Israel can destroy ALL of our 'settlements' in a month. Gaza being a case in point. It took the army only 6 days to exile over 10,000 good Jews from perfectly LEGAL settlements. The issue of legal and illegal communities will be moot point if Israel decides to surrender it's heartland and sovereignty to the Arab nations. And the Arabs know this with a certainty. So, why the preoccupation with insignificant hilltop communities? The author got it half right when claiming that the primary reason was to divert the world's attention from the major issues at hand. However, its the Arabs, not Israel that are pushing to destroy the settlements in order to hide the fact that they do not seek a peaceful solution to the present conflict. Both Arafat & Abbas were offered 90% of our heritage, which they flatly rejected. Everything becomes clear when one takes the time to understand the core issues. Our main conflict with the Arab nations revolves around religion, not politics. Whether you like it or not, our only justification for living in Israel is that God gave this land to us a heritage. The Muslim religion, for those who actually care to study it, revolves around Jihad, and will not tolerate any form of competition for what they consider to be their rightful hegemony. Israel's very existence is a blatant denial of the supremacy of Islam. To them, this is intolerant. Until this issue can be resolved, there is no hope for a lasting peace. In fact, further displays of weakness such as surrendering more our holy land, will only inflame the situation further. One only needs to look at Gaza and Lebanon to see the truth of this. If we continue on this path of appeasement, we'll be be dodging missiles, ankle deep in the Med.

when we see the overpaid newscasters trying to look ever so serious and supercilious showing us these youngsters with a piece of material and a hammer, who are a threat to world peace. Are we Chelm or are we Chelm? They then go over to what they really identify with, happiness all over their faces, another group of teenagers looking as tho' they're in terrible agony, oops it's about Kochav ? No, lad.

The badminton champion of the Maccabiah Games deserves to be where he is. Please do not demean him in order to make a political point which is -- sorry -- worthless. Thank you.

...and to the point. The Israeli towns and villages in Judea and Samaria are perfectly legal and in NO way an obstacle to peace! It's the Muslims' unwillingness to accept ANY Jewish state within ANY old borders, green or blue lines, that is the REAL OBSTACLE to ANY solution, short of Israel's disappearance, and even then there wouldn't be peace, or even a "Palestinian" state!!!

How many cliches can one possibly cram into one small editorial?

Why don't you evacuate yourself to the beach and wait for your beloved sovereign Arabs to issue the swim call. And if you can''t utter a sentence without calumnising the nationalist public, just leave the debate.

If the outposts are so insignificant, why insist on them? There comes a point where Israel has to show some compromise, if for no other reason, to show that the Pals will not show any. Letting go of "insignificant outposts" will help the US. That DOES count. Oh by the way; most Israelis are NOT supportive of the outposts. So why do you insist that only you know "The Right Way"?

The entire article is based on the false premise that the Palestinians have a legal right to the land of the West Bank. This is an entirely false premise. In fact, they have absolutely no legal right to the land. It was never ceded to them, nor given to them by treaty, nor do they have it by right of conquest, nor by deed, nor contract, nor by any legal document, did the Palestinians or the PA or PLO purchase the land of the West Bank. - ever! One wonders why this myth which any reading of the history of the middle east can easily dispel, is being constantly perpetuated by articles such as this one.

the palastinian girl said - we must not ashame to tell that it is not israil 000it is palastine ..then the palastinian boy said --- it is their land but we will take it by force -- this means that the problem is not whose the land is belonging but the dicision to get it by force ....

Kudos to #9. You hit the proverbial nail right on the head! All the leftist, anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian articles written about the settlements are designed to divert attention away from the fact that it is not and never was the Palestinian's land in the first place!!!

The snide and offensive reference to the name for a new outpost shows the malicious and self-hating nature of the author. Most outpost are named for our fellow Jews who were murdered by terrorists. The gutter level reference used in any event would be in poor test. In this case it is particularly specious.

... the Palestinians can't really agree on anything- from whom the land legally belongs to all the way to how to run a country should there ever be a Palestinian state. If you think 1948 was a "Nakba", just wait until Hamas or Fatah come into power. The Palestinians haven't seen anything yet in terms of crimes against humanity...