427,000 Israelis in West Bank

ANSAmed 4/10/19

A reported 427,800 Israelis were living in the West Bank at the end of 2018, up 3.5% from 2017, while the population in Israel increased 1.9% last year, Peace Now reports, based on data released by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Peace Now said the number of settlers has grown in 2018 by 14,400 units, two thirds of whom were born in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Quoting official Palestinian data, Peace Now added that there are 2,636,244 Palestinians in the West Bank (with the exclusion of East Jerusalem). The NGO reported that “thousands of new settlers” this year have not raised “the public’s attention or discussion”. Israeli pacifists are concerned in particular about the fact that the majority of new arrivals are moving to settlements that Israel would likely need to evacuate as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.