10,000 new settlers in the occupied West Bank over the next

[MikeWB]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jiEgRx9RWrsYvUNY1Fk1pO99cvVw
Jewish settlers 'to increase by 10,000 within year'
(AFP) – 12 hours ago
JERUSALEM — An Israeli minister has predicted there will be 10,000 new settlers in the occupied West Bank over the next 10 months and insisted that a moratorium did not freeze but only limited construction.
"Over the next 10 months the population of 300,000 will grow by at least 10,000 residents," said Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, in comments broadcast on public radio on Friday.
"Properly speaking, this is not a freeze. We are not planning to freeze life but only to impose certain limits on construction" in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Begin said on Thursday night in Tel Aviv.
Begin is a member of the ministerial commission responsible for the implementation of the 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes announced two weeks ago amid US-led pressure to freeze settlement construction.
The moratorium excludes settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and several thousand homes where construction has already started.
Its announcement drew criticism both from the Palestinians who say it falls far short of the total freeze they have been seeking and from settlers who oppose any restrictions.
Further controversy was certain to arise after the prime minister's office announced on Thursday that Netanyahu is pushing for some settlements to be declared national priority areas, which would entitle them to financial assistance.
The settlement issue has been one of the thorniest in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, which they want to be the capital of their promised state.
Middle East negotiations, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a standstill again when Israel launched a devastating offensive against Gaza late last year.