Yesterday the New York Times published an article describing a recent Peace Now flight over the West Bank.  Passengers on the flight included Members of the Knesset, journalists, and others, including a famous Israeli playwright named Joshua Sobol, who recently signed onto a letter refusing to participate in performances in settlements.  During the flight Sobol made some very harsh comments about settlements.  In response, the school where Sobol teaches in Jerusalem (a private religious film school) has suspended him from teaching. 

Commenting on his suspension, Sobol sounded regretful but stated: "Perhaps the time has come for the controversy over the settlements to come to the surface, and that is my response. And if it costs me this workplace, then I am sorry. But sometimes a person has to go with his truth to the end."

Below is the article from Yedioth Ahronoth (Hebrew print edition) detailing the story. 

On August 30th ForeignPolicy.com published my analysis of some of the glib talk that is going on these days about "compromises" on the settlement moratorium -- like Israel building "only" in settlement blocs or allowing only "vertical" construction.  Today ForeignPolicy.com published my follow-up analysis, which looks at another suggested compromise - the "de facto" moratorium - and makes the case that a compromise on the moratorium - while possible - is not actually necessary and is not good for Israel.

Glib talk about settlements harms peace efforts (Part II)
By Lara Friedman Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 1:39 PM

Part I on the settlement moratorium can be found here

As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators sat down for the second round of peace talks today in Sharm el Sheikh, their meeting was overshadowed by the imminent expiration of the settlement moratorium on September 30th. Many pundits continue to argue that a compromise on the settlement moratorium -- one that permits Israel to pursue some new settlement construction -- is the only thing that can get the parties past this hurdle. Many continue to suggest, too, that a "reasonable" compromise on settlements is easy to define. They are wrong on both counts.

It also seems safe to predict that a corollary to these arguments will soon emerge, to the effect that President Abbas' continued refusal to accept a compromise proves he is weak or, more damning, not serious about making peace. The irony is that this analysis makes as much -- if not more -- sense applied to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Earlier this week (just in time for the start of peace talks in Washington) the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released data (English and Hebrew) regarding construction in settlements (and inside Israel).  These include numbers for 2006-2009, the first quarter of 2010, and estimated numbers for the second quarter of 2010.  Much has been made of the fact that the data show virtually no new settlement starts in 2010, with the CBS reporting only 2 starts in the first quarter of 2010 and 3 in the second quarter.  

However, this is not tell the whole story.

The key fact missing from such analysis is this:  so much new construction was front-loaded just before the start of the moratorium that if the moratorium is not extended past Sept 26th its impact will have been minimal.