Points this article makes:
– The so called construction surge consisted of a mere 6,062 Jewish-owned homes, built over 4 years.
– Settlements are not allowed to build their fair share of homes compared to the national average and population size.
– Under Netanyahu, settlement construction has slowed down, not increased.
– Under Netanyahu, the settlement population growth rate has slowed down, not increased.
– The AP article discussing settlers and settlements liberally quotes a radical left-wing NGO, but doesn’t quote any settlers or right-wing NGOs.
– Palestinian Authority Arabs have their own government which doesn’t permit them to vote.
All data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports, AP claims their data is from the CBS:
Construction Completions: Comparing Judea and Samaria to the National Average 2010-2013
| Year | National Construction | Excluding J&S | J&S | % from National |
| 2010 | 33,311 | 31,641 | 1,670 | 5.01% |
| 2011 | 34,301 | 32,619 | 1,682 | 4.90% |
| 2012 | 37,569 | 36,298 | 1,271 | 3.38% |
| 2013 | 42,668 | 41,229 | 1,439 | 3.37% |
| Total | 147,849 | 141,787 | 6,062 | Average: 4.10% |
Population Sizes: Comparing Judea and Samaria to the National Average 2008-2013
| Year | National Population | Excluding J&S | Just J&S | J&S as % of Population | Annual J&S Increase |
| 2008 | 7,412,200 | 7,131,100 | 281,100 | 3.79% | |
| 2009 | 7,552,000 | 7,255,000 | 297,000 | 3.93% | 15,900 |
| 2010 | 7,695,100 | 7,391,200 | 303,900 * | 3.95% | 6,900 * |
| 2011 | 7,836,600 | 7,511,100 | 325,500 | 4.15% | 21,600 |
| 2012 | 7,984,500 | 7,643,100 | 341,400 | 4.28% | 15,900 |
| 2013 | 8,134,500 | 7,778,000 | 356,500 | 4.38% | 15,100 |
* Settlement population size for 2010 (10-month Settlement Freeze) was estimated by JewishVirtualLibrary.org.
CBS statistics reports used for this article:
- http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2014n/04_14_235t4.pdf
- http://www1.cbs.gov.il/publications14/yarhon1114/pdf/b1.pdf
- http://www.cbs.gov.il/www/statistical/isr_pop_heb.pdf
- http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/demo_skira.pdf
- http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton65/st02_16x.pdf