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[quote=Anonymous]OP, I was wondering the same thing recently.  I found this wiki article helpful, particularly the section on "Reasons for Settlements"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settlement

Reasons for settlements
Jews who had been living in the West Bank before they were expelled in 1948 wanted to return home.[57]
After the Six-Day War, some Israelis believed that war might break out again. They built settlements on hilltops to act as observation posts for an early warning system.[58]
Israelis were afraid that if strategically important lands were returned, Israelis would be in danger. For years, Syria had been firing from the Golan Heights into the kibbutzim of the valley. If Syria got back the Golan Heights, they would resume firing on the Israelis below. Israelis remembered that after conquering the Sinai, Israel withdrew from the Sinai. If Israel constructed a military base, the soldiers could be ordered to leave, but if they created a "settlement on the Syrian heights – a civilian presence, then no one could just order a withdrawal. There'd have to be a debate in the Knesset."[59]
There were Israelis who remembered that Israel had conquered the Sinai in 1956, but gave it back. "…the promises made by Eisenhower had proved hollow at the first test and had failed to prevent war…"[60] They were willing to return land, but only if Israel got a peace treaty in return. They were hoping that building settlements would make it more difficult for Israel to withdraw from land without getting a peace treaty in return.
There were "Religious radicals, convinced that they were fulfilling God's plan for history…"[61] For Avraham Kook, "the Jews' role was to be the vessel that brings the "divine idea" into the world. The world's redemption depended on the Jews living in the Land of Israel"[62] Rabbi Tzvi Kook said…It's "the Lord's land. Is it in our hands to give up even a millimeter?" The State of Israel represented the "beginning of redemption" and was "the state that the prophets foresaw" when they spoke of the End of Days.[63] "…the Bible was the Jewish deed to the Land of Israel…"[64] "…the conquest as introducing the end of days, when 'nation shall not lift up sword against nation.'"[65]
There were secular Israelis who saw "the West Bank as the historic patrimony of the Jewish people and control of this region as a matter of momentous historic importance."[58]
Settlement building as punishment. "According to reports on Israel Radio, the development is a response to the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers."[66]
Settlements as bargaining chips for negotiations.[67]

I got really depressed after reading how both the Israelis and the Palestinians are specifically targeting children with violence now.  IMHO, Israel should pull its people out of the West Bank.[/quote]

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