American Tax Dollars at Work

Wife of Palestinian Radical Arrested
an Israeli group that tracks Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, released a report showing a disproportionate amount of funds from the Israeli government's budget going to settlements.

More than 200,000 Israelis live in communities dotting the hilltops of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the lands claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

The report by the Israeli group Peace Now says $450 million from the $50 billion state budget in 2001 went to settlements in the West Bank for housing and road construction and development of industrial areas as well as income tax benefits.

Peace Now said settlers, per capita, get $1,500 more in government spending than those living inside Israel proper.

``The policy of the Israeli government is to try to increase the number of settlers beyond the Green Line (between West Bank and Israel) and to make their life and economy better than life in Israel,'' said Peace Now spokesman Yariv Oppenheimer. ``It's a way to achieve a political goal.''

Peace now said its data on settlement spending is incomplete because the money is scattered through out the budget.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html