Settlement construction exceeds natural growth

Israel's settlement policy and the increase in construction work on the West Bank's Jewish settlements exceed the figures of natural growth that the Israeli government claims, a Peace Now fact-finding delegation concluded after a thorough study the group conducted recently.

"The results of our investigation expose Netanyahu's claims as loathsome and fictitious," said Peace Now Secretary-General Mossi Raz said as he presented the outcome of his group's investigation. According to data compiled by Peace Now researchers, 2,888 standing housing units in the settlements are unoccupied, out of a sum total of 42,000 housing units in the Jewish settlements.

The number of uninhabited housing units in the Jewish settlements last year was 3,200. The report said that 5,892 housing units are currently under construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, noting that last year 5,200 housing units were in the process of being constructed.

The report concluded that while the natural growth rate of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is 3.2 percent per annum, the construction growth in the Jewish settlements is close to 15 percent. A spokesman for the settlers, Aharon Domb, said that Peace Now figures were not accurate and that only a few hundred housing units are unoccupied.