The number of people living in Israeli settlements surged at a much faster rate than the overall Israeli population last year and predicted even more rapid growth, the West Bank Jewish Population Stats group reported Tuesday.
Director Baruch Gordon said the current U.S. administration has created a much friendlier environment for the settlers, clearing the way for a surge in construction in the coming years.
"It's just simply opened up. There's no longer this cloud looming over it," Gordon said.
Gordon's project conducts an annual study of official population data obtained from the Interior Ministry. The report is sponsored by Bet El Institutions, a prominent settler organization.
The latest data shows the population in Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria grew to 449,508 as of Jan. 1, up 3.3% from 435,159 people a year earlier.
In comparison, Israel's overall population grew 1.9% last year to 8.907 million people, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The Interior Ministry was not immediately able to confirm the figures but said it had been in touch with Gordon's group and that the numbers appeared authentic.
The data showed robust growth in settlements across the board, from large towns located near Israeli population centers to isolated communities deep inside Judea and Samaria.
Gordon cited several reasons for the rapid growth. An estimated two-thirds of the settler population are religious Jews, who tend to have larger families. In addition, he said the cheap costs of housing have lured many young families that cannot afford homes in Israel proper.
But he also said the Trump administration's attitude toward the settlements is also having an effect.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama, like a string of Republican and Democratic predecessors, put heavy pressure on Israel to halt construction.
Trump, in contrast, has done little to stop construction. While urging restraint at times, the White House has otherwise remained quiet as Israel has pressed forward with numerous developments.
This, in effect, has given Israel a green light to lay the groundwork for a surge in construction that should materialize over the next year or two, Gordon said.
"Since the change of the U.S. administration, the atmosphere for construction permits has become much easier. They're being given with greater ease," he said.
"I think possibly the next report and certainly in the ones after that, I think we'll start to see a huge surge in the numbers here," he added.
The figures did not include data for east Jerusalem, where well over 200,000 Israeli Jews now live.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, called the growth in the settler population a "direct result" of U.S. policy.
"The American support for settlements through silence is doomed to failure because there is no peace and stability without an agreement with the Palestinian people and its legitimate leadership," he said.
A U.S. Embassy official said Trump has made his position on settlements "clear" and has received Israeli pledges to take his concerns into consideration.
"The administration is firmly committed to pursuing a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under diplomatic protocol.
The left-wing group Peace Now, which opposes the settlements, said the data in Tuesday's report seemed "logical," citing the Israeli government's policy "to encourage construction and relocation to the West Bank."
Peace Now said the Trump effect "cannot be seen at this time" because of the lag time between approval of permits and actual construction.
