Four Israeli citizens were wounded Thursday morning in a road terror attack near the Jewish community of Tekoa.

The victims were traveling in a car with Israeli license plates when they were attacked by Arabs hurling a barrage of heavy rocks and boulders.

The windows of the vehicle were smashed by the heavy rocks, and four of the people riding in the car were wounded by flying glass and by the hard missiles with which they were struck.

All four were taken to a medical clinic in the nearby Jewish city of Efrat, about ten minutes away from Jerusalem, local sources said.

Just yesterday (Wednesday) Israel Police Lt.-Col. Baruch Mizrahi was laid to rest in the police cemetery at Mt. Herzl, a victim of a terror attack in Judea on nearby Highway 35, on the outskirts of Hevron. Mizrahi was murdered and his pregnant wife and 9 year old son injured when a gunman shot them with an AK-47 assault rifle from the side of the road as they were traveling to attend a Passover seder in Kiryat Arba. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Tekoa is located on the opposite side of the sector, among the hills of eastern Gush Etzion in the shadow of the Herodian, the burial place of the Biblical King Herod.

The community is situated next to the ancient village of Teq’ua, now an Arab village. A number of residents in the two communities have quietly established good relations. Ironically, it was Teq’ua residents who called friends in Tekoa for help when they came under missile fire from Gaza during the last mini-war, Operation Pillar of Defense.

Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) party, is urging Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to annex Area C, which encompasses all of the Jewish settlement blocs in Judea (Yehuda) and Samaria (Shomron.)

“It is clear that the diplomatic process has run its course and that we are entering a new era,” Bennett wrote to the prime minister in a letter sent Wednesday. “We have been hitting our heads against the wall of negotiations over and over again for years and we keep getting surprised when the wall did not break. The time has come for new thinking.”

Bennett’s “Settlement Blocs First” plan calls to annex Area C, which is controlled entirely by the State of Israel, and offering Israeli citizenship to Arabs living there. Area C, which comprises 60 percent of the Judea and Samaria regional sector, is home to at least 350,000 Jews – none of whom live in Area A (under full PA control) or Area B (under PA civil control and Israeli military control.)

Highway 60, a favorite target for road terror attacks by Palestinian Authority Arabs, is the main artery that runs from the north to the south from Samaria (Shomron) through Judea (Yehuda) to Be’er Sheva and is routed mostly through Area B.

Under Bennett’s proposal, Areas A and B would receive increased autonomy and a massive infusion of financial investment to upgrade the quality of life in those areas.

He explained the plan on the U.S.-based CNN network last night (Wednesday) and said he will begin to publicize it in the international forums. Bennett contended that since Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and its reunification of Jerusalem was never recognized internationally anyway, another annexation will not make a difference.

Included in the blocs to be annexed would be Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim, Beit El, Ofra, Ariel and the communities overlooking Ben Gurion International Airport.

Dozens of police pounced on the home of Boaz Albert in Yitzhar Wednesday afternoon and arrested him for allegedly participating in the rampage Tuesday on an IDF post in the community, according to the Hebrew-language Kol HaYehudi website.

The assault on the military post Tuesday caused widespread damage, as reported here.

Albert was arrested three month after he was released  from jail following his refusal to obey an administrative order to stay away from his home.

Police on Wednesday  also arrested a 25-year-old man at the Gilad Farm community on suspicion of involvement in Tuesday’s rampage.

The farm and Albert both have been become  symbols representing different images to different people – heroes of the settler movement who have not surrendered to violent midnight arrests and demolitions, and villains for anti-nationalists who see them as extremists who place themselves above the law.

Albert was in the headlines earlier this year after refusing to honor a military order that prohibited him from staying at his home but without any specific charges filed against him. Police arrested him several times for violating the order. During one arrest, it took police four hours to take him into custody because he had chained himself to floor.

Albert stayed in jail four months until he was finally freed.

Tuesday’s violence following the demolition of four homes in Yitzhar. The spokeswoman for the Shomron Regional Council called the destruction of the house a “price tag’ operation in revenge for a  Yitzhar youth having punctured the tires of an army vehicle.

Last August, a YouTube video showing the repeated use by police of a Taser gun on Albert shocked nationalist politicians as well as some leftist human rights activists. Police claimed the video was doctored and falsified the number of times Albert was tased.

Albert also is a symbol for many Israelis of a wild-eyed settler who puts God above the law. He has been quoted by Arutz Sheva as saying that during a stay in jail, he refused to be released because “every single second was part of the statement that the divine order is above the (IDF) commander’s order.”

The Gilad farm also has served as a symbol of the determination of Jews to remain in their community deposited dozens of raids  and demolition by police, but for anti-nationalists, it is a symbol of  an “illegal” outpost. The farm’s residents insist their community is on land that was privately owned by Gilda’s father Moshe Zar, who was a member of the Jewish Underground in the early 1980s and was sentenced to three years in jail. The elder Zar was known to have purchased land from Arabs, many of whom claim  that the purchases were phony

The cases of Albert and the Gilad Farm are those in which no one seems to be right and everyone seems to be wrong.

The police have repeatedly crossed all red lines of human rights in pre-dawn demolitions, often expelling young mothers and new-born babies in cold weather and then humiliating them by bulldozing homes and bringing in Arabs to walk away with anything that is usable.

Settlers also have been accused of constant violence against Arabs and police, and dozens of police officers were injured in one melee more than 10 years ago.

Below is video of the arrest of Albert, when police used a Taser gun on him.

Hours before a scheduled meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama in Washington Monday, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released the figures on Jewish housing starts in Judea and Samaria for 2013 and they show a stunning, 123% rise compared to the year before.

According to the CBS, work began on 2,534 new Judea and Samaria homes and apartments in 2013, compared to 1,133 in 2012. Of these, some 1,710 units were in apartment buildings in the larger Judea and Samaria settlements, and 824 were single-family homes in smaller settlements.

The same data shows a 19 percent drop in housing starts in the Tel Aviv area.

The total number of housing starts throughout Israel rose 3.4 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, according to the CBS.

Housing starts in Judea and Samaria have been lower since a 10-month freeze in building in Judea and Samaria settlements that began in November 2009, as part of the Netanyahu government’s capitulation to American pressure.

It took until 2013 for many new housing tenders to be issued for Judea and Samaria settlements, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Housing starts in Judea and Samaria comprise 5.7% of all the starts in Israel. In the south of Israel there was a 12% rise, in the Haifa region 8.1%, in Jerusalem 2.9%, and up north 1%.

The 19% drop in housing starts in Tel Aviv appears dramatic when juxtaposed with the rest of the country.

And now for a word from our friend at Peace Now Yariv Oppenheimer who issued a statement saying that at this rate of growth there’ll be no room left for a Palestinian State.

The other friendly NGO, the “Geneva Initiative,” faulted Netanyahu for creating a one-state solution through his action, and warned that in such a state the Jews would be in the minority.

No they won’t, just check birth rate figures for Jews (on the rise) and for Judea and Samaria Arabs (on the decline since 2005).

Some JTA content was used in this report, but we had to replace all the “west bank” references with the proper “Judea and Samaria.”

These days the work on analyzing the figures of the 2013 population census is being concluded, and once again the Jewish Settler communities are showing a resounding increase, according to Srugim. Based on these figures, 2013 has seen a 4.3 percent population growth in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley.

As of last December (which means the real figures for today are even higher), the Jewish settler population in Judea and Samaria is about 375,000, with an addition of some 15,400 new residents. The Judea and Samaria annual growth rate is more than twice the average in Israel west of the 1949 armistice line—aka the green line—which is 1.9.

The greatest growth was registered in 2013, same as in 2012, in the smaller communal settlements, some of which are in very remote locations, away from the population clusters of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A source in the Yesha Council has suggested that this shows that the settlement movement is still being motivated mostly by ideology. But it could also mean that their cable TV and Internet service is not as reliable, which leaves young locals with more free time.

Settlements with the highest growth rates in 2013 were: Etz Ephraim (Samaria) with 41%, Har Gilo (Gush Etzion) 33.4%, Maskiot (Jordan Valley) 25%, Rotem (JV) 19.1%, Adora (Mt. Hebron) 15.9%, Yitav (JV) 12.5%, and Nachliel (Benjamin) 10.2%.

Settlements with the most significant population growth in 2013 were Mosiin Ilit—3,376 new residents, Beitar Ilit—2,703, Givat Zeev—970, Maale Adumim—487, Oranit-486, Etz Ephraim—367, Har Gilo—315, Tkoa—261, Shilo—253, Kochav Yaakov-250, and Geva Binyamin with 210 new residents.

The overall growth figures for 2013—4.3%, actually represent a small drop compared with 2012, which was 4.8%.

Sources in Yesha Council happily point out that these amazing growth rates have been achieved despite the delays and freezes in construction bids and land-use planning, and despite higher real estate prices across Judea and Samaria due to the diminishing available stocks.

Yesha Council Chairman Avi Roeh told Srugim: “Our area has become very attractive to young couples, and demand supercedes supply. This can also be seen in the growth of the number of students in the schools.”

Roeh added: “We’re working on developing old and new settlements and increasing the number of educational institutions across Yesha. It’s our way of supporting the State of Israel by raising the housing supply and bringing down apartment costs for young couples.”

Canada’s Employment minister Jason Kenney has countered the BDS ‘Boycott SodaStream” campaign by buying one of the company’s soda-making machines and crediting Oxfam for the idea.

Oxfam has dumped Scarlett Johansson as an ambassador because she signed up to promote SodaStream whose 20 factories around the world include one in the industrial area of Maaleh Adumim, located in Greater Israel, Post-1967 Israel, or the Occupied Territories, depending on your political point of view.

BDS has been promoting the boycott, but its vocal protests have caused rumbles that are turning into an avalanche of positive publicity for SodaStream and Israel because of the company’s policy of equal opportunity for Palestinian Authority Arabs.

Instead of a boycott, there is “buy-cott,” and Keeney tweeted on Monday, “Bought a nice @SodaStream unit at the @HudsonsBayCo. Thanks to @Oxfam for the tip. #Buycott #BDSfail #GoScarJo”

Kenney said on Canadian television, “I’ve given money to Oxfam in the past because I thought they were there to help poor people, not to marginalize Israelis and make Palestinians unemployed.” He added that “all the nutters at Oxfam” also marginalize “Palestinian people” who get paid four times more at SodaStream than they would earn working for factories run by Palestinian Authority Arabs.

Kenney also had some choice words for leftist groups’ “anti-Israel obsession” while they while they ignore countries such as Iran, which executes political dissidents and homosexuals.

Palestinian Authority Arabs beat a group of Jews for two hours on Tuesday before the IDF arrived at a PA village to rescue them following violent clashes between both sides.

A few facts in the clash are clear. Border Police arrived at the Esh Kodesh outpost in Samaria to uproot an olive grove, and a stone-throwing fight developed between Jews and Arabs, who have been at constant war with the Esh Kodesh residents in recent years.

It also is known that the IDF rescued the Jews from a house under construction at the Arab village of Ousra.

The Arabs said they chased after the Jews, who allegedly throw rocks at Arab farmers and fled to the unfinished Arab house, where they were overpowered by the villagers.

One Arab admitted to Reuters that Arabs savagely beat 15 Jews with fists and sticks, some of them bleeding profusely, until the IDF arrived to rescue them from the attackers.

A resident of Esh Kodesh said they fled from the Arab rock throwers, but Ousra villagers accused the Jews of a “price tag” attack following the Border Police action. They gave no details of the alleged attack.

The IDF told The Jewish Press, “The Border Police carried out an order at Esh Kodesh, and Jews and Arabs started throwing rocks at each other. There were some injuries.”

It did not confirm or deny the rescue operation and had no knowledge of a “price tag” attack.

Israel radio interviewed one of the Esh Kodesh victims, who said a group of Jew were walking on a road when an Arab mob attacked them with rocks. The Jews then ran away to the unfinished house and called the IDF. Before the soldiers arrived, the Jews were beaten, one of them unconscious.

It is clear that land was the spark that set off the clash.

The Palestinian Authority claims all of the land in Judea and Samaria, especially that in “outposts” that have not been approved by the Defense Ministry.

The Obama administration considers Jews in all of Judea and Samaria and most of Jerusalem as “illegitimate,” regardless of whether they live on an outpost or in the Ramot or Gilo neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The result of bloated Arab expectations and an army policy of “let’s not disturb the peace process” has been the recent escalation of terror and violence, especially over land.

On Monday, Arabs clashed with Jews who were farming their land on the Mitzpeh Yair outpost in the southern Hebron Hills. Three of the Jews were hospitalized after having been beaten by the Arabs.

Kerry promises Israel the US will make sure Israelis are safe with a Palestinian Authority state, but who will protect the Arabs from themselves?

Two frightened Palestinians escaping a Palestinian Authority hit squad sought and found refuge in the Israeli community of Beit Aryeh in Samaria Monday night,

They said a group of Palestinian security officers were chasing them with the intent of killing them, and Israeli security forces were alerted. The fleeing Arabs were allowed in the community after a thorough search to make sure they were not carrying weapons.

The hit squad later arrived at the community and identified itself as as PA special forces. Israeli police also arrived on the scene and and found a loaded weapon, which is forbidden by PA police and soldiers in Area C.

Regional Council Head Avi Naim said, “We have gotten used to providing support to the Palestinians, but this is the first time we have encountered such an incident of Palestinians being chased by the Palestinian security forces and taking cover in a nearby Jewish community – I hope this is not a sign of a new developing reality in Judea and Samaria. Livni and Kerry – you have been warned.”

Naim added that Beit Aryeh is close to the Arab village of Luban and that the relations between the two communities are positive and productive. “We invite each other to communal events,” Naim said. “We are interested in good neighborly relations with anyone who wishes to do so as well. I am glad the residents of Beit Aryeh have good relations with the residents of Luban; these good relations are well known in the region and serve as a source for inspiration.”