sraeli police headquarters nears completion in an area of the West Bank east of Jerusalem that U.S. officials have long warned Israel not to develop
War Turns the Tide For Israeli Settlers | By Scott Wilson | Washington Post Foreign Service | Monday, September 25, 2006; Page A01

An Israeli police headquarters nears completion in an area of the West Bank east of Jerusalem that U.S. officials have long warned Israel not to develop.

AMONA, West Bank -- The movement to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which only a few months ago appeared to be a divided, waning political force, is experiencing a revival after a summer of war that caused many Israelis to question the wisdom of abandoning more territory.

Little more than a year ago, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew all Jewish settlers and Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. After Sharon's debilitating stroke in January, his deputy, Ehud Olmert, won national elections in March on a promise to evacuate dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and to uproot the smaller, unauthorized communities known as outposts in a bid to define Israel's final borders.

But after a month-long war in southern Lebanon and as sporadic fighting continues in Gaza, a highly unpopular Olmert has put his West Bank withdrawal plan on hold. His government has stepped up construction in the large settlement blocs, including areas the Bush administration has warned Israel against developing, and the West Bank settlement population of a quarter-million people is growing. ...
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