"Settlement determines the borders" is a founding Zionist principle that predates the state. The data show this pillar has never stopped rising physically since 1967, regardless of which government held office or where negotiations stood.
The figures
- 1972: about 1,500 settlers in the West Bank.
- 1995, the peak of Oslo: 133,000, meaning settlement doubled during the "peace process" itself.
- 2025: about 530,000 in the West Bank, plus roughly 230,000 in East Jerusalem settlements, taking the total past 750,000.
- The pace accelerated rather than slowed: 54 new settlements were formally approved in 2025 alone, against just 5 in 2024. By April 2026 the number of unauthorized outposts reached 363, more than 58% of them established under the current government alone (Peace Now).
The legal side
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupier from transferring its population into occupied territory. On 19 July 2024 the International Court of Justice ruled that settlement is unlawful and must be dismantled with reparations to Palestinians, and that Israel's presence in the entire occupied territory is unlawful and must end.