Widely regarded as expert in techniques of surveillance and political control, Israel has been successful in controlling a native population for a long time. Despite tremendous challenges, it has maintained a tight grip over a large Palestinian population in the territories it occupied in the 1967 war. Moreover, it has effectively contained the Palestinian minority inside its 1948 borders. Although members of the latter group were granted Israeli citizenship, various policies have blocked them from challenging the state’s Jewish identity. Israel’s continued administration of a large Palestinian population into the twenty-first century represents a serious challenge for scholars and theorists of colonial forms of political control.

Relying on hitherto unpublished archival material, this book traces the genesis of Israeli policies and tactics of population management, surveillance and political control towards the Palestinians. It identifies the principal architects of these strategies, discusses their approaches, summarises their discussions and traces the implementations of these policies and their impact on the everyday lives of Palestinians.