Jewish settler population in West Bank hits a landmark, and under Israel's new government, it may soar
CBSN
Jerusalem — Israel's West Bank settler population now makes up more than half a million people, a pro-settler group said Thursday, crossing a major threshold. Settler leaders predicted even faster population growth under Israel's new ultranationalist government. The report, by WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com and based on official figures, showed the settler population grew to 502,991 as of Jan. 1, rising more than 2.5% in 12 months and nearly 16% over the last five years. "We've reached a huge hallmark," said Baruch Gordon, the director of the group and a resident of the Beit El settlement. "We're here to stay."
The milestone comes as Israel's new government, which includes members from ultranationalist parties who oppose Palestinian statehood, has placed expanding settlements at the top of its priority list. Already the government has pledged to legalize wildcat outposts that have long enjoyed tacit government support and to ramp up approval and construction of settler homes around the West Bank. "I think that in the coming years of this government there will be more building than there has been in the last 20 years of governments," Gordon said.
Not all Israeli Jews are supportive of settlement expansion, or their country's hard-line new government. As CBS News' Haley Ott reported, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Israel's major cities to protest against the policies espoused by some of Netanyahu's cabinet members. Settlements have flourished under every Israeli government, including at the height of the peace process in the 1990s. Even Israel's short-lived previous government, which included parties supporting Palestinian statehood along with those opposing it, continued to build settlements.
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