In today's Israeline posting, at the end (an afterthought?), I read:


While I applaud investing of money in Yehuda, Shomron, v'Chevel-Azza,
in order to create jobs for their residents, I find it deplorable that
this has never been an active policy of any Israeli administration
since 1967, *with regard to their Jewish residents*. Past governments
found funds to subsidize cheap (read: affordable) housing and the
requisite infrastructure, but where was the investment for creating
industry (which would have generated income *and* jobs)? 

After 26 years, Yehuda and Shomron remain barren, bereft of even 
middle-sized industries, and the Jewish settlements are sterile
"bedroom communities", havens for (in the main) Israelis (both
secular *and* religious) who work in Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem but
cannot afford to live in either city or their surrounding suburbs.

There's an old saying: "bli giboosh, ayn kivoosh" -- just living there
wasn't enough, we had to *really* settle it. But instead, we "settled"
for Potemkin villages, and now we are paying the price (and doing
for others what we should have done for ourselves).

