Hoping that progress in the peace talks will negate this plan.

tick tock tick tock the patience of the Israeli citizenry is waning as the Palestinians come up with more excuses to avoid direct negotiations. Look, folks, if we insisted on a total cessation of terrorist attacks, then we'd never have peace talks. If they insist on a total cessation of building, then we'll never have peace talks. Notice the irony - they want us to stop building, we want them to stop shooting. Tells you something about the nature of the conflict, doesn't it. A rocket falls in Israel and kills an innocent agricultural worker, and the White House barely notices. A Jew pours the foundation for their basement in an existing neighborhood, and the White House and the press declare an international crisis. My, how the world stands on its head and jumps backwards through firey hoops for us here in the holy land...

the international community will get the message that Israel's policies are crafted in Jerusalem. Not Washington. Not London. Not Paris. And for sure as hell not Ramallah. Build, build, build. That's the message that Israel needs to send to the arrogant administrations that think that they have some say over the acts of a sovereign state. Build.

Lets deal with the facts here, last year alone the US provided Israel with over $3 billion dollars alone of American tax money , so i guess that gives them some kind of say. Israel is the largest cumalitve recepient of US foreign assistance since world war II. When Iran starts a war will you be out there building another villa in Savyon or begging the US for military aid ? Your hypocracy knows no limits.

Avi, you come down hard on Sara for being a couch zionist, and you may be right - notice she puts USA first and then Israel. So out of curiosity - did you make aliya from somewhere, like I did, or like 2 of my kids - are you Israeli born?

Devoting all these resources to expanding building on the WB when they would be far better utilised in Southern Israel because THATS where the future lies As Southern Israel (THE Land of King David) grows and prospers the entire centre of gravity of the economy and population will shift accordingly Thats where the future lies and Israel needs to invest in the future

international law does also apply at israel, and cant be ignored by jerusalem...

Great news May the minister stand by his words and let the pioneers and builders of a strong Israel . He must advise all the leftest wimps including the minister of evictions barak that Israel stands for all the jews of the world against another holocast The islamic president of USA will demand and attempt every underhand filthy means to stop the progression of Israel Attias must tell him to go to hell We are not slaves to an anti Israeli anti semetic american

I agree with the position made clear by Shalom Achshav, namely that unabated construction in WB is going to continue to sabotage any hope, and in my opinion, however important anyone thinks it is, the settlements will be the death of the country and Zionism.

You mean - "the death of the country... (as the secularists envisioned it) and ... (the death of secular) Zionism. Yes, the hopefully the settlements will accomplish all that.

to nr. 4- awi- israel, you are absolutely right. instead of building in the west-bank israel can better build in the negev-desert in southern israel which is about the half of the israeli territory with enough space..

If not, no houses. But since they're on their way to Jordan, it does'nt really matter.

those who dont want to leave the WB will have to abide by sharia law. you reap what you sow and no one is more deserving of that future

There are many religious and nationalistic Jews who live the bible every day. They are not going to stop settling the West Bank so long as Israel controls it. The Palestinians will attack the Jews sooner or later whether Israel builds there or not. They have refused to accept a Jewish-majority Israel before and after 1967. If the Arabs and international community is upset with Israeli building they should focus first on the Palestinian rejection of 2 states for 2 peoples. Their refusal or inability to do so means religious and nationalistic Jews will continue to do what comes natural for them - building the Land of Israel.

"Peace Talks" negate the plan? Leftist Minister Ben-Eliezer says the next war will be a mega terror war. Knesset Member Hanin Zuabi said that a third Intifada is inevitable. Extreme Leftist Avi Dichter says that the home front will be bombarded from all sides in the next war. Remember, in 1993, Rabin said that there was no chance of war and Israel was safe. Thanks to the "peace talks" where the Left imported Arab armies into Israel, wiped out Arabs who wanted peace with Israel and ethnically cleansed Jews from their homes. Your "peace talks" will not bring peace, only death.

Really, really wrong, on all counts. Israel has long been surpassed as the chief recipient of United States foreign aid by the Palestine Authority, Egypt, Jordan and about eight former Soviet republics. The foregoing notwithstanding, while I do get tired of repeating myself, if it educates you, I'll do it one more time, viz.: American foreign aid to Israel takes three forms. 1. A relatively small amount in a cash interest-bearing loan. There are only two countries in the world with a perfect repayment record of such loans. Finland is one. Israel is the other. 2. A somewhat larger amount in the form of military credits. These credits must be spent in the United States, and carry what is known as a back-end provision. This means that Israel must share with the manufacturer any improvements made to the military hardware Israel purchases. These improvements have been legion, and have always been shared. 3. By far and away the largest aid takes the form of joint-venture investment. The benefits? Lots. Facial recognition software. Cray supercomputers. Roughly half of the chemotherapy protocols in use throughout the world. Cellular phone technology. Mass spectrometry. Magnetic resonance imaging. To name but a paltry few. So, Avi, you're wrong on all counts. And I am not going to build another villa in Saviyon. I like the one I have. But we might purchase a pied-a-terre in Jerusalem. Why do you care? Also, don't you have spell check on your computer? You should use it.

live with the illusion that Jews can make peace with the arabs by appeasing them, like some posting here. Let me tell you "you are fooling yourselves". And I know! I came from an arab country where for scores of years my ancestors believed dhimmihood was ok and that it enabled them to have somewhat cordial relations and even friendships with the arab locals. Those very friends were the first to scream "itbakh al yahud!"in 1948 and proceeded to kill all the Jews they could get hold of, including their "friends". Many scores of Jews were butchered. Even though the country was under British rule the authorities appeared powerles to stop the massacres. What if it wasn't under british rule? Those who believe appeasement does anything but the opposite need a reality check! Israel needs to expand and the Palestinians are a fake people.

Exactly Yitzhak. May we all pray for the end of everything that makes Israel a country we can be proud of!