This is why the Israeli government insisted on vacating those settlements. Having those settlements in an area surrounded by Palestinians represents a major security problem.
Absolutely. I agree with you, Alberta's Child, the West Bank is Israel's most difficult problem—and Jerusalem lies at the crux of that problem. They can't give it up . . .
With the troops out of Gaza they can reinforce the West Bank, which is good. The negative is that the Gaza settlements are psychological strongholds for the Israelis, respresenting hard fought territories. But I think that will go a long way to uniting them when (not if) the Palestinians violate the terms of the roadmap.