Plans to construct 2,168 new housing units have moved forward since September 2015, according to Peace Now’s Settlement Watch project. That includes anything from initial submission to final authorization.

By Judy Maltz, HAARETZ Oct 06, 2016

Construction workers are busy applying the finishing touches to a row of brand new, single-family homes adjacent to Ariel University, each with its own little garden plot. Hoping to lure prospective buyers, a large advertisement on the road notes their proximity to a soon-to-be-built shopping mall.

After years of stagnation, this Jewish settlement situated deep inside the West Bank is enjoying a revival of sorts – evidenced by the new construction in this neighborhood, Givat Ha’universita, and other locations around town.

Despite declarations to the contrary by government officials, the settlement enterprise is expanding. Recent figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics show a sharp increase in actual building starts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In addition, data compiled by an Israeli peace organization provides evidence of a surge in construction planning activity that encompasses both new housing and the retroactive legalization of existing homes.

For proponents of a two-state solution, particularly troubling is the fact that much of this new building activity is taking place in locations like Ariel, far away from Israel’s internationally recognized border or any other likely future border. As such, it appears aimed at blocking any future evacuation of the settlements.

“We are seeing dramatic growth in the past year in two particular settlements – Ariel and Efrat – which are especially problematic because, on the one hand, they are considered part of the so-called ‘consensus’ in Israel. But, on the other, they are situated in places where it would be harder to pull out from in the event of a peace agreement,” said Hagit Ofran, director of the Settlement Watch project at Peace Now.

Ariel is 20 kilometers (12 miles) from any presumed future border. Efrat, meanwhile, extends over Route 60 – the only major north-south highway in the southern West Bank – thereby encroaching on the development of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Ariel, with close to 20,000 residents, and Efrat, with upwards of 8,000, are among the most heavily populated Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Yigal Dilmoni, spokesman for the Yesha Council of settlements (the official lobbying organization for the movement), confirmed that significant construction is underway in Ariel and Efrat, but noted that it’s the outcome of building permits issued two years ago. At that time, the government temporarily lifted its official ban on settlement construction, hoping to blunt right-wing protests over its decision to release a large group of Palestinian prisoners.

“Today, however, no new plans for construction that are submitted to the Civil Administration are moved forward,” said Dilmoni. “Nobody even bothers looking at them, let alone approve them.”

Not so, according to Settlement Watch, which maintains a comprehensive database on construction activity in the settlements. (Neither the Yesha Council nor Regavim, another pro-settler group, publish data on the subject.)

Settlement Watch figures are based on a number …read more

Source:: Israpundit

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