Solar energy as national security in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Although territorial conflict is often cited as an inhibitor of renewable energy adoption, solar technologies have become an integral part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This study examines how Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas have used solar energy as a tool to advance their respective security priorities in nationally contested territories, often at the expense of other economic or environmental considerations. Within the context of the ongoing conflict, solar energy projects serve to advance three main goals: (1) decentralizing electricity generation to prevent grid disruptions caused by aerial bombing campaigns in Gaza or by rocket attacks against Israel, (2) using off-grid rooftop PV panels in settlements or in divided urban environments such as East Jerusalem to prevent political misuse of a shared electricity grid, and (3) strategically positioning solar fields to ensure continuity and block rival expansion in contested territories such as Area B and C in the West Bank. Given these priorities, this study examines the factors that make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more receptive to using solar panels as tools of national security compared to other territorial conflicts, and points to how these factors shape the type, location, financing and scale of the solar projects that each side of the conflict promotes.