Hityashvut is arguably one of the most important aspects of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel. It is impossible to conceive of the development of the new society without hityashvut, not just in terms of the physical reality that it created, but even more so in terms of the whole package of values that it came to express. However, just as the society has changed in so many ways, so have the values of hityashvut. In the move away from national and collective values towards individual personal values, that has encompassed so many aspects of life in modern Israel, the reality of hityashvut has itself changed to reflect those changes.

In a sense, hityashvut can be seen to be the litmus test of the society. It is perhaps no coincidence that those parts of the society that still strongly and consciously see themselves as encapsulating the strong national values, emphasise the value of hityashvut ("the settlements") as one of their central platforms, while other groups who believe that those values do not necessarily always provide the best way forward, have taken the same settlements as a metaphor for the enemy within.

We close with a word about settlement terminology. In Hebrew, an additional word has been used in the last generation to refer to the hityashvut over the pre-1967 borders, principally in the areas of the Gaza strip and Judea and Samaria, the West Bank of the Jordan. This is the term Hitnachalut, (also "settlement", but with more biblical overtones) which has been resurrected both by proponents and opponents of the settlements. Interestingly, whereas for the settlers themselves and the supporters of settlement in these areas, the word is perceived as a positive term, to be used interchangeably with hityashvut, the opponents of the settlements use the term in a negative way and more or less exclusively to refer to these settlements. They term them "hitnachluyot", as opposed to the "legitimate" concept of hityashvut, use of which is restricted to pre-'67 area or, for some, the Golan heights and the Jordan valley. It is as though there were a desire not to taint the word hityashvut by associating it with these new and different creations or, alternatively, not to grace the new settlements with the halo that has traditionally belonged to hityashvut.

In English, of course, the same distinction has not been made, with the result that one often hears the term "settlement" used in a negative sense, to the extent that it threatens to swamp the positive associations of the word. When talking about realities steeped in concepts with such powerful emotional overtones, it is perhaps sad, if understandable, that the Hebrew language itself has become a weapon in the war of ideas.