Life expectancy of the settlers in Judea and Samaria is the highest among all Israelis- 80.6 years, as opposed to a national average of 78.9 years. This is revealed in the new statistical yearbook of Judea and Samaria (2005) edited by Prof. Dan Soan and Dr. Michael Sheffer, recently published by the Academy of Judea and Samaria. The results are based on statistics from the national central statistics board.

The fertility rate for women in Judea and Samaria is one of the highest in the country: 4.4 children per woman, compared to a national average of 2.8 children per woman. Annual mortality rate for Judea and Samaria residents is among the lowest in Israel- 4.2 deaths per 1000 inhabitants, as compared to the national average of 5.2. Also the hospitalization rate is the best: 68.8 hospitalizations per 1000 people, as opposed to the national average of 143.4.

Rating local governments according to clusters shows that the settlements in Judea and Samaria are rated with the 3 highest clusters, much higher than the national average, while their representation in the 3 lowest clusters is much lower than the national average.

59% of the settlers claim that they are able to cover their expenses, as opposed to 52.4% overall. 92.7% of the settlers are satisfied with their life, as opposed to the national average of 82%. The unemployment level is among the lowest- 8.4% as opposed to the national average of 10.4%.

The percent of high school matriculaters (“bagrut”) of the national 17 year old Jewish population is highest in Judea and Samaria, and fluctuates in the last 9 years between 53% to 57%, as opposed to a national average of 48%. Residents of Judea and Samaria today number 260,000, and are 3.6% of the population of Israel. Annual growth of the settlers is the highest of all Israelis: 5.2% as opposed to a national average of 1.8% - 2.9 times the average national growth- with no other Israeli sector even approaching that rate. In Jerusalem the annual growth is 2.4%, the center 2.3%, South 1.7%, North 1.6%, Tel Aviv 1.1%' Haifa 0.7%. The 3 regional councils with the fastest growth in the are: Gush Etzion- 6.3%, Samaria- 4%, Binyamin- 3.8%.

68 of the 140 settlements are “Yishuvim Kehilatim”, being 56.2% of the communities of that type in Israel (121).

The population of Judea and Samaria is the youngest in the country. The median age is 20.7, as opposed to 28.1 in Israel. 0 to 19 year olds in Judea and Samaria make up 44.8% of the population, while in the rest of Israel those ages make up only 36.9%. The percentage over age 55 is among the smallest- 10.2% as opposed to 17.2%.

Few new immigrants turn to the settlements. Until 2001 the area absorbed 15,700 Olim: 1.9% of all the Aliyah. 3 settlements are exceptions: 40% of the residents of Ariel are Olim, 14.1% of Kiryat Arba, and 12.8% of Ma'aleh Adumim.

Tishrei 5767 / October 2006
Christian Zionist tour organizers, participants in the "Feast of Tabernacles" conference in Jerusalem, expressed unlimited support of Jewish settlement in the Shomron (Samaria).

Some 5,000 Christian supporters of Israel visited the Land in the course of the annual conference of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. The tourists visited sites around the country, and especially the Shomron. The Shomron Development Council gave each of the participants a rock from Mt. Grizim, the “mountain of the Blessing”, with card containing the Biblical verses.

in the photo: Tzvi Shevach, representative of the Fund,
with Malcolm Hedding, head of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, at the Fund's booth in Jerusalem

The conference participants also took part in the Jerusalem March, as they do every year.

At the conference, agreements were made with a number of groups about tours of the Shomron on their next visit to Israel, and some of them will be adopting projects with their communities. Meetings were also scheduled with community leaders, and some of them invited the representative of the Fund to speak before their communities.

All the participants expressed their support of the Jewish settlements in the Shomron, and their willingness to organize political pressure to further this goal.

Elul 5766 / September 2006
Many positive responses to the Orthodox Synagogues Campaign

The outreach campaign to the Orthodox communities and Rabbis in the US is bringing many exciting responses. Many of them would like to help and take part in strengthening the communities in the Shomron.

The Shomron Development Fund has launched a campaign to reach out to all synagogues in the US. Hundreds of mailings went out to each one of the Rabbis, offering them to start developing contacts with the communities in the Shomron. This way they will be able to become partners in developing and building these communities. They were also offered to host a representative of the Shomron in their synagogue, as a speaker that will explain the political and geographical situation, as well as the needs of the citizens in the Shomron. We want to encourage and develop the natural partnership between the Orthodox communities in the US and our Shomron community members, this way we will be able to strengthen and expand our towns and villages.
Our representative will be available for speaking engagements in November 2006, in response to the amount of requested dates; his timetable will be filled in a short time. At this trip he is planning also to meet other supporters of our fund in the US. Our representative will also visit the US in January and March 2007.

If you want to book a speaking engagement with our representative please E-mail us to the address: shomfund@zahav.net.il

Elul 5766 / September 2006
Thousands of Christian Pilgrims will learn about the Shomron.

A conference, which will take place during the festive days of Tabernacles, in “Binyani Hauma” Jerusalem will host around 6,000 Pilgrims. The Christian Embassy in Jerusalem organizes the conference, and allows various Israeli organizations to present their products and initiatives to the participants in this convention. The Shomron Development Fund will present its topics in a booth at the convention. These people are supporters of Israel and also support the communities in the Shomron. The objective is to promote interest in the Shomron communities for supporting us as well as touring in our area. Through this we are hoping to establish relations with Christian communities.