Settler housing starts spiked by 26% in 2015, government report finds

T. Belman. That may be but it is a far cry from what it was 6 years ago and what it should be today.

The CBS releases it’s quarterly report as the United Nations Human Rights Council is set to vote on a resolution condemning Jewish building over the pre-1967 lines.

By Tova Lazaroff, JPOST

settlement houses

Housing starts in the J&S settlements spiked by 26 percent in 2015 when compared to the previous year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

The CBS released it’s quarterly report on Wednesday as the United Nations Human Rights Council is set to vote Thursday on a resolution condemning Jewish building over the pre-1967 lines, calling on Israel to halt such activity.

The CBS data was part of an overall report that showed that starts rose by 3.9% and the finishes fell by 2.8%. But finishes in the settlements went up by 25%.

In real numbers, ground was broken for 1,913 new settler homes in 2015 compared with 1,516 such units in 2014.

Similarly, work on 2,033 new homes was finished in 2015 compared to 1,615 that were completed in the previous year.

Right wing politicians have complained in the last year about a de-facto freeze in buildings within the West Bank settlement blocs.

The CBS does not break down its data by settlement but it does provide statistics on the five largest Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria: Modi’n Illit, Beitar Illit, Ma’aleh Adumim, Givat Ze’ev and Ariel.

Historically, building in those five settlements has often made up over 50% of all such West Bank Jewish building but since Netanyahu entered office in 2009, construction in those five communities has dropped.

CBS data showed, however, that the spike in building last year was due in large part to increased construction in those five communities which made up 48% of the starts and 55% of the finishes.

The city of Ariel, which has typically lagged behind when it comes to building, had the highest number of finishes in 2015 with 566 completed new homes, followed by 181 finishes in the city of Ma’aleh Adumim.

The largest number of starts was in Ma’aleh Adumim where ground was broken for 246 new homes, followed by 216 such units in Ariel.

The CBS data was limited to Judea and Samaria and did not include Jewish building in east Jerusalem.

March 23, 2016 | 4 Comments »
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  1. Building growth a start. Population growth at 4 -5% per annum.

    Former MK Yaakov Katz published on Thursday a statistical study which showed that over 400,000 Jews live in Judea and Samaria.

    According to the study, the five largest cities in Judea and Samaria are Modi’in Illit, Beitar Illit, Ma’aleh Adumim, Ariel, and the local council area of Givat Ze’ev. All five have more than ten thousand residents.

    The combined population of those five cities is over 193,000 people, making up some 48 percent of the total number of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.

    Approximately 125,000 residents of Judea and Samaria are haredi, which makes them almost 30 percent of the population. The majority of the haredim live in four cities and towns.

    Modi’in Illit has 64,000, Beitar Illit has 52,000, Immanuel has some 4,000 and the Tel Zion neighborhood in Kochav Yaakov has 5,000.

    Given the rate of childbirth in the haredi population, it is not hard to believe that within the next few years, one in three people who live in Judea and Samaria will be haredi. Another astounding fact is that within the haredi neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria, 60 percent of the population is under 18.

    With regard to secular community, towns that identify as secular include Ma’aleh Adumim with 40,000 residents, Ariel with 20,000 residents, and Givat Ze’ev with 17,000 residents.

    Additionally, there are other local councils who identify as secular in Judea and Samaria, and when totaling them all together the number approaches 100,000 secular residents.

    There are considerable religious populations in each of these cities, so that number is slightly less than 100,000 and places the percentage at close to 22 percent.

    The number of National-Religious Jews who live in Judea and Samaria is approximately 190,000. Only 47 percent of the entire population of Judea and Samaria belongs to the National-Religious camp.

    Following the five biggest cities in the area, the regional councils of Efrat, Oranit, Alfei Menashe, Kiryat Arba and Kochav Yaakov round out the top ten in terms of population size.

    There are more than 27 townships whose populations surpass 3,000, aside from the ten mentioned above. Eight are part of the regional council of Binyamin, two belong to the regional council of Gush Etzion, and only one belongs to the regional council of Shomron.

    Here is the full list of population by location as published by Yaakov Katz.

    Avnei Hefetz, 1,820, Avnit 130, Adora 425, Oranit 9,073, Itamar 1,082, Alon Moreh 1,771, Alon Shvut 3,673, Almog 250, Eleazar 2,687, Alfei Menashe 8,169, Elkana 3929, Aspar 583, Efrtat 9,631, Argaman 167, Ariel 19,299, Eshkolot 495, Beit-El 6,128, Beit Arye 4,909, Beit Ha’aravah 151, Beit Horon 1,295, Beitar Illit 52,013, Bekaot 223, Bruhin 733, Braha 2,236, Barkan 1,867, Bat Ayin 1,385, Geva Binyamin 5,236, Givon Hahadasha 1,388, Givat Ze’ev 17,176, Gitit 402, Gilgal 168, Dolev 1,360, Har Adar 4,125, Har Gilo 1,514, Vered Jericho 285, Hevron 562, Haggai 612, Hinanit 1,240, Halamish 1,234, Hemdat 199, Hamrah 187, Hermesh 269, Hashmonaim 3283, Talmon 4,048, Tene 840, Yatab 349, Yafit, 205, Yitzhar 1,461, Yakir 1,967, Kochav Hashachar 2,169, Kochav Yaakov 7646, Kfar Adumim, 4015, Kfar Ha’Oranim 2,497, Kfar Etzion 770, Kfar Tapuah 1,036, Karmei Tzur 1,142, Karmel 469, Mevo Dotan 432, Mevo Horon 2,372, Migdal Oz 433, Migdalim 273, Modi’in Illit 64,915, Mehola 513, Mehora 178, Maon 558, Ma’aleh Adumim 40,693, Ma’aleh Efraim 1,659, Ma’aleh Levona 664, Ma’aleh Mihmash 1,612, Ma’aleh Amos 532, Ma’aleh Shomeron 1,007, Metzudat Yehuda 477, Mitzpe Yericho 2,256, Mitzpe Shalom 206, Masua 189, Mashkiot 172, Matityahu 705, Negohot 289, Neve Daniel 2,577, Nofim 702, Nokdim 1,757, Nahliel 693, Nili 1,483, Niran 94, Na’aleh 1,476, Na’ama 155, Netiv Hagdud 196, Susia 1,004, Salit 735, Ofra 3,353, Ateret 643, Eli 3,894, Alei Zahav 1,626, Almon 1385, Immanuel 3,793, Anav 804, Etz Efraim 1,865, Otniel 810, Peduel 1,763, P’Nei Hever 429, Psagot 2,028, Patzel 300, Tsufim 2,032, Kedumim 4,510, Kedar 1,457, Kalia 409, Kiryat Arba 7,874, Kiryat Netafim 807, Karnei Shomron 7,501, Rosh Tzurim 1,008, Revava 2,111, Roei 162, Rotem 177, Reihan 227, Rimonim 661, Shavei Shomron 986, Shedmat Mehola 617, Shilo 3,585, Shama 585, Sharei Tikva 5,518, Shaked 858, Tomer 321, Telem 338, Tekoa 3,671, five other small groups of communities or regional councils make up 4,517.

    Shlomo Pitrikovsky contributed to this report

  2. United Nations Human Rights Council

    Albania
    Algeria
    Bangladesh
    Belgium
    Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
    Botswana
    Burundi
    China
    Congo
    Côte d’Ivoire
    Cuba
    Ecuador
    El Salvador
    Ethiopia
    France
    Georgia
    Germany
    Ghana
    India
    Indonesia
    Kenya
    Kyrgyzstan
    Latvia
    Maldives
    Mexico
    Mongolia
    Morocco
    Namibia
    Netherlands
    Nigeria
    Panama
    Paraguay
    Philippines
    Portugal
    Qatar
    Republic of Korea
    Russian Federation
    Saudi Arabia
    Slovenia
    South Africa
    Switzerland
    The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
    Togo
    United Arab Emirates
    United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
    Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
    Viet Nam

    Which of these countries is morally qualified to judge Israel?

  3. Right wing politicians have complained in the last year about a de-facto freeze in buildings within the West Bank settlement blocs.

    conversation used to revolve around the freeze in YS and now the struggle is reduced to conversation about the freeze in the ghetto.

  4. LOL, all kept within, or adjacent to the euro designated ghetto boundaries of the major settlement blocks with the vast proportion of YS untouched by Jews. Lots of figures which obfuscate the fact that the Jewish homeland in YS is being maintained JEW FREE for a future scenario. As long as the Jews stay in their ghetto they can build, but voices are also raised even for that because the Jews need to feel they are fighting for the crumbs they get. Notice, it is many years since anyone spoke of new developments outside the ghetto in YS. Disappeared from all conversation, replaced by the struggle for Jerusalem… because YS has already been decided.