Settler population growing three times faster than rest of Israel, study says

The population growth among West Bank settlers was three times higher than that of the rest of Israel during the past 12 years, according to a report by the Ariel College Center of Samaria.

The statistical annual report shows that the Jewish population in the West Bank more than doubled during that time, with a growth of 107 percent. The report also shows that the settler population has surged from 130,000 in 2005 to 270,000 by the end of 2007.

Meanwhile, the entire population of Israel grew by 29 percent over the same period.

This population trend has continued over the past three years, with the West Bank settler population growing by 5 percent annually, compared to a 1.7 percentage growth in the entire country.

No other region in Israel has grown in numbers so drastically.

The report further notes that the West Bank settler population is a generally young one, its median age being 20.6, compared to 28.7 in the rest of Israel.

Crime rate in the West Bank is also disproportionately high, with the number of criminal cases being 22 percent above average.