs." Dayan conveniently overlooked the fact that the West Bank settlements are isolated from, and generally ignore, neighboring Arab villages.

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