Israel Matzav: Time is on our side

Abu Bluff better get Bluff'n or the Bluff Palestine is gone. The number of Jews in Judea and Samaria has grown to 313,000 – double the growth rate of the rest of Israel – according to the latest CivilAdministration report.

This is from a story about Israel's rejection of Abu Bluff's demand for a three-month construction freeze in Jerusalem.

But Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry’s diplomatic-military bureau, said that direct talks should not be forced on anyone. “There is no alternative to direct talks,” he said, speaking at the 10th Herzliya Conference, “but if they fail, that could be worse than anything.”

Gilad said that the PA security forces were effectively fighting Hamas in the West Bank because of the trauma of losing Gaza to Hamas, which he called “Hamastan.”

But, he cautioned, “Hamas must disappear before peace can be reached.”

Indeed.

Contrary to what our politicians have been trying to sell us since 1993, it is Israel, and not the 'Palestinians' that has all the time in the world. If the 'Palestinians' want to wait another ten years for direct talks until there are a million Jews in Judea and Samaria, let them. The more Jews there are in Judea and Samaria, the less likely that the 'Palestinians' get their state reichlet. And that's with or without Hamas' disappearance (which must happen for Israel to have any hope of living in peace with the 'Palestinians').

There isn't going to be a political settlement in my lifetime or in most of yours. Deal with it.

Heh.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

The Civil Administration report, as quoted by Haaretz, shows that the population in Judea and Samaria grew in the past half-year by 2.75%, and by 5.1% in the past year, and now stands at 312,940. A large part of the growth is due to the hareidi-religious cities of Beitar Illit (6.3%) and Modiin Illit (9,8%) - but even without those cities, Yesha’s growth rate of 3.8% more than doubles that of the rest of Israel, which stands at 1.7%

Two-thirds of the towns in Yesha grew at a higher rate than the rest of Israel (see below).

Sample populations in Judea and Samaria and their growth rate over the past half-year:

Shomron Regional Council – 25,875, up 3.75%

Binyamin Regional Council (Israel’s largest) – 47,636, up 2.5%

Mt. Hevron Regional Council – 5,909, up 3.8%

Gush Etzion Regional Council – 15,818, up 3.5%

Maaleh Adumim – 36,508, up 2.1%

Alfei Menashe – 7,338, up 3.2%

Ariel – 18,264, up 1%

Efrat – 8,674, up 2.4%

Elkanah – 3,460, up 2.4%

Kedumim – 3,840, up 1%

Kiryat Arba – 6,774, up 1%

via docstalk.blogspot.com

this contradicts recent reports that the Arabs would take Judea and Samaria by attrition