Jewish settlements: Past, present and future

(JNS) — Anyone wishing to understand the historic, religious and political significance of Jewish settlements in biblical Judea and Samaria (commonly misidentified as the “West Bank” under Jordanian control until the Six-Day War in 1967) should read Daniel Kane’s Mosaic article on Aug. 1 called “The Changing Faces of Israel’s Settlement Movement.”

Although settlers are often depicted in the media (see The New York Times) as fanatics who have stolen Palestinian land, that reveals bias, not reality. The core of Kane’s analysis is the transformative expansion of settlement demography and ideology...