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Five largest Israeli settlements: who lives there, and why

The end goal of the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is two separate, sovereign states. Palestinians say that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, deemed illegal by the UN, influence the outcome of such talks. Here are the five most populous Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

1. Modiin Illit

Bernat Armangue/AP
A Jewish settler walks with children near a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit, Sept. 14.

  • By Ariel Zirulnick Contributor

Founded in 1996*

Population: 41,869

Modiin Illit sits about halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. With more than 42,000 settlers today, Modiin Illit alone has about four times the number of settlers that were in the entire Gaza Strip before the 2005 disengagement. Most of its residents are Orthodox Jews.

Modiin Illit is encompassed by the Israeli separation barrier – designed to protect Israeli citizens from Palestinian militant attacks – even though it lies outside the pre-1967 Israeli border known as the Green Line. Just on the other side of the wall from Modiin Illit is Bilin, where Palestinians have held weekly protests against the wall for several years.

See map.

*Editor's note: The original version of this story used an earlier date from the Foundation for Middle East Peace, but the official Israeli statistics give 1996 as the founding date.

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