‘We will Not Stop Striving for 1 Million Israelis in Judea and Samaria’

The Israeli population in Judea and Samaria grew by 2.6% in 2020, which is higher than the annual growth rate of 1.7% in the entire state of Israel.

By TPS

Yesha Council Chairman David Elhiyani recently commented, “We will not stop striving for the vision of the Yesha Council for a million residents in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley and for the application of sovereignty in the area.”

Elhiyani added, “We continue to push forward with all our might, for our dear residents, and for the State of Israel.”

The Yesha Council is an umbrella body for organizations operating in Judea and Samaria.

The Israeli population in Judea and Samaria grew by 2.6% in 2020, which was higher than the annual growth in the entire state of Israel (1.7% in 2020).

The Israeli population in Judea and Samaria at the end of 2020 was 476,000 residents in about 150 localities, according to data presented by the Yesha Council.

This number does not include Israeli residents living in the Jerusalem area over the Green Line.

The Yesha Council underscored that the last decade saw an average growth of 3.8% per year.

“Although the growth rate is higher than in other parts of the country, there is a consistent and alarming decline,” Elhiyani warned. “The dozens of localities in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley that are not regulated [by law] and cannot continue to develop as they would like also affect this figure,” he added, referring to the fact that Israel has not yet declared sovereignty over these territories and that some communities are not recognized by the state.

“We are now suffering from the consequences of the stopping of planning that exited over four years ago. Planning approvals in the area should be increased and unnecessary delays caused by bureaucracy and lack of manpower should be avoided,” said Elhiyani.

In the last decade, the number of Israelis living in Judea and Samaria has increased by 147,829 residents, an increase of about 45% in 10 years and an average of 14,783 new residents per year.

The largest localities in Judea and Samaria are the cities Modi’in Illit, Beitar Illit, Ma’ale Adumim and Ariel, where 206,358 residents, or 43%, live.

The locality to which the largest number of new residents was added in 2020 is Alei Zahav, and the smallest locality in Judea and Samaria is Niran in the Jordan Valley.

In terms of growth in localities, Bruchin in the Samaria Regional Council had the highest growth rate with 18.4% in 2020. Among the other localities that grew markedly were Maskiot in the Jordan Valley with 14.3%, Beit Arava with 13.5%, Migdalim in Samaria with 12.8%, and Sansana in Mount Hebron with 11.2%.