Israel-Palestine Analysis: The Weight of the West Bank Settlements (Yenidunya)

According to The Jerusalem Post, President Obama will accept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion of  ultimate Israeli control over major settlement blocs and an extension of the freeze in all areas outside these blocs in the West Bank. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has also reportedly proposed the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with a possible land swap of 2.3 percent of the West Bank, although this was denied by the chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Palestine & Israel: The Situation on the Eve of Obama-Netanyahu Talks

However, according to Haaretz, at least 2,700 new housing units are scheduled to be built in the West Bank as soon as the current settlement freeze ends this September. Regional councils  are preparing to continue constructions already authorized before the freeze decision.

It is not just the 2,700 housing units inside large settlement blocs that matter but the effect of these in negotiations. According to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, the jurisdiction of councils over settlements covers 42 percent of the land area of the West Bank even though the the settlements take up just 1 percent of the West Bank’s land area.

Meanwhile, on Monday, The New York Times reported that an estimated $200 million in tax-exempt funds were donated to Jewish residents in the West Bank over the last decade, supporting the settlements. Washington does not allow Israel to spend US aid on West Bank settlements, but tax breaks are allowed on charitable donations to the area. Former US ambassador to Israel Daniel C. Kurtzer said the issue was politically delicate: “It drove us crazy, [but]it was a thing you didn’t talk about in polite company.”