July 27, 2012

On Thursday, 26th July, Israel Hayom, website published that the number of settlers in the West Bank has increased by 350,143 settlers.

According to statistics from the Population Registry of Israel's Ministry of Interior, the rate of the increase is 4.5%.

The Israel Hayom newspaper said that this number excludes north and east of Jerusalem, such as Givat Ze'ev and Neve Yaakov, Ramat Eshkol, and Armon Hanatziv, where the Jewish population in these areas, is about 300,000 settlers.

The report's data shows that 15,579 settlers moved to the West Bank in the past twelve months. Most of the settlers moved to areas outside of the large settlement blocs.

The big settlement blocs have maintained its population stability as the population in the settlement of Ariel is about 50,000 settlers, in Ma'aleh Adumim, about 45 thousand, and in Gush Etzion, 22, 000 settlers. The total population of the settlement blocs is 116,824 thousand, while 233,000 settlers live outside these settlement compounds.

These statistics indicates that the number of settlers has doubled in the last 12 years: the population in 2000 was enumerated by approximately 190,206 settlers.

Chairman of the National Union MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzale) showed satisfaction over these statistics, he said, " though settlement construction was halted last year, but it has grown in the West Bank," he continued, "According to the current pace of settlement growth, it is expected that the number of settlers will reach about 400,000 settlers before the next general."

Katz also said, "In the coming four years, the number of settlers will reach about half a million, and after the annexation of East Jerusalem settlements the number of Jewish settlers will exceed one million, completing the full "demographic coup."

Source