Generous tax breaks, low or no-interest mortgages, and government-paid commercial and industrial infrastructure form key elements in Israel’s settlement strategy. These state-financed subsidies and other incentives have encouraged approximately 90,000 Israelis to settle in the Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, and West Bank.

The key to Israel’s program of Jewish settlement in the territories captured in 1967 has been its evolutionary, incremental character. It has taken a generation – almost 24 years since the June 1967 War – to settle the more than 200,000 Israelis who live today in these occupied territories, lands that are home to 1.8 million Palestinians. The construction of additional housing in the territories, with the subsequent growth in population, remains one of the Shamir government’s primary national objectives.