Israeli military: West Bank settlers now surpass 300,000

Ma'an
One day after US envoy George Mitchell arrived in Tel Aviv to hammer out a deal on settlement expansion, Israel's military revealed that the number of settlers in the occupied West Bank has surpassed 300,000.

The Israeli military's Civil Administration issued the report on Monday, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. It covers the first half of 2009 and notes that as of 30 June, West Bank settlers number 304,569 residents, a 2.3 percent increase over the year and three times the average growth inside Israel.

The military's figures do not include growth at settlements in Palestinian East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed as its "undivided and eternal capital" in 1980; the move has never been internationally recognized. About 190,000 Israeli settlers live there, bringing the total number of settlers living in occupied Palestinian territory to just under 500,000.



Most of the West Bank growth was in more religious ultra-Orthodox settlements, which tend to house religious Jews who believe their right to build on Palestinian land was guaranteed in the Hebrew Bible, as opposed to settlements that offer affordable housing with quick commutes to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Among the more religious illegal settlements are Modi'in, which grew by 1,879 residents since January, a 4.5 percent increase, and Beitar Ilit, which grew by 3.1 percent at 1,074 residents.

Haaretz noted that by excluding those two religious "communities," the growth rate in other Israeli settlements stood at 1.75 percent...

A few other illegal settlements, by the numbers:

Har Adar: 5.7 percent growth
Alfei Menashe: 2.7 percent increase
Kedumim: 2.1 percent growth
Emanuel: 1.2 percent increase
Kiryat Arba: 0.9 percent growth.....

None of the above numbers include so-called outposts, settlements that even Israel has deemed illegal.... Under international law, there is no difference between "outposts" and settlements - all are considered illegal.

But the army report did identify a 4.4 percent increase (425 people) as "settlers living outside municipal areas." The highest growth was naturally in the smaller settlements...

The overwhelming majority of the international community has rejected Israel's claims to the territories, basing their opposition on Article 49 of the Geneva Convention, which states, "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."

Israel's new right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, himself a settler, has refused repeated calls for a settlement freeze, and international demands for a moratorium seem only to have galvanized the settler movement. The settlers have also declared their intention to violently lash out at Palestinians whenever an "outpost" is removed by the government, what some call the Price Tag policy.

On Sunday, Israeli settlers announced their intention to build 11 new "outposts" in the occupied West Bank. In fliers distributed in existing West Bank settlements, an organization calling itself the Land of Israel Faithful urged settlers to establish the new colonies in opposition to their government. Full story