West Bank settlements lead Israeli population growth

Jerusalem Post ^ | Jul. 29, 2003 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[yonif]

The population in settlements in the West Bank grew three times as fast as in Israel overall in 2002, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

The population of West Bank settlements grew by 5.7 percent in 2002, while the overall population of Israel and Jewish areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip grew by 1.9 percent, the bureau said.

Bureau spokeswoman Yael Nathan said the West Bank growth was a jump from the 5 percent level in 2001, and was concentrated in settlements dominated by ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The settlements, which are fiercely opposed by the Palestinians, were expected to be discussed during Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's meeeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on Tuesday.

The bureau put Israel's total population at the end of 2002 at 6,631,000.

Nathan said that about 225,000 Jews lived in settlements in the West Bank and another 8,000 in the Gaza Strip. Included in Israel's population are some 1,200,000 Arabs.

[yonif]

Ping.

[Alouette]

the West Bank growth was a jump from the 5 percent level in 2001, and was concentrated in settlements dominated by ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Well, isn't that a big surprise? HA HA HA.

[Tax-chick]

Well, yes, religious people have babies. So this is news? When is the rest of Israel going to catch on to their population crisis?

[Ancesthntr]

That is good news. The larger the population of Jews in the "West Bank," the less likely that they can or will be forced to move, for a couple of reasons. First, they will have increasing political clout in Israel. Second, the cost of moving them (not just the move itself, but finding them new housing and jobs in an already crowded Israel-proper) will rise as the population rises. At 5.7%/ year, that population will double in about 12 1/2 years, and will be more than 500,000 in 14 years.

These people aren't going anywhere, at least the vast majority of them. Contrary to the (intentionally) false image presented by the Arabs and the Western media, most of them live either in the annexed areas of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem's immediate eastern suburbs, or in a very few large towns/cities that are almost exclusively Jewish. There are very few of them that live in trailers set up within the last several weeks or months located in the middle of a bunch of Arabs.