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January 11, 2012

Report: Israeli Settlement Expansion Breaks Records 
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New figures show Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank
has reached record levels. According to the Israeli group Peace Now,
settlement building rose 20 percent last year, with construction starts
on thousands of new homes. Yariv Oppenheimer of Peace Now announced the
group's findings.

Yariv Oppenheimer of Peace Now: "Netanyahu and his government broke
their own record and built more this year than the two years before. We
can see that in many places in the West Bank there are construction of
new settlements and new houses. And this year will be remembered as the
'year of the settlers' regarding construction in the West Bank. Everyone
that supports the two state solution should be very worried about this
latest figures because on the ground things are changing and without a
stop of settlement activity, if we will see another year like the last
year, so the possibility to have the two state solution will be very low
and difficult."

With U.S. backing, Israel has rejected Palestinian calls for a
settlement freeze as a pre-condition for peace talks. In response to the
Peace Now report, Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev said Israel
has in fact shown "great restraint" in the West Bank.

Mark Regev, Israeli Spokesperson: "We have shown great restraint. This
government initiated an unprecedented 10-months settlement moratorium,
and even today with the conclusion of that moratorium, we continue to
exercise great restraint."



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