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Macro Centre: West Bank settlements built on 12 million sq. metres have cost Israel $17 billion

February 27, 2014 at 11:22 am

A study conducted by Israel’s Macro Centre for Political Economics has revealed details about the economic cost of Jewish settlement programmes in the West Bank. The study, begun in 2008, used satellite imagery and other technology to map every home and structure erected within the settlements.

The study revealed that Israeli settlements in the West Bank cover 12 million square meters of road, homes and factories costing more than $17 billion to build. According to the study, Israeli settlements contain 868 publicly owned facilities occupying 488,769 square meters. These include 127 synagogues that cover 94,848 square meters, 96 ritual baths over a territory of 10,755 square meters, 321 sports facilities over 382,867 square meters, 344 kindergartens over 91,353 square meters, 211 schools over 296,933 square meters, 68 yeshivas over 100,943 square meters and 21 libraries over 8,962 square meters.


As for residential units, the total number of apartments stands at 32,711 spread over a space of around 3.27 million square meters, as well as 22,997 private homes over 5.74 million square meters. 

There are 187 shopping centres in the settlements occupying 162,399 square meters, 717 industrial structures on 904,817 square meters of land, 15 banquet halls on 23,186 square meters and paved roads that cover more than 1.02 million square meters. 

Macro’s economists have estimated that private homes in the settlements are worth a total of $9 billion, apartments are worth $4.5 billion, roads are worth $1.7 billion, and public institutions, synagogues and bathhouses have a combined worth of $0.5 billion.