Population Booms in West Bank

Israeli spending on West Bank settlements has increased 38 percent under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the population of Jewish residents there has doubled in a dozen years.

The figures were reported as Netanyahu’s government approved a package of spending cuts and tax increases, measures that could fuel anti-austerity protests like those Israel saw last summer.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

The Guardian:

Figures from Israel’s population registry, released last week, showed a 4.5% increase in Jewish settlers in the West Bank in the past 12 months, to a total that exceeds 350,000 for the first time and which has almost doubled in the past 12 years. There are additional 300,000 Jewish residents in settlements across the pre-1967 line in Jerusalem. All settlements are illegal under international law.

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